The Washington Post has their own version of March Madness – picking the best fictional detective!
In our bookish version of March Madness, you’ll find a bracket with 32 possibilities, selected with the help of our Book Club newsletter readers and our frequent contributors. The characters are broken into four categories: classic sleuths (who have been at it for 50-plus years), modern masters (the leads in at least 15 novels), international gumshoes, working across the pond and beyond, and game changers or newcomers who have given new life to the genre.
It’s already giving me fits, because they are alternately making me choose between two characters I don’t know and making me choose between two of my top favorites of all time. Bastards!
I know almost none of the 4th category – “game changers” and “newcomers”.
This seems like the perfect Sunday pastime.
Who should be included, but isn’t? What are your picks? What do you know about the game changers and newcomers?
Open Thread: Albatrossity’s Harley Heads Home
mrmoshpotato
Sherlock Holmes draining 3’s like nobody’s business.
“We schooled your ass, dear Watson.”
Omnes Omnibus
Holmes with Marple as runner-up. End of story.
RSA
Spot on with your summary: favorite against favorite, unknown against unknown. Given a flat list, I would have chosen a different winner, but I ended up with Adam Dalgleish at number one and Joe Leaphorn at number two.
Cervantes
I’m not a subscriber so I can’t see the choices, but the correct answer is Nero Wolfe.
Mike in NC
Haven’t tried it yet, but Netflix just added a show called “The Irregulars”, which is about Victorian era teens hanging out with Sherlock.
oatler.
Solar Pons
OzarkHillbilly
No where near enough drunken revenge seeking reprobates among those candidates to suit me.
WaterGirl
@mrmoshpotato:
I do not know what that means.
WaterGirl
@Mike in NC:
Wow, that sounds like great fun.
Ken
@Omnes Omnibus: Almost right. Holmes with Poirot as runner-up. Though the way the brackets are set up, you can’t get that. The last pair have to be from different starting categories.
@Cervantes: The barbarians didn’t include Nero Wolfe. Probably the usual DC/NY rivalry.
Omnes Omnibus
@Ken: I stand by what I said. I don’t even like Marple, but game recognize game.
MazeDancer
Be careful on an iPad.
You think you are just tapping through the list, when it turns out each tap is a vote. So you might end up voting for someone you do not like.
SoupCatcher
The very first choice: Sherlock Holmes versus Philip Marlowe.
Not sure I’m going to be able to untangle Humphrey Bogart’s screen Marlowe from print Marlowe.
hitless
How is Bernie Gunther not in the tournament?
Ken
I didn’t recognize all the names, but was Christie the only author with two detectives on the list?
ColaMan
@Ken: This is exactly the right answer. Homes with Poirot as runner up. The initial seedings here were all wrong. Armand Gamache is a strong dark horse candidate.
MazeDancer
Also, I confess, I cheated.
While Sherlock Holmes is the likely GOAT, made him the runner-up in my election.
Joe Leaphorn FTW. Gotta represent for NM.
Steeplejack
That piece is interesting but problematic. The head-to-head matchups steer you in ways that you probably don’t like, and I wonder how many people haven’t read the books but are influenced by the filmed adaptations. Really feel this about Harry Bosch. I like the novels, but I think a lot of people know him only from the series.
I also had problems with shorter vs. longer series, e.g., Robert B. Parker’s Spenser. I can remember what a breath of fresh air The Godwulf Manuscript was in 1973, and the series was primo stuff for a long time. But then Parker started phoning it in, and the later books became almost self-parody. So how do I rate that series vs. a shorter one with less “exposure” to fatigue and miscues?
In general the choices seem pretty conservative and mainstream. Guess I’ll check the comments later. And the valued commentary here, of course.
I ended up with Sherlock Holmes as my top pick.
jeffreyw
@WaterGirl:
Sherlock Holmes draining 3’s like nobody’s business.
It’s like it says on the tin. None of your business.?
patrick II
Phillip Marlow, Joe Leaphorn, Precious Ramotswe
debbie
@Steeplejack:
I will go with Sherlock Holmes as winner, providing it’s Jeremy Brett’s version. ?
WaterGirl
@Cervantes:
Classic
Sherlock Holmes vs. Philip Marlowe
Nancy Drew vs. Lord Peter Wimsey
Hercules Poirot vs. Miss Marple
Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones vs. Alan Grant
Steeplejack
@WaterGirl:
“Draining threes” = making three-point shots in basketball, i.e., long-range and difficult. Trope for a hot hand or a hot streak.
WaterGirl
Modern Masters
Harry Bosch vs. Spenser
Easy Rawlins vs. Kinsey Milhone
Armand Gamache vs. Alex Cross
V.I. Warshawski vs. Joe Leaphorn (bastards!)
WaterGirl
International Gumshoes
Maisie Dobbs vs. Vera Stanhope
Precious Ramotswe vs. Adam Daleliesh
Guido Brunetti vs. Chen Cao
Mary Russell vs. Kurt Walander
West of the Rockies
When it comes to world-building, nuanced protagonists, compelling villains, and brilliant plot twists, it’s pretty hard to beat…
Scooby Doo!
I’ll show myself out.
RSA
@WaterGirl: For some of the Modern Masters match-ups, where X is a much better writer than Y, that influenced my vote.
WaterGirl
Game Changes and Next Generation
Isaiah Quintabe vs. Henry Rios
Jackson Brodie vs. Blanche White
Wyndham and Banerjee vs. Nina Guerrera
Alice Vega vs. Darren Matthews
raven
“Regnad Kcin” Third Eye
raven
“Where’d ya get the midget?”
Ken
@WaterGirl: I think I recognized about two of the “Next Generation” names, and haven’t read any of them. Any recommendations?
(Not that I’d accuse the WaPo of including a new author for reasons other than the fine quality of their writing…)
patrick II
I am not a Spenser fan — although I read most of the books early in the series. Robert Crais does a better job with the flippant lead and tough guy partner with Elvis Cole and Joe Pike. I always felt Spenser started fights he couldn’t finish and then called in his tough-guy pal Hawk to do the dirty work. Plus hawk’s patois was irritating, and what an author might write when trying to emulate a cool black dude unsuccessfully.
Nancy
Joe Leaphorn is my true detective. I can live with that. As long as I didn’t take it too seriously that was fun.
Totally wrong to have to choose between Holmes and Marlowe–especially Robert Mitchum as Marlowe. Jeremy Brett is wonderful, but Mitchum remained hot forever.
WaterGirl
@Ken: I don’t know any of the Game Changers or Next Generation options.
I had a similar thought (which I assume you were getting at) about this being a good way to garner some publicity for new or lesser known authors/characters.
joel hanes
Screw the brackets.
Wimsey for literary quality, by miles. No one else is even in the same league with Dorothy Sayers.
Holmes because Holmes.
WaterGirl
@patrick II: I always liked Spenser. Though it obviously wasn’t great literature, it was always fun and interesting.
Auntie Anne
Just want to recommend Chen Cao – I truly enjoy Qi Xialong’s books. I also like the Wyndham and Banerjee mysteries. The first in the series was not absorbing, but they pick up and get better after that book.
dopealope
No Nero Wolfe?
Then I don’t care ..
WaterGirl
@joel hanes:
Yeah, that’s why I made the lists of the pair-ups in each of the categories.
If I could choose a Final 4 out of all the names, the result would be a whole lot different. And making me choose between V.I. Warshawski and Joe Leaphorn is downright evil.
WaterGirl
@Auntie Anne: Can you say more about the characters and general premise of the series that we are unlikely to be familiar with?
Carol
u
Having Phillip Marlow and Sherlock together in the first round was not fair. I picked Marlowe. Both the books and the movies were about America during an interesting and different time, and the character has served as a template for tough guys good at crime but bad at romance ever since.
Ken
It could be far, far worse. I do proofreading for PGDP, and they’re working through a series of dime novels published in the late 1800s. The protagonist is accompanied by his Irish buddy and Black servant, both with distinctive speaking styles.
FelonyGovt
@Ken: I would recommend the IQ (Isaiah Quintabe) books by Joe Ide. Young Black man in a tough area of Long Beach, CA who becomes kind of a community detective, surviving on his wits. Very clever, funny, great characters.
patrick II
Having Phillip Marlow and Sherlock together in the first round was not fair. I picked Marlowe. Both the books and the movies were about America during an interesting and different time, and the character has served as a template for tough guys good at crime but bad at romance ever since.
patrick II
@WaterGirl:
Have you tried Elvis Cole (By Robert Crais)? Same schtick, but better executed.
As for Spenser, it was good writing and a good character, at least early on, but I couldn’t get past the Hawk character being used to do the cleanup work Spenser was unwilling to do. Kind of like a black guy taking out the trash, and with a speaking manner some white guy thought sounded like a cool black dude.
Omnes Omnibus
@joel hanes: Wimsey would be my pick for bronze. I would want him to pip Marple at the post but I think the lady would be able to make it to the bell.
I think I have mixed enough sporting metaphors for now.
Ken
Yeah, and in a non-judgmental (and non-actionable) way. I know how the bestseller lists are manipulated, but is there an equivalent in the literature world for payola, or the casting couch?
Stupid question, I guess; publishers are humans, therefore…
Doug R
No love for Encyclopedia Brown?
WaterGirl
@patrick II: I have not, but I will check that out.
I guessed that you did not want to have your email address listed as your screen name, so I removed part of it. What screen name/nym do you want to use?
If you tell me, I can correct that for all the comments in this thread.
WaterGirl
@Doug R: Yeah, and they had Nancy Drew but not the Hardy Boys, that seems odd.
Adam L Silverman
No Lucas Davenport?
Adam L Silverman
I’ll just leave these here.
Because no one ever really dies in Nanda Parbat…
japa21
As others have pointed out, the lack of Wolfe totally discredits the whole endeavor. Plus the set-up is really screwy and the seeding is all wrong. BTW, I ended up with Poirot number one. Unfortunately the top 4 are all in one category.
Ken
@Adam L Silverman: Now we need a bracket for fictional detectives from the comics. Batman, Jessica Jones, Martian Manhunter, Dick Tracy, The Question, Rorschach, The Sandman (Wesley Dodds, not Gaiman’s)…
Speaking of Gaiman, Holmes’ “Royal Jelly” speech in that comic reminded me of Gaiman’s “The Case of Death and Honey,” one of my favorite Holmes pastiches.
KayInMD (formerly Kay (not the front-pager))
@FelonyGovt:
Second this. In fact, IQ ended up my #1 guy, perhaps because he’s my most recently read. I haven’t lived in Long Beach for decades, but Joe Ide manages to capture its grittiness, as well as its quirky charm and character.
There were a lot of old favorites on the list, though: Joe Leaphorn, Harry Bosch, Inspector Gamache, Easy Rollins, for example. There were some tough decisions, and sometimes I wished I could go back when I saw what my next matchups brought. I think I might have rushed through too fast!
Anyway, it was a fun exercise for a Sunday afternoon.
Adam L Silverman
@Ken: That is the Question…
pamelabrown53
Why no Inspector Morse?
Wileybud
Don’t subscribe so I can’t enjoy the article. That said it would be a three-way (Menage a way?) toss-up between Phillip Marlowe, Sam Spade & Jim Rockford.
piratedan
of the opinion of many that while this was fun, there were loads of others that could have been included from Lawrence Block’s Bernie Rhodenbarr to Lee Child’s Jack Reacher. there’s even a SF/Fantasy division they could have created if they had cared to that could have included Butcher’s Dresden to Bujold’s Penric to Cook’s Garrett characters (and yes, I’m aware that I’m just scratching the surface). I do appreciate them making the effort and its an awesome conversation starter and to be fair, if the author entertains you and causes your gears to turn, well then… well done!
Heidi Mom
My top pick was Joe Leaphorn. Every now and then I think about my favorite books in terms of “books I’d take to the nursing home with me,” and that group always include Tony Hillerman’s first three Leaphorn novels. There are other fictional detectives I admire — Armand Gamache (author’s adoration of the character is a bit much), Spenser (“parody,” indeed), Joe Pike (a little too perfect), Lucas Davenport (evolving into a crotchety old age) — but none who wears so well. Only Adam Dalgliesh and maybe Virgil Flowers (he’s still young) approach Leaphorn as a fully evolved human being who knows himself and doesn’t bore me.
zhena gogolia
Holmes. Can there be any doubt.
Dorothy A. Winsor
That was fun.
zhena gogolia
@pamelabrown53:
Lots were left out. No Wexford either.
Jay C
Myself, I think trying to fix just one GOAT in the “fictional detectives” category is unproductive (and too-dependent on opinion), so I would rather group the “greatests” in different classes. Old Sherlock, IMHO, is in a class by himself, so not on the list.
A) “Brit classic”
Hercule Poirot, Lord Peter Wimsey, Miss Marple (hon. mention: Insp. Alleyn)
B) “Golden Age”
Insp. Maigret, Nero Wolfe, Philip Marlowe (hon. mention: Sam Spade)
C) “Brit Modern”
Adam Dalgleish, Martin Beck, John Rebus (hon. mention Thomas Lynley)
D) “Contemporary”
Harry Bosch, Leaphorn & Chee, Elvis Cole (hon. mention: Easy Rawlins)
Everyone’s mileage, I am sure, will vary……
lowtechcyclist
@raven:
“No anchovies? You’ve got the wrong man. I spell my name – Danger.”
zhena gogolia
Nero Wolfe would probably have been my #2 after Holmes.
zhena gogolia
@Jay C:
Good list.
cain
@WaterGirl:
This sounds like how Batman just started out by himself, and next thing you know there is a whole “bat family” batgirl, robin, dog, etc etc. :-)
rbandah
Cadfael?
Ken
@Jay C: Good idea, and good choices. Especially putting Holmes in his own class, which reminds me of the old story about the music critics debating the greatest composer, and setting aside Mozart so that there could be a debate.
patrick II
@WaterGirl:
“patrick II” is what I normally use. My hand slipped on the keyboard and I ended up with a “u” and submitted it before I knew it.
And try Elvis Cole if you liked Spenser.
Timill
Peter Wimsey as my #1 (felt he needed the points more than Holmes).
Joe Ide added to my eReaderIQ watch list.
Bex
Capt. Jim Agnihotri in Murder in Old Bombay by Nev Marsh.
laura
Holly Gibney -oh how I love her!
And Morse both young and old – it’s a miracle that there is even a single soul left alive in the Thames Valley.
Did I mention Holly Gibney? Cynthia Erivo does her justice and more.
patrick II
@Ken:
I would hope they got better in one hundred years.
JDM
Jeffery “Dude” Lebowski. Runner-up, well, not that Irish monk guy.
scav
Definitely Team Holmes & Whimsey (Russell slides in for me as Holmes-adjacent), but Alleyn, Campion, Cadfael & Judge Dee are missing.
TinRoofRusted
Jackson Brodie is played by Jason Isaacs of Harry Potter fame in series called Case Studies. It is based on the mystery novels by Kate Atkinson . I am currently reading her book Transcription which is great so far. Anyway the series is based in Edinburgh and an enjoyable read. I would highly recommend the series.
Yutsano
No Dirk Gently. I’m out.
@Adam L Silverman: Jeffrey Combs is CRIMINALLY underrated. Man has been in every Star Trek franchise (so far, not sure about Lower Decks) and just keeps giving. He’s also been reported as one of the nicest VAs in the business.
WaterGirl
@pamelabrown53: I know, right!
zhena gogolia
@TinRoofRusted:
We’re watching one of the greatest Morse episodes, “Cherubim and Seraphim.” Isaacs is great in it as a smarmy scientist.
Lurker 015
Is Dirk Gently an option?
Jørgen
No Reginald Hill? With Dalziel & Pascoe. Specifically ‘Dialogues of the Dead’. For shame.
joel hanes
@lowtechcyclist:
Why that’s nothing but a two-bit ring from a Crackerback jox.
WaterGirl
@patrick II: Okay. I have changed all of your comments in this thread to patrick II – and you need to change your name back to patrick II before you post your next comment.
TinRoofRusted
@zhena gogolia: I had forgotten that one! I will have to find it to replay later this week. And really, no Morse in the brackets? I get that there are lots of British detectives but still, it is a glaring oversight in my mind.
SFAW
The Singing Detective? Or is that too meta?
That aside, anybody but Wallander (TV version, don’t know about the books).
WaterGirl
@Lurker 015: Sadly, not in the Washington Post options.
WaterGirl
@TinRoofRusted: Maybe we’ll have another one of these next week where I ask you guys to come up with the top 32!
Yutsano
@WaterGirl: Sigh. Douglas Adams once again gets zero appreciation for his writing talents.
TinRoofRusted
@WaterGirl: I’m up for that. Just reading the comments has reminded me of so many great series. My reading list has grown by another few years. SIGH.
The Fat White Duchess
@Ken: What about “A Study in Emerald”?
Lord Peter Wimsey has my heart, but I wish they’d mentioned Peter Grant and “Rivers of London.”
i need to read more Blanche White stories (only read the first one).
sab
@Jay C: Isn’t Martin Beck scandinavian not Brit? Swedish or Danish, I forget which.
Omnes Omnibus
Maybe the other detectives made the NIT….
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: What does NIT stand for? At first I thought it was NYT, as in the NYT had their own bracket for best detectives.
*The google was no help at all.
quakerinabasement
@WaterGirl: I saw the first episode. Kind of Harry Potter meets Doctor Watson.
J R in WV
No love for Travis McGee, he of the “Busted Flush”?
Sad..
ETA: Learning about some authors and stories I haven’t seen/read before, so good news all around. More good stuff to read!!!
ETA 2 : more basket ball talk, the National Invitational Tournament, for teams not picked to be in the NCAA tourney. The NIT was more fun when the NCAA was only 32 teams, and some really good teams missed that cut-off.
Yutsano
@WaterGirl: It’s a basketball joke. The National Invitational Tournament* is for those teams that didn’t make the top 64 yet still had really good records. So basically a second tier tournament.
WaterGirl
@Mike in NC: You didn’t mention that they are supernatural mysteries!
Gorilla Meek
From the Golden Age, these two:
Judge Dee (Robert van Gulik)
Nigel Strangeways (Nicholas Blake)
quakerinabasement
@dopealope: Nero was my Dad’s favorite, but as my Dad was from north Alabama, he pronounced the detective’s last name as “Wuff.” Always cracked me up.
Adam L Silverman
@Yutsano: If there’s an episode of Enterprise with Schran in it, I watch it no matter how many times I’ve already seen it.
scav
@Yutsano: No fear for Adams — he’s off in entirely his own universe/timeline, or at least one shared solely with Jasper Fforde, so they both tie for all medals possible.
Pappenheimer
Do Judge Dee or Li Kao/Number 10 Ox show up in the brackets?
pamelabrown53
@zhena gogolia:
I’m gonna locate that episode and rewatch. Thanks!
brantl
@Cervantes: Exactly.
arrieve
I got stuck near the beginning with Precious Ramotswe vs. Adam Dalgliesh and almost gave up.
Dalgliesh is the better detective, no question. And a wonderful, fully drawn character. But for pure charm and atmosphere, you can’t beat the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency.
Somehow I ended up with Vera Stanhope at number 1. I can live with that.
Hildebrand
Perhaps I’ve missed the mention, but I think Elijah Baley (in Asimov’s great robot series) definitely deserves a spot in the tournament.
The Lodger
Putting in a good word for Randall Garrett’s Lord Darcy.
zhena gogolia
@Adam L Silverman:
Happy Passover! Sorry I missed the post in real time.
Nelle
Very late to reading this thread but thanks all for so many good suggestions. Armand Gamache, Morse, Miss Marple, Father Brown (though more TV than stories)…could go on and on. Series Seven of Brokenwood drops tomorrow on Acorn, by the way.
My husband wants to know why so many detective /police procedurals are produced lately. Is it because we need to have the bad guys hunted down and identified?
opiejeanne
@pamelabrown53: Or DI Banks?
Just One More Canuck
@OzarkHillbilly: Eddie Valiant from Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
opiejeanne
@Jay C: Campion, too.
opiejeanne
@zhena gogolia: In order: Gamache, Precious Ramatswe, Sherlock Holmes, and Darren Matthews. I don’t know Darren Matthews, but the blurb looked interesting. I can’t believe Bosch didn’t make the list, but it was because of the way they pitted them against each other in the later rounds.
SFBayAreaGal
@Heidi Mom: My favorite Joe Leaphorn is “A Thief of Time”.
Laura W.
@WaterGirl: I too hated to choose between V.I. And Joe!
Ken
Also very good, in a completely different way. I’ve had the thought that it make an interesting setting for role-playing, especially if the players could pick sides.
I also like Stephen King’s “The Doctor’s Case”. But if we’re going to get into Holmes stories, especially Holmes crossovers, we need another thread. Possibly another blog.
SFBayAreaGal
@Adam L Silverman: So true, no one dies. A classic and modern “Detective”, I like very much. I need to check my collection to see if I have this issue.
Brachiator
Great thread. Lots of additions to my reading list.
Another vote for Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones. And also a nod to Easy Rawlins.
I would also throw in Poe’s foundational detective C. Auguste Dupin.
I know him more from tv dramatizations than the novels, but Adam Dalgliesh has always been a huge favorite.
Maybe a bit of a cheat because he is from television, not novels or short stories, but Columbo belongs among the greats.
Greatly enjoyed one commenter’s nod to Solar Pons, an excellent Holmes pastiche.
SFBayAreaGal
@Yutsano: I love Jeffrey Combs.
Reboot
Not too many Donna Leone readers in this thread….
lgerard
Sadly, neither Charlie Bradshaw nor Vic Plotz made the cut.
evodevo
@sab: Swedish. LOVED that series… and where was Ross McDonald? Didn’t see him…Lew Archer was a Sixties successor to Philip Marlowe, in my estimation
Auntie Anne
@WaterGirl: just got home from getting the shot, so am late to reply. Qi Xiolong’s Chen Cao is both a police inspector and a member of the Party. Lots of interesting background on Chinese society and how the country and Party are changing. Also lots of secondary characters who are absorbing.
Wyndham and Banerjee books are set in colonial India. Wyndham is English, and an opium addict; Banerjee is a “native”. Many colorful details about colonial life.
Chris Johnson
Anyone who’s in this thread but hasn’t read the anthology ‘Murder Ink’… you’re welcome :)
It’s not an anthology of stories. It’s an anthology of essays ABOUT detective stories, and it’s got everybody here that’s not too recent, and everybody not too recent that’s mentioned in the thread. Just delightful :)
d.m. gordon
Add to the list:
James Crumleys The Last Good Kiss – Crumley wrote other books with the same detective (Shugrue) – but LGK is his masterpiece. Closer to literature than many others mentioned here,
Philips Marlowe because,
Travis McGee
Lew Archer – surprised his name didn’t come up earlier…
I got lots more but these might be my favorites – of course putting Holmes in his own category (su generis)
Haroldo
No Continental Op? No Harry Hole??? (And, as previously mentioned, neither of Crumley’s main characters…)
WaterGirl
@Laura W.: That was just wrong.
piratedan
@Haroldo: there was a nod to Ms. Leon’s creation, not to Mr. Nesbo (or even Mr. Adler). I have to admit, it’s a great click bait idea because everyone has their favorites that enjoys the genre.
Morzer
Put me down for Chen Cao, Guido Brunetti, Bernie Gunther, John Rebus, Lord Peter Wimsey, Brother Cadfael, Philip Marlowe and William of Baskerville.
MoeLarryAndJesus
Now THAT is a mystery.
Also, John Rebus and Travis McGee.
rikyrah
@Ken:
this is on point
rikyrah
we are just doing movies, right?
if TV is allowed, then I’m Team Frank Pembleton all the way.
Michael Cain
@Cervantes:
Yeah, in the Nero Wolfe books Rex Stout gave you every piece of information that Wolfe would use to solve the mystery. I always felt like Agatha Christie kept secrets from the readers.
WV Blondie
@Adam L Silverman: and no “fu**ing Flowers?”
Also, no Dalziel and Pascoe! (If you haven’t heard of them, British cops – Reginald Hill is the author and they’re entertaining literature!)
P.S. Also, no Ellery Queen?
James Kakalios
No Batman? No Nero Wolfe? Nick and Nora Charles for style and drinking stamina alone! And another vote for Ellery Queen.
I’m reading a collection of Baroness Orczy’s Little Man in the Corner – the very first armchair detective. May not be the best – but he is the oldest.
columbusqueen
@Yutsano: And Combs always gives a great performance no matter what makeup heavy alien he’s playing. Considering how much time he spent in makeup chairs during his Star Trek years, I know he’s a nice guy.
columbusqueen
I’ve always been a Wimsey kind of girl. When I went to Oxford the first time, I made sure I took my paperback copy of Gaudy Night.
I also love Judge Dee. Considering how many good historical mysteries there are right now, those could be their own category. Phyne Fisher, anyone?
Geminid
@Reboot: My friend Joan is a big Donna Leon fan, and has gone through almost all her novels. Joan told me that while Leon’s novels have been translated into many languages, at Leon’s request there are no translations into Italian.
Leon moved from the U.S. to Italy in the 1980s, and taught English at a University of Maryland extension as well as on U.S. military bases, before taking up writing full-time. She now lives in Switzerland, with a house in a rural village and an apartment in Zurich. Leon is a Swiss citizen.
Brachiator
Late to the thread. A little something on mystery novel series worth reading.
Lymie
@joel hanes: I’m with you!
The Oracle of Solace
@Brachiator: It doesn’t matter if he’s from teevee—Columbo, without a doubt, is the greatest fictional detective.
Georgette
Armand Gamache
WaterGirl
@Georgette: Your first comment has to be manually approved, but after that they show up right away.
Gran
I’m trying to find the final winner, but my “final four” are Alan Grant, Chen Cao, Armand Gamache, and Jackson Brodie. How could you choose just one? And besides, you left out John Sandford’s Davenport and Flowers, Peter Robinson’s DCI Banks, J D Robb’s Eve Dallas (maybe from your Game Changers list), and how about Lawrence Block’s Matthew Scudder? But your list was great and I enjoyed playing the game.