[del]Christopher Robin[/del] Tony Gillingham, ably assisted by his friend Bill, who weren’t actually a part of the convention, but just happened to be passing through the neighbourhood and took a fancy to drop in on the octogenerian (probably because it was approaching eleven o’clock).
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.
They all simultaneously solve the case, realizing
The butler did it!
The answer is elementary, my dear Watson.
Why no Harry Dresden or Sam Vimes? If the Scooby Doo gang and the Jeffersons are there, surely Harry and Vimes count be as well.
If Nero Wolfe gets Archie, then that team even beats Sherlock, even with Watson.
How about Lord Darcy?
No Cadfael?
What about Max Carrados?
“Who’d have thought the old man had so much blood in him?”–“Murder for Christmas” a/k/a “A Holiday for Murder”.
Spenser would show up and sort it all out.
If you would allow Judge Dee to attend, his three beautiful wives would distract the other detectives thus giving him the edge. And since he is allowed to torture suspects, which always works according to a certain former vice president, he would get a confession in no timel.
I would also enjoy seeing Honey West (in her prime) on the list. Then again, if she were in her prime, I would just enjoy seeing Honey West.
They all will get the job done, so, in case I could tag along, I’d much rather party with Nick & Nora and cruise around with the Angels than spend time with somber men or juveniles.
Priorities, guys, priorities.
What, no love for Jim Rockford?
For the country-house cozy murder I say Poirot and Marple collaborate for the win. Holmes and Dr Fell would know the answer but wouldn’t care enough to share it.
Insp Alleyn smoothes over relations with the police.
Murder by Death is a great movie.
Just give Emerson Cod and his assistant Ned a minute or so with the deceased…
Yay, let’s hear it for Wolfe and Archie (especially Archie)! They get my vote.
He would if the convention was going to honor Archie. After all, he went to picnic where Fritz was going to be honored.
Did no one suggest Lord Peter Wimsey? He’s been known to have some success with such puzzles, hasn’t he?
If you plan to gather all the suspects together at a dinner party and have the villain betray himself, Nick Charles is your man. Nobody’s better at the dinner party bit than Nick. (Even though he was once shot in the tabloids.)
As long as we’re suggesting others, I think Aleister Crowley’s detective Simon Iff would certainly be a contender-- and he would amuse the other with phallic jokes in the meantime.
I think Wimsey would have a positive leg up, my dear chap. It being such an august gathering, it’s most likely he himself would have been invited to the party in the first place.
But my vote will go to the redoubtable Inspector Jonathan Whicher.
thwartme
It still coulda been Sherlock Holmes, with a Car assist. Carr wrote all the stories in The Exploits of Sherlock Holmes, either by himself or in collaboration with Adrian Conan Doyle.