# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/101 "2018-08-30T15:50:29Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > You would lose that bet. It’s revealed in a later novel that he is _haunted_ by that event. I’ve read them all, (but only once) and I don’t remember that. But I’ll accept your word. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/102 "2018-08-30T16:34:41Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > Is that from a novel or the Amazon show? I know it’s Connelly either way, just curious. IIRC, it’s from _The Crossing_. > [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I’ve read them all, (but only once) and I don’t remember that. But I’ll accept your word. He reveals it to Terry McCaleb in a very tense scene in _A Darkness More than Night_. ---
**Author:** ![Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/soul_brother_number_two/32/3515_2.png) [@Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soul_Brother_Number_Two)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/103 "2018-08-30T17:13:24Z")
Lew Archer always struck me as melancholy. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/104 "2018-08-30T17:32:31Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > I think Kinsey Millhone, in her fictional life, is miserable at the frustrating knowledge that she came so close to Z, but will never cross that finish line. Robert B Parker died in 2010, but seven new Spenser novels have been published. Just sayin’. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/105 "2018-08-30T18:55:35Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > I’ll second Harry Hole. The first two books in the series can be safely skipped but the rest of it is great stuff. There is a dark humor at work that offsets the self-loathing and binge drinking. My vote as well. The first two books aren’t all that great, but set the stage for the rest of the series which is terrific and IMO must be read in chronological order. For what it’s worth, I’ve read that in Norway his first name is pronounced either “Harry” like we say it, or rhyming with “sorry”; “Hole” is a common surname and is pronounced “HO-leh.” ---
**Author:** ![Snake\_Plissken\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Snake\_Plissken\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snake_Plissken_1)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/106 "2018-08-30T19:16:43Z")
Rust Cohle. ‘True Detective’, season one. Tortured soul. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/107 "2018-08-30T19:17:50Z")
I never read the books, but I started to watch the movie version of _The Snowman_ and you’re right. That was a miserable experience. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/108 "2018-08-30T19:49:35Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > Stephen King’s Bill Hodges was pretty miserable. Came in to post this. > [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > I never read the books, but I started to watch the movie version of _The Snowman_ and you’re right. That was a miserable experience. Seconded. Sarah Linden on the U.S. series _The Killing_ ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/109 "2018-08-30T20:58:52Z")
Detective John Munch, originally on the Baltimore PD and of “Homicide Life on the Street”, who later transferred to New York to be on “Law & Order: SVU”, and of numerous cameos on other shows, is a pretty tortured soul. ---
**Author:** ![Levolor\_the\_Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bc8723/32.png) [@Levolor\_the\_Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Levolor_the_Blind)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/110 "2018-08-30T22:01:56Z")
Inspector Cramer because, face it, Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin were total dicks. ---
**Author:** ![Capn\_Carl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Capn\_Carl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capn_Carl)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2018, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/111 "2018-08-31T01:42:42Z")
Rigby Reardon became pretty miserable whenever he heard the phrase “cleaning woman”. ---
**Author:** ![ELCHINERO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@ELCHINERO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ELCHINERO)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2018, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/112 "2018-08-31T12:03:11Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > 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. “River” & “Luther” … & both “Wallanders” … ---
**Author:** ![2Bits](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/e95f7d/32.png) [@2Bits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2Bits)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2018, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/113 "2018-08-31T13:28:46Z")
> **[McMillan & Wife](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McMillan_%26_Wife)** > > McMillan & Wife (known simply as McMillan from 1976–77) is an American police procedural television series that aired on NBC from September 17, 1971, to April 24, 1977. Starring Rock Hudson and Susan Saint James in the title roles, the series premiered in episodes as part of Universal Television's wheel series NBC Mystery Movie, in rotation with Columbo and McCloud. Initially airing on Wednesday night, the original lineup was shifted to Sundays in the second season, where it aired for the rest of... Life in the closet must be a helluva burden! ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2018, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/114 "2018-08-31T14:24:52Z")
I’ll second Bosch. Here is a list of scenes in which he smiled a genuine, happy smile. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2018, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/115 "2018-08-31T17:59:41Z")
\*Bosch nodded, even though he knew MikeF couldn’t see him. \* ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2018, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/116 "2018-08-31T18:07:55Z")
> [@2Bits](#): > > [McMillan & Wife - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McMillan_%26_Wife) > > Life in the closet must be a helluva burden! Mac doesn’t count. Don’t confuse the actor with the role. 😃 Stuart McMillan was definitely not closeted. While nothing absolutely proves it, he had a string of girlfriends before he got married, he was the “most eligible bachelor” in the society columns, he was crazy about Sally, absolutely adored her, he had one or two kids with her, plus he had a string of girlfriends after Sally died. Just because he lived in SF doesn’t make him gay. 🙂 Hell, Mac was so not miserable he didn’t even wait one episode after Sally and his son(s) died before banging some new hot chick (Jessica Walter). ---
**Author:** ![Teuton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teuton/32/3864_2.png) [@Teuton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teuton)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2018, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/117 "2018-08-31T18:24:29Z")
Three pages in and nobody has mentioned Taggart? ---
**Author:** ![blob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blob/32/489_2.png) [@blob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blob)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2018, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/118 "2018-08-31T21:53:27Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Hell, Mac was so not miserable he didn’t even wait one episode after Sally and his son(s) died before banging some new hot chick (Jessica Walter). Sally DIED? ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2018, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/119 "2018-08-31T22:57:45Z")
> [@blob](#): > > Sally DIED? ☹ Yep. Killed in a plane crash. Along with the never seen nor mentioned son(s) (Susan St James was pregnant twice during the show run but they only officially mentioned that the McMillans had one kid. Which they never mentioned again. Not even a passing reference to a baby sitter. Strangest thing.) Mildred went off to [run a diner on the east coast](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ulhz75reeAw) and her sister became Mac’s new housekeeper and chief kibitzer. Sgt Enright got replaced by Sgt DiMaggio (no relation). The show ran for six episodes as “McMillan” (sans wife). While not bad, it wasn’t the same. ---
**Author:** ![blob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blob/32/489_2.png) [@blob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blob)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2018, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/120 "2018-08-31T23:16:53Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > While not bad, it wasn’t the same. I don’t think it would be… It was their “witty repartee” that was the show, wasn’t it? (I don’t remember an awful lot, I was a kid, but I did see it on tv) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301.md?page=7)