best fictional detective?

[discokermit]

who are the best and why? also who are the shittest?

my favourite is philip marlowe. i like his method, tell a little lie here, drop some more info there, apply a bit of pressure, see what happens. give the pot a stir and see what floats to the top.
i also like lnspector rogas in "il contesto" by leonardo sciascia. who spends some time floating in a pool with a drink letting his subconscious do the work.
on telly, james rockford, who i think is a more human marlowe and columbo, who i like the way he uses his class and cultural background to decieve his opponent into underestimating him.

shit - sherlock holmes - head measuring pseudo scientist.
shit - c auguste dupin - everyone heard the voice of a different nationality, therefore it must be an orang utan!
shit - any agatha christie - they all did it!

 

[editor]

Jeremy Brett playing Sherlock Holmes.

 

[discokermit]

care to expand on what you like about him or his method?

 

[DotCommunist]

Quincy was an ME and the 'social issues' led episodes could be reactionary crap but he was a brilliant and irascible man with a detectives mind so I'm having him as you've already mentioned columbo

 

[Orang Utan]

Inspector Bumhat

 

[Pickman's model]

Montalbano, Jules de Grandin, Maigret should all be in the running

 

[discokermit]

Inspector Bumhat

i remember him. he was brilliant.

 

[tim]

Quincy was an ME and the 'social issues' led episodes could be reactionary crap but he was a brilliant and irascible man with a detectives mind so I'm having him as you've already mentioned columbo

Simenon's Maigret deserves at least a mention. Most of his books have recently been reissued in English translation but they're also easy to read in French and fairly short

Early 60's BBC adaptation:

 

[tim]

Sjöwal and Wahöö's Martin Beck novels are enjoyable attempt to do a Marxist analysis of 1960s Swedish society through the medium of the detective novel. The format is treally more that of a police procedural with Beck being a prominent member of the team rather than the main protagonist.

An audio book of one of the series



Maj Sjöwal died this April here is a short clip of her talking about their work

 

[Santino]

Inspector Bumhat

What about Scooby Lance?

 

[Sue]

Bernie Gunther.

Aurelio Zen.

 

[killer b]

I used to love Marlowe, but didn't like him so much last time I tried reading them - it all seemed a bit empty and shallow.

Still into Maigret, Sam Spade, Kinky Friedman and Easy Rawlins. Currently really enjoying the star of Fred Vargas' books, Commissaire Adamsberg.

 

[Reno]

 

[JimW]

I read a whole load of very pot boiler ones set in ancient Rome that I really enjoyed for the setting, though really they were pretty formulaic and not making any great claims, forgot his name even but looking it up it was Marcus Didius Falco.

 

[Throbbing Angel]

Sjöwal and Wahöö's Martin Beck novels are enjoyable attempt to do a Marxist analysis of 1960s Swedish society through the medium of the detective novel. The format is treally more that of a police procedural with Beck being a prominent member of the team rather than the main protagonist.

An audio book of one of the series



Maj Sjöwal died this April here is a short clip of her talking about their work

^^^this^^^

I'm also a big fan of the Beck novels - and of the Swedish TV series with Peter Haber as Martin. First 6 series are still on Amazon Prime Video.

I also like the Rebus novels and TV shows. Like inspector rogas, he spends some time with a drink letting his subconscious do the work.

Enjoyed Rowan Atkinson as Maigret recently too - the novels less so - he used to bang them out in a fortnight to pay the bills whilst he concentrated on what he called his 'proper' novels.

 

[Pickman's model]

Simenon's Maigret deserves at least a mention. Most of his books have recently been reissued in English translation but they're also easy to read in French and fairly short

Early 60's BBC adaptation:

Simenon's Maigret already mentioned

 

[Pickman's model]

William of Baskerville

 

[JimW]

Also historical, liked Shardlake ones by CJ Sansom.

 

[chilango]

Elvis Cole
Kurt Wallander

 

[chilango]

Rebecka Martinsson

 

[petee]

 

[DaveCinzano]

Quincy was an ME and the 'social issues' led episodes could be reactionary crap but he was a brilliant and irascible man with a detectives mind so I'm having him as you've already mentioned columbo

I think we've already established which is better

 

[starfish]

Steve Carella.

 

[MrSki]

From TV I like Foyle from Foyle's War. Like his character. Well acted by Michael Kitchen. Honeysuckle Weeks is a good sidekick in a jolly hockey sticks sort of way.

 

[Supine]

I do like a good Rebus investigation

 

[bellaozzydog]

I do like a good Rebus investigation

beat me to it, Rebus is a winner

suspects everything and everything and always goes for the zebra option rather than horse

plus he’s an unlikeable drunk fat middle aged wanker

 

[Badgers]

Sherlock Holmes

 

[Aladdin]

Thread needs a poll...

 

[Supine]

plus he’s an unlikeable drunk fat middle aged wanker

Maybe I like him because he's similar to me

 

[Puddy_Tat]

there's no police like Holmes