Detective fiction

Detective fiction is a branch of crime fiction that centres upon the investigation of a crime, usually murder, by a detective, either professional or amateur. It is closely related to mystery fiction but generally contains more of a puzzle element that must be solved, generally by a single protagonist, either male or female.

Famous fictional detectives

The full list of fictional detectives would be immense. The format is well suited to dramatic presentation, and so there are also many television and film detectives, besides those appearing in adaptations of novels in this genre. Fictional detectives generally fall within one of four domains:

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• the amateur or dilettante detective (Marple, Jessica Fletcher);
• the private investigator (Holmes, Marlowe, Spade, Rockford);
• the police detective (Ironside, Kojak, Morse);
• more recently, the medical examiner, criminal psychologist, forensic evidence expert or other specialists (Scarpetta, Quincy, Cracker, CSI).

Notable fictional detectives and their creators include:

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Amateurs

• Father Brown — G. K. Chesterton
• Roger Bannion — Herbert Adams
• Roger Sheringham — Anthony Berkeley
• Albert Campion — Margery Allingham
• Kate Fansler — Amanda Cross
• Dr. Gideon Fell — John Dickson Carr
• Jessica Fletcher — Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson & William Link: Murder, She Wrote (TV)
• Kinky Friedman — Kinky Friedman
• Jannie Jansen — Janwillem van de Wetering
• Jimmy Kudo (Shin'ichi Kudo) a.k.a. Conan Edogawa — Gosho Aoyama
• Hajime Kindaichi — Yozaburo Kanari & Fumiya Sato: Kindaichi Case Files manga series
• Donald Lam — Erle Stanley Gardner
• Miss Marple — Agatha Christie
• Hercule Poirot — Agatha Christie
• The Great Merlini — Clayton Rawson
• Sir Henry Merrivale — Carter Dickson
• Special Agent Pendergast — Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child
• Drury Lane — Ellery Queen
• Ellery Queen — Ellery Queen
• Jim Qwilleran — Lilian Jackson Braun
• Simon Templar aka The Saint — Leslie Charteris
• Easy Rawlins — Walter Mosley
• Rabbi David Small — Harry Kemelman
• Paul Temple — Francis Durbridge
• Philip Trent — E.C. Bentley
• Augustus S. F. X. Van Dusen — Jacques Futrelle
• Lord Peter Wimsey — Dorothy L. Sayers
• Philo Vance — S.S. Van Dine
• Perry Mason — Erle Stanley Gardner

Private eyes

• Lew Archer — Ross Macdonald
• Joe Caneili — Hayford Peirce
• Rex Carver — Victor Canning
• The Continental Op (He never reveals his name, but he's an operative for the Continental Detective Agency.) — Dashiell Hammett
• Dan Fortune — Dennis Lynds, aka Michael Collins
• Mike Hammer — Mickey Spillane
• Sherlock Holmes — Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
• Thomas Magnum — Donald P. Bellisario, Glen A. Larson:Magnum, P.I. (TV)
• Travis McGee — John D. MacDonald
• Philip Marlowe — Raymond Chandler
• Hercule Poirot — Agatha Christie
• Kinsey Millhone — Sue Grafton
• Laura Principal — Michelle Spring
• Cliff Hardy — Peter Corris
• Precious Ramotswe — Alexander McCall Smith
• Jim Rockford — Stephen J. Cannell & Roy Huggins: The Rockford Files (TV)
• Sam Spade — Dashiell Hammett
• Spenser — Robert B. Parker
• Nero Wolfe — Rex Stout
• John Shaft — Ernest Tidyman

Police detectives

:Includes FBI agents, etc.

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• John Hartigan — Sin City
• Roderick Alleyn — Ngaio Marsh
• Sir John Appleby — Michael Innes
• J. P. Beaumont — J. A. Jance
• Martin Beck — Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö (Sjöwall and Wahlöö)
• Henri Bencolin — John Dickson Carr
• Lou Boldt — Ridley Pearson
• Harry Bosch — Michael Connelly
• Commissario Guido Brunetti — Donna Leon
• Charlie Chan — Earl Derr Biggers
• Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn — Tony Hillerman
• Lieutenant Columbo — Richard Levinson and William Link: Columbo (TV)
• De Cock — A. C. Baantjer
• Inspector Ghote — H. R. F. Keating
• Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs et al. (NCIS) — Donald P. Bellisario & Don McGill: ' (TV)
• Det. Robert Goren — Rene Balcer, Elizabeth Benjamin, et al.: ' (TV)
• Grijpstra and de Gier, the Amsterdam Cops (who later became private eyes) — Janwillem van de Wetering
• Robert Ironside (strictly, an ex-police detective) — Collier Young: Ironside (TV)
• Maigret — Georges Simenon
• Jack Malone et al. (FBI) — Hank Steinberg: Without a Trace (TV)
• Colonel March — John Dickson Carr
• Adrian Monk (another ex-police detective) — Andy Breckman: Monk (TV)
• Inspector Morse — Colin Dexter
• Inspector Rebus — Ian Rankin
• Greg Rush and Rick Chinbroski — Steve Copling
• Charlie Resnick — John Harvey
• Commissaire Tama — Hayford Peirce
• Dick Tracy — Chester Gould
• Kurt Wallander — Henning Mankell
• Inspector Wexford — Ruth Rendell
• Saito Masanobu — Janwillem van de Wetering (also as Seiko Legru)
• Wachtmeister Studer — Friedrich Glauser (some kind of Maigret in Switzerland)
• Luis Mendoza — Dell Shannon

Medical examiners, etc.

• Dr Thorndyke — R Austin Freeman
• Dr Priestley — John Rhode
• Reggie Fortune — H. C. Bailey
• Craig Kennedy — Arthur B. Reeve
• Dr Basil Willing — Helen McCloy
• Dr. Temperance Brennan — Kathy Reichs
• Horatio "H." Caine et al. — Ann Donahue, Carol Mendelsohn & Anthony Zuiker: ' (TV)
• Dr. Eddie "Fitz" Fitzgerald (a criminal psychologist) — Jimmy McGovern: Cracker (TV)
• Gil Grissom, Ph.D. et al. — Anthony Zuiker: '
• Dr. Jane Halifax (a forensic psychologist) — Halifax f.p. (TV)
• Daphne Matthews, forensic psychologist — Ridley Pearson
• Dr. R. Quincy, M.E. — Glen A. Larson & Lou Shaw: Quincy, M.E. (TV)
• Dr. Kay Scarpetta — Patricia Cornwell
• Det. Mack Taylor et al. — Andrew Lipsitz & Janet Tamaro:' (TV)

Others

• Anthony Blake (Anthony Dorian in pilot episode) (magician) — Larry Brody: The Magician (TV)
• Jonathan Creek (designer of illusions for a magician) — David Renwick: Jonathan Creek (TV)
• Perry Mason (lawyer) — Erle Stanley Gardner
• Ben Matlock (lawyer) — Dean Hargrove: Matlock (TV)
• Tony Petrocelli (lawyer) — Harold Buchman & Sidney J. Furie: Petrocelli (TV)
• Tarot (magician) — Trevor Preston: Ace of Wands (TV)
• Arsène Lupin (gentleman-thief) Maurice Leblanc
• Batman (vigilante/superhero) — Bob Kane and Bill Finger, first appearance in 1939 comic book Detective Comics #27 (Comics, TV, Movies)
• Robert Langdon (Professor of Religious Symbology) — Dan Brown

And for younger readers

• Encyclopedia Brown — Donald J. Sobol
• Nancy Drew — Carolyn Keene and others
• The Famous Five — Enid Blyton
• The Hardy Boys — Franklin W. Dixon and others
• The Secret Seven — Enid Blyton
• The Three Investigators — Robert Arthur and others

Historical

:In chronological order.

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• Gordianus the Finder (Roman Republic of the 1st century BCE) — Steven Saylor: Roma sub Rosa series
• Senator Decius Caecilius Metellus the Younger (Roman Republic of the 1st century BCE) — John Maddox Roberts: SPQR series
• Marcus Didius Falco (the Roman Empire of the 1st century CE) — Lindsey Davis
• Judge Dee (7th-century China) — Robert van Gulik
• Sister Fidelma (7th-century Ireland) — Peter Tremayne
• Li Kao (7th-century China) — Barry Hughart
• Brother Cadfael (12th-century England and Wales) — Ellis Peters
• Brother William of Baskerville (1327) — Umberto Eco: The Name of the Rose
• Brother Athelstan (late 14th century London) — P. C. Doherty (as Paul Harding)

In science fiction and fantasy

• Basil Argyros — Harry Turtledove
• Marty Burns — Jay Russell (writer)
• Elijah Baley and R. Daneel Olivaw — Isaac Asimov
• Lord Darcy — Randall Garrett
• Dirk Gently — Douglas Adams
• Hawk and Fisher — Simon Green
• Jonas, der letzte Detektiv — well done funny & hardboiled radio play in Germany
• Nohar Rajasthan — S. Andrew Swann
• Kline Maxwell — S. Andrew Swann (a journalist in Dragons of the Cuyahoga)
• Sam Space — William Nolan
• Wendell Urth — Isaac Asimov
• His Grace Commander Sir Samuel Vimes — Terry Pratchett's Discworld series
• Gil "the ARM" Hamilton (of the Amalgated Regional Militia in the early known space history — Larry Niven
• Tex Murphy — Aaron Conners

Other notable authors

• Leigh Brackett
• Alan Gordon
• Jack Vance