# Which fictional detective is the most personally miserable? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 26, 2018, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301 "2018-08-26T14:46:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2018, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/21 "2018-08-26T17:33:47Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Yeah, I’m suprised it took to the 9th post to get the obvious answer. The “troubled genius” trope is so common in detective fiction that Monk seems no more than an average example to me! It’s as though you have to go as horrific as **Blank Slate** ’s example of Ash Henderson to make the misery notable. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2018, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/22 "2018-08-26T17:40:05Z")
James Lee Burke’s Dave Robicheaux is another example – long-term alcoholic who has lost something like 3 wives to murder or accidents. And his best friend Clete Purcell, a private eye, is even more messed up. And they’re both Vietnam vets who somehow are still getting into fistfights and chasing baddies well into the 2010s. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2018, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/23 "2018-08-26T17:41:47Z")
Here we go > **[Defective Detective - TV Tropes](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DefectiveDetective)** > > The greatest challenges a detective faces aren't always a devious criminal or a really tough case — all those are a cakewalk compared to managing their personal life. The genius ones are nerds with trouble getting along with people or worse … ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2018, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/24 "2018-08-26T17:47:36Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Here we go > > [https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DefectiveDetective](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DefectiveDetective) Great! ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2018, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/25 "2018-08-26T17:55:21Z")
I’d nominate Dirk Gentley of the Dirk Gentley books. Been a while since I read them, but he was pretty miserable in all aspects. No friends, no money, a feud with his house cleaner over his refrigerator, and his clients seemed to have a tendency to die before they had a chance to pay, when he did have clients. ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2018, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/26 "2018-08-26T17:56:13Z")
I nominate **John River** , whose only friend is the ghost of his former partner. [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4258440/](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4258440/) ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2018, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/27 "2018-08-26T18:13:21Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Yeah, I’m suprised it took to the 9th post to get the obvious answer. I don’t think Monk is particularly miserable. He has lots of issues but he mostly deals with them, he’s in therapy, and he gets a fair amount of pleasure out of life. Yes, his wife was murdered. There’s lots worse in a lot of other detectives’ lives. The Irish detectives that I have read seem especially unable to be happy. There’s Ed Loy, in a series by Declan Hughes, who seems to not only be pretty miserable himself, but brings misery to those around him. Then there’s Quirke, in a series by Benjamin Black; he’s the Dublin forensic pathologist who drinks too much and can’t seem to keep his nose out of things that get him beaten up. But the most miserable detective of all is Ian Rutledge, Scotland Yard inspector. An officer in WWI, he survived physically but his mental state is crippling. In the war he had to execute his Scottish sergeant for failure to order his men to charge as ordered, and now he carries the sergeant’s voice in his head. The voice gives him no peace and no quarter, although it also occasionally warns him of danger, since the sergeant knows if Rutledge dies he dies finally too. Rutledge is a very good detective but he gets no kudos because of bureaucratic jealousies, and he can never allow himself to get close to anyone lest they discover his secret – the voice in his head would get him diagnosed with shell shock and sent to an institution. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2018, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/28 "2018-08-26T18:14:22Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > I’d nominate Dirk Gentley of the Dirk Gentley books. Been a while since I read them, but he was pretty miserable in all aspects. No friends, no money, a feud with his house cleaner over his refrigerator, and his clients seemed to have a tendency to die before they had a chance to pay, when he did have clients. The guy had a really positive attitude! That’s because of the whole holistic thing. He _knew_ stuff would just work out. Some of Douglas Adams quirks leaked into him, but not as much as Mr. Adams lived with. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2018, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/29 "2018-08-26T20:48:03Z")
Batman. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2018, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/30 "2018-08-26T20:55:21Z")
No mention yet of Harry Bosch? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2018, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/31 "2018-08-26T20:56:23Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > Batman. Depends on which Batman. In some depictions of superheroes (including Batman), they seem to be having a pretty good time being superheroes. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2018, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/32 "2018-08-26T21:03:50Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > No mention yet of Harry Bosch? There are also various Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler and James Ellroy detectives among whom it would be difficult to choose. There was a good one from 30 ears ago, _The Crosskiller_, by Marcel Montecino, and his veteran police detective Jack Gold certainly qualifies. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2018, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/33 "2018-08-26T21:07:09Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > Sherlock Holmes needed to mainline cocaine to cope when he wasn’t working. But he’s quite happy (after his own fashion) when he is working. He has a highly rewarding life, he lives comfortably, he has at least one friend (in his own fashion), and is the subject of public adulation. He’s actually doing extremely well for a fictional detective. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2018, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/34 "2018-08-26T21:31:47Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Columbo never looked all that happy. How do you figure? Near as I can tell, he seems to genuinely like his job — and he seems genuinely fond of his wife, and of his favorite restaurant, and of his dog, and of the music he listens to, and so on; and he doesn’t seem to drink to dull the pain, but because _he just enjoys it,_ same way he just enjoys ice cream. Or reminiscing about old times. Or watching a good film. Or hearing a good joke. Most of the time, he just strikes me as an upbeat guy. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2018, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/35 "2018-08-26T21:37:57Z")
James Bond, in the books, was generally pretty miserable. He hated his job, hated his boss, and continually tried to drown his sorrows with whatever alcoholic beverage was handy. Didn’t have to be a vodka martini, either. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2018, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/36 "2018-08-26T21:42:30Z")
Either of the two protagonists from Kill the Father. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2018, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/37 "2018-08-26T21:49:26Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > > [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > > > Yeah, I’m suprised it took to the 9th post to get the obvious answer. > > I don’t think Monk is particularly miserable. He has lots of issues but he mostly deals with them, he’s in therapy, and he gets a fair amount of pleasure out of life. Yes, his wife was murdered. There’s lots worse in a lot of other detectives’ lives. I agree with this. Plus Monk has the advantage of living and working in San Francisco. Wallander, for instance, is Swedish, so he has that whole Scandinavian depression thing going and Sherlock Holmes was living and working in gloomy, foggy London. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2018, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/38 "2018-08-26T21:52:37Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > But he’s quite happy (after his own fashion) when he is working. He has a highly rewarding life, he lives comfortably, he has at least one friend (in his own fashion), and is the subject of public adulation. He’s actually doing extremely well for a fictional detective. Well, there was ‘the woman’. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2018, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/39 "2018-08-26T22:08:42Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Well, there was ‘the woman’. So? Every detective has one of those. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2018, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/40 "2018-08-26T22:21:21Z")
Bruce Wayne as they’ve been interminably writing him. Back when he was a smiling, happy psychopath…enjoying his wealth…trading quips with his ward while they laughingly maimed criminals…he had a certain joie de vivre. Now? Not an ounce of happiness in the man’s lives. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301.md?page=3)