# Who's the best genre detective? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 10, 2009, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-best-genre-detective/499373 "2009-06-10T19:44:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-best-genre-detective/499373/61 "2009-06-12T08:16:03Z")
Dirk Gently ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-best-genre-detective/499373/62 "2009-06-12T09:29:18Z")
Batman would win, because he would have prepared the old man’s mansion with spy surveillance gadgets before the crime was even committed. He’s always prepared, except for that one villain whose superpower was to make random unpredictable shitty stuff happen to her enemies. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-best-genre-detective/499373/63 "2009-06-12T14:32:07Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > I am not really current on Batman. I’m mostly reading the Fables and Y: The Last Man these days. I’ll assume you mean 80s Batman, then. Not as ridiculously high-tech as his contemporary counterpart, and much less of a jackass; he was actually sometimes daunted at being in the JLA, otherwise composed of demigods and super-scientists. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-best-genre-detective/499373/64 "2009-06-12T14:34:31Z")
> [@Mosier](#): > > Batman would win, because he would have prepared the old man’s mansion with spy surveillance gadgets before the crime was even committed. He’s always prepared. That would explain Jason Todd being killed by the Joker, Babs Gordon being crippled and molested by the Joker, Ra’s Al Ghul stealing all his goodies to use on Kal, Di, & Co., & the 7,000 murders per week in Gotham. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-best-genre-detective/499373/65 "2009-06-12T15:20:14Z")
No Arkady Renko? ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-best-genre-detective/499373/66 "2009-06-12T16:15:36Z")
> [@Hunter\_Hawk](#): > > What about Max Carrados? I’m sure he’d soon see who the villain was! ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-best-genre-detective/499373/67 "2009-06-12T16:20:01Z")
**Sherlock Holmes** could claim he solved the case if physical evidence was involved, because anyone else who suceeded would be using his methods. **CSI** could spot who’d fired a gun recently (paraffin test). **Goren and Eames** (Criminal Intent) would spot any obsessive or cunning murderer. \*\* Columbo\*\* would only be able to find a murderer with a massive ego (though he would wear them down eventually). It would be funny to have a final scene where \*\*Nero Wolfe and Poirot \*\*both try to give the assembled multitudes their analysis of the case. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-best-genre-detective/499373/68 "2009-06-12T18:00:11Z")
It occurs to me that several of the detectives mentioned–I’m thinking Batman (assuming it’s the Silver Age version), the Jeffersons, the Charles, the Hardy Boys, Bobby Goren, & Nancy Drew–will decline to compete with Sherlock Holmes, whom they would consider the first and greatest of their number. At most, they’d all offer their services as his Irregulars. Hell, I would. ---
**Author:** ![Corner\_Case](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/corner_case/32/234_2.png) [@Corner\_Case](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corner_Case)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-best-genre-detective/499373/69 "2009-06-12T18:14:09Z")
Ellery Queen was mentioned in passing, but deserves better. He would appear to be asleep the entire time or looking anywhere _but_ the library. Then he would announce to thin air that he knew and ask the thin air to solve it too. How about Brisco County Jr. (I think mentioned above)? Or Jeeves and Wooster who would show up if there was a party. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-best-genre-detective/499373/70 "2009-06-12T18:23:00Z")
> [@Corner\_Case](#): > > How about Brisco County Jr. (I think mentioned above)? Or Jeeves and Wooster who would show up if there was a party. I seem to recall a biography of Jeeves (not written by Wodehouse), in one chapter of which Jeeves solves a mystery involving a jewelry theft–and showing up 3 famous detectives who are obvious parodies of Holmes, Poirot, and somebody else I forget. ---
**Author:** ![Damfino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Damfino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damfino)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-best-genre-detective/499373/71 "2009-06-12T18:58:52Z")
A wonderful OP. As stated, the problem seems to belong to either Poirot or Roderick Alleyn, both of whom have seen similar plots. If it is a locked room mystery, then, as mentioned upthread, Carter Dickson’s Fell or Merrivale would fit. In addition could I submit Inspector Ganesh Ghote, of the Bombay CID, who could just happen to be visiting relatives in the vicinity (works for both UK and USA.) He sticks to the book, disarms by his seeming incompetence, but his persistence and a bit of insight win in the end. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-best-genre-detective/499373/72 "2009-06-12T19:06:36Z")
What, no Adrian Monk? I’d say Lawrence Block’s Bernie Rhodenbarr character, but that would have to assume that he happened to be burgling the house on the same night the murder was committed, thus forcing him to solve the murder to clear his own name. ---
**Author:** ![Ceejaytee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ceejaytee/32/2956_2.png) [@Ceejaytee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ceejaytee)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-best-genre-detective/499373/73 "2009-06-12T19:48:21Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > No, no, you’re missing the obvious. Sure, those guys are all the _guests_ at the hotel, but Henry is moonlighting in a room service job (waiting doesn’t pay well enough, even at an exclusive restaurant), and while serving drinks to the assembled detectives, overhears the conversation and happens to point out the one crucial piece of information they’re all overlooking, which leads to the solution. I would normally go with Wolfe and Archie, but this was just brilliant, so I’m voting with **Chronos**. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-best-genre-detective/499373/74 "2009-06-12T20:07:14Z")
Holmes would team up with the scientists (CSI, etc.) immediately, because, at heart, Holmes is extremely logical, methodical, and scientific. He would instantly recognize the potential in the technology the 21st century detectives could bring to the table. They’d solve the crime in about 15 minutes, while the rest of the detectives were mucking around with interviews and motives. Gil Grissom and Sherlock Holmes would be instant friends, and Watson would be jealous. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-best-genre-detective/499373/75 "2009-06-12T20:37:32Z")
**Mister Rik** said: > [@](#): > > What, no Adrian Monk? No, first it would be difficult to get Monk there in the first place. He’d either have to fly (no no no) or drive (how far from San Francisco is it?). Then, he’d be delayed by cleaning his room, arguing with housekeeping for not using enough starch in his sheets, and tripping over inconveniently placed objects. Plus, he’d freak out when he seens Scooby in the room, never mind Shaggy. He’d be catatonic after accidentally eating a Scooby Snack. ---
**Author:** ![Notassmartasithought](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c0e974/32.png) [@Notassmartasithought](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Notassmartasithought)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-best-genre-detective/499373/76 "2009-06-12T21:06:16Z")
It would be Sargeant Lewis, of course, but Inspector Morse would get the credit. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-best-genre-detective/499373/77 "2009-06-12T23:58:25Z")
Actually, nowadays Morse is dead and Lewis is the top detective with his own assistant. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2009, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-best-genre-detective/499373/78 "2009-06-13T00:19:05Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I’ll assume you mean 80s Batman, then. Not as ridiculously high-tech as his contemporary counterpart, and much less of a jackass; he was actually sometimes daunted at being in the JLA, otherwise composed of demigods and super-scientists. Mmmm, probably a 60s Batman. That’s when I was reading superhero comics, in the 60s. I watched 1988’s movie Batman (with Michael Keaton), and the sequels to that. I’ve seen the Batman movie after that, but not The Dark Knight. So, pick a Batman, any Batman. I don’t know most of them, and at this stage of my life, I really don’t want to try to start catching up on all of them. ---
**Author:** ![C.Montgomery\_Burns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecd19e/32.png) [@C.Montgomery\_Burns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C.Montgomery_Burns)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2009, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-best-genre-detective/499373/79 "2009-06-13T00:48:44Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > **Mister Rik** said: > No, first it would be difficult to get Monk there in the first place. He’d either have to fly (no no no) or drive (how far from San Francisco is it?). Then, he’d be delayed by cleaning his room, arguing with housekeeping for not using enough starch in his sheets, and tripping over inconveniently placed objects. Plus, he’d freak out when he seens Scooby in the room, never mind Shaggy. He’d be catatonic after accidentally eating a Scooby Snack. He could do it over the phone, or by webcam. He once solved a French murder he read about in the newspaper, and called to tell the French police. ---
**Author:** ![Hadrian\_s\_Wall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/58956e/32.png) [@Hadrian\_s\_Wall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hadrian_s_Wall)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2009, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-best-genre-detective/499373/80 "2009-06-13T04:53:58Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > Mmmm, probably a 60s Batman. That’s when I was reading superhero comics, in the 60s. I watched 1988’s movie Batman (with Michael Keaton), and the sequels to that. I’ve seen the Batman movie after that, but not The Dark Knight. > > So, pick a Batman, any Batman. I don’t know most of them, and at this stage of my life, I really don’t want to try to start catching up on all of them. You forget that Batman does in fact have the greatest power of all superheros: An ever expanding bank account. If you come up with a tough situation that can’t be solved, send it to R&D! 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-best-genre-detective/499373.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-best-genre-detective/499373.md?page=5)