Who's your favourite fictional detective?

[BurlingtonBertieFromBow]

I like Jackson Brodie in Kate Atkinson's books
Also Inspector Barnaby, George Smiley (does some detecting in A Murder of Quality) and Adam Dalgleish

[hedgehogpatronus]

CB? BC perhaps.

And I adore Marino in the Patricia Cornwell books (before he went a bit mental).

[Yamyoid]

Cooper (Kyle McLachlan) from Twin Peaks.

[Thedoctrineofennis]

Sonia, LPW was written "ahead of his time" I would say - he had an awareness of his privilege, certainly in the later books, and his creator gave him some strong ideas about the place of women!

Cheerful, Jackson Brodie is a good character but the books in which he appears are far from "straight" mysteries.

Tim Vale - excellent call, Mrs John.

[Thedoctrineofennis]

Hedgehog why don't you like Carol? Carol seems more real to me, Tony seems more "perfect" (around the edges of his gaping flaw, of course).

[JemimaPuddle]

Charlie Parker

[WeAllHaveWings]

Tom Thorne
Alex Cross

[CleoSmackYa]

Rebus, followed by Shardlake.

[ForcesSweetheart]

Thursday Next literary detective (the eyre affair, lost in a good book etc - jasper fforde)

[HooNose]

Books: Matthew Shardlake
TV: James Hathaway

[SoniaGluck]

ennis Yes, you're right. And I agree about the feminism. Just being so attracted to a character with a title and so much wealth always just felt a little bit wrong somehow.

Not enough for me to stop reading, obviously.

[Merrylegs]

Shoestring.

[LtEveDallas]

Lt Eve Dallas of course!

(and Charlie Parker, Milo Sturgis, Alex Delaware and Alex Cross)

[seeker]

Spencer

[hedgehogpatronus]

Thedoctrineofennis because I am unduly influenced by the tv version, in which she is a bitch to Tony more often than not. Plus I just read the latest book in which she is pretty ridiculous.

Also can't bear Hermione Norris, give me Simone Lahbib any day drool

I know IABU.

[Thedoctrineofennis]

Sonia you're in love with him because DLS was, and she is a very good writer. Don't feel bad about it - there's an orderly queue on this thread and others where LPW comes up

[Thedoctrineofennis]

Hedgehog I haven't seen the tv version. I do want to be HN when I grow up and lose two stone though so I'd probably get the opposite impression!

[SoniaGluck]

[Francagoestohollywood]

Maigret.

[EmpressOfTheGoldFlames]

Peter Wimsey AND Harriet Vane
Val McDermid's Kate Brannigan
Jane Rizzoli & Maura Isles (not seen the TV version, just mean the books)
Kinsey Millhone
The early VI Warshawski, later ones not so much.

[WhereYouLeftIt]

Harry Dresden (The Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher). Not strictly speaking a detective, although he does have his PI licence and many of the books begin with him taking on a case.

And Miss Marple! Who can resist the ultimate undercover investigator?

[Xiaoxiong]

Father Brown!

[BalloonSlayer]

I like Inspector Wexford. Because he is NORMAL, happily married with kids, no tragedy in the past blighting his life making him throw himself into his work and become icily attractive to ladies he meets who turn out to have done it blah blah blah. I should say almost normal though as he was in his early sixties in 1964, and he still is. But, hey, way to go Reg!

[gymboywalton]

precious ramotswe-gorgeous books

[piprabbit]

Kinsey Millhone
VI Warshawshki
Miss Marple
Kate Brannigan
Andy Dalziel (would it be very wrong to fancy him a bit?)
Falco
Lord Peter Wimsey
Sam Vimes