# Who's your favorite fictional detective? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 3, 2001, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-fictional-detective/60580 "2001-04-03T02:46:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Poirot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@Poirot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poirot)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2001, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-fictional-detective/60580/1 "2001-04-03T02:46:05Z")
One would think mine must be **Hercule Poirot** and one would be right. I like thinking about “the little grey cells” solving a puzzle, because I’m an armchair kind of solver. I like to imagine I could also match wits with the villain rather than fists. ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2001, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-fictional-detective/60580/2 "2001-04-03T02:55:06Z")
Sherlock Holmes, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2001, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-fictional-detective/60580/3 "2001-04-03T02:59:20Z")
Nero Wolfe, of course. ---
**Author:** ![silent\_rob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@silent\_rob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silent_rob)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2001, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-fictional-detective/60580/4 "2001-04-03T02:59:45Z")
Currenly, **I. M. Fletcher**. I found a bunch of the _Fletch_ books at a used bookstore and am currently enjoying them, very much. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Arden\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b487fb/32.png) [@Arden\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arden_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2001, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-fictional-detective/60580/5 "2001-04-03T03:02:27Z")
Actually, I love Hercule Poirot and Holmes. ---
**Author:** ![VitrolicBump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a587f6/32.png) [@VitrolicBump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VitrolicBump)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2001, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-fictional-detective/60580/6 "2001-04-03T03:03:00Z")
I must say that Monsieur Hercule Poirot is the best fictional detective. I absolutely love what Agatha Christie did with her invention. I also love his bumbling sidekick/friend, Ariadne Oliver. I can see her now, her pieces of false hair falling off and Poirot, in his gentlemanly way, giving them back to her. She cracks me up. I don’t care much for Miss Marple or Tommy and Tuppence. They just get in the way of a good story; but, of course, that is just my opinion. Have you read “Evil Under the Sun” by Christie? It is the most delicious book I have ever read! The only book I like without any real detecting is “And Then There Were None”. Chilling! ---
**Author:** ![A\_Friend\_of\_the\_Devil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f0a364/32.png) [@A\_Friend\_of\_the\_Devil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_Friend_of_the_Devil)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2001, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-fictional-detective/60580/7 "2001-04-03T03:04:11Z")
The premise is of course \* fictional \* detective, so Holmes is out… \ How about Gideon Fell? ---
**Author:** ![Clark\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c77e96/32.png) [@Clark\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clark_K)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2001, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-fictional-detective/60580/8 "2001-04-03T03:31:45Z")
Lord Peter Wimsey ---
**Author:** ![pluto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f08c70/32.png) [@pluto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pluto)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2001, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-fictional-detective/60580/9 "2001-04-03T04:21:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Clark K \* > \*\*Lord Peter Wimsey \*\* I second that. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2001, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-fictional-detective/60580/10 "2001-04-03T04:54:52Z")
Sherlock Holmes is at the top of my list, and I’m beginning to like Nero Wolfe, but the one I’d like to plac near the top of the list is **Djen Djieh Dee** , a real-life Judge from 5th century China, hero of a 17th century Chinese biography, and of a series of novels by Dutch author H. Van Gulik (and of a less well-known book, **Deception** , whose author I cannot recall). Nicholas Meyer, the unsung master of the TV movie, turned van Gulik’s \*\* Judge Dee and the Haunted Monastery\*\* into a wonderful TV movie for ABC back in the late 60s/early 70s. Each of van Gulik’s books conists of a set of interlaced mysteries, and are well worth seeking out. ---
**Author:** ![donnie\_rotten](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/71e660/32.png) [@donnie\_rotten](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/donnie_rotten)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2001, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-fictional-detective/60580/11 "2001-04-03T05:22:03Z")
C. Auguste Dupin. Although I’m pretty sure Mike Hammer could kick his ass in a fight. ---
**Author:** ![Juniper200](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@Juniper200](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Juniper200)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2001, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-fictional-detective/60580/12 "2001-04-03T05:41:19Z")
One more for Nero Wolfe. I know a guy whose given name is Mike Hammer. He’s somewhat less cool than the Spilane character. ---
**Author:** ![exchicagoan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/0ea827/32.png) [@exchicagoan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/exchicagoan)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2001, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-fictional-detective/60580/13 "2001-04-03T05:45:46Z")
My age is showing----SAM SPADE on the RADIO----HOWARD DUFF. “Oh Sam!” “Oh Effie!” ---
**Author:** ![cerebrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3da27b/32.png) [@cerebrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cerebrum)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2001, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-fictional-detective/60580/14 "2001-04-03T06:27:35Z")
Dirk Gently 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TPWombat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbce88/32.png) [@TPWombat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TPWombat)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2001, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-fictional-detective/60580/15 "2001-04-03T09:25:47Z")
**Philip Marlowe**. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2001, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-fictional-detective/60580/16 "2001-04-03T09:52:25Z")
I’d put Sherlock Holmes in the top spot and let Peter Wimsey and Father Brown fight it out for #2. ---
**Author:** ![Ross](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@Ross](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ross)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2001, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-fictional-detective/60580/17 "2001-04-03T10:11:16Z")
Inspector Morose. Sorry, Morse. No-one else could solve so many crimes and still look so miserable about it all. Alright, perhaps Dana ‘po-faced’ Scully off the X-Files. ---
**Author:** ![Catmarie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8491ac/32.png) [@Catmarie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catmarie)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2001, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-fictional-detective/60580/18 "2001-04-03T10:41:29Z")
Best TV detective Hercule Poirot, played by David Suchet. But I think that Lord Peter Wimsey is the best, even over Hercule. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2001, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-fictional-detective/60580/19 "2001-04-03T12:01:14Z")
In light of the fact that I happen to think that The Maltese Falcon is the best damn movie ever made I’ll have to say Sam Spade, formerly of Spade and Archer, but that was before Ms. Wonderley camen into the office looking a helluva lot like Mary Astor and Miles fell hard for her. Well, it turns out that…oh, go watch the movie. You’ll also be kind enough to notice my sig line. ---
**Author:** ![Rue\_DeDay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/41988e/32.png) [@Rue\_DeDay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rue_DeDay)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2001, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-fictional-detective/60580/20 "2001-04-03T12:05:19Z")
Best girl detective: Kinsey Millhone Best really fat detective: Nero Wolfe Best tough guy inna hat detective: Philip Marlowe Best T.V. detective with a glass eye: Columbo Best weird fantasy series with a dead guy for a partner detective: Garrett (by Glenn Cook. Everyone knows the rest) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-fictional-detective/60580.md?page=2)