Detective fiction facts for kids
Detective fiction is a type of story where an investigator, or detective, solves a crime. This crime is often a murder. Detectives can be professionals, amateurs, or even retired people. This kind of story became popular in the mid-1800s and is still very much loved today, especially in books. Some well-known detective heroes are C. Auguste Dupin, Sherlock Holmes, and Hercule Poirot. Books for younger readers, like those about The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and The Boxcar Children, have also been popular for many years.
Contents
History of Detective Stories
Ancient Clues
Some experts think that very old stories, even religious texts, have parts that feel like detective stories. For example, in the ancient story of Susanna and the Elders, a wise man named Daniel questions two witnesses. He finds out they are lying.
Another old story is the Greek play Oedipus Rex. In this play, Oedipus tries to find out who murdered King Laius. He questions many people and eventually learns the surprising truth: he himself is the killer! Even though Oedipus used old methods, this story has many parts of a detective story. It has a mystery, a small group of suspects, and a hidden past that slowly comes out.
Early Arabic Mysteries
The famous collection of stories called One Thousand and One Nights (also known as Arabian Nights) has some of the earliest detective tales. One of the oldest is "The Three Apples". In this story, a fisherman finds a locked chest with a dead woman inside. The Caliph, Harun al-Rashid, orders his helper, Ja'far ibn Yahya, to find the murderer in three days. If he fails, he will be executed!
The story is full of twists and turns. It starts with the crime and then slowly shows how things happened in the past. This is a bit like modern detective stories. The main difference is that Ja'far doesn't really want to solve the case. The killer ends up confessing. But then Ja'far has to solve another mystery to save himself.
Other stories in Arabian Nights, like "The Merchant and the Thief," have early fictional detectives. These detectives find clues and evidence to catch criminals.
Early Chinese Detective Tales
In China, there was a type of detective story called Gong'an fiction. These stories were about public law courts and cases.
Famous examples include Circle of Chalk and Di Gong An. The hero in these stories was usually a judge or an official. They were based on real historical figures like Judge Bao or Judge Dee.
These Chinese stories were different from Western ones in a few ways:
- The detective was often a local judge handling many cases at once.
- The criminal and their reasons were often shown at the very beginning. This is called an "inverted detective story."
- Sometimes, ghosts would even tell people about their death or accuse the criminal!
- The stories often had many characters, sometimes hundreds.
Western Beginnings
One of the first Western detective stories was Zadig (1748) by Voltaire. Its main character was very good at solving problems by thinking carefully.
But many people say that modern detective fiction in the English-speaking world truly began in 1841. This was when Edgar Allan Poe published "The Murders in the Rue Morgue." This story featured the first fictional detective, the clever and unusual C. Auguste Dupin. Poe called his stories "tales of ratiocination," meaning they were about logical thinking.
Dupin also appeared in "The Mystery of Marie Rogêt" (1842) and "The Purloined Letter" (1844). These stories focused on finding the truth using smart observation and logical steps.
English Detective Stories Grow
After Poe, other writers started to explore the detective genre. William Russell wrote stories about a police officer in the 1840s and 1850s.
Some say Louisa May Alcott (who wrote *Little Women*) created an early modern detective story in 1865. It was called "V.V., or Plots and Counterplots."
Émile Gaboriau was a key writer in France. His character, Monsieur Lecoq, was good at disguises. Gaboriau's stories also showed detectives carefully looking at crime scenes for clues.
Charles Dickens included a detective subplot in his novel Bleak House (1853). Inspector Bucket investigates a murder, and many characters are suspects. Dickens also left an unfinished detective novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood.
Wilkie Collins is sometimes called the "grandfather of English detective fiction." His novel The Moonstone (1868) is considered a very important mystery novel. It introduced many ideas that became common in detective stories:
- A robbery in a country house.
- An "inside job" (someone from inside is the criminal).
- Red herrings (false clues to mislead the reader).
- A skilled professional detective.
- Many false suspects.
- A "locked room" crime (where it seems impossible to enter or leave).
- A final plot twist.
In 1887, Arthur Conan Doyle created Sherlock Holmes. Holmes is probably the most famous fictional detective ever. He was inspired by Poe's Dupin and Gaboriau's Lecoq. Conan Doyle said Holmes was based on a real doctor, Dr. Joseph Bell, who was very good at noticing small details.
Sherlock Holmes is a brilliant "consulting detective" in London. He lives at 221B Baker Street. He is known for his amazing intelligence, sharp observation skills, deductive reasoning (solving things step-by-step), and forensic skills (using science to solve crimes). Conan Doyle wrote four novels and fifty-six short stories about Holmes. Most of them are told by Holmes's friend and helper, Dr. Watson.
The Golden Age of Detective Stories
The time between World War I and World War II (the 1920s and 1930s) is called the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. Many popular writers appeared during this time, mostly from Britain. Many famous female writers were part of this age, like Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, and Margery Allingham.
During this time, many rules for detective stories became standard. In 1929, a writer named Ronald Knox even wrote a list of ten rules. One rule was to avoid magic or supernatural things so the focus stayed on solving the mystery. Another common idea was that an outsider, often a talented amateur, would investigate a murder in a small, closed place with only a few suspects.
The most popular type of detective novel was the "whodunit."
What is a 'Whodunit'?
A whodunit (short for "who done it?") is a detective story where the audience tries to figure out the criminal along with the detective. You get clues, and you can try to guess who did it before the story reveals the answer at the end. This type of story was very popular during the Golden Age of detective fiction.
Agatha Christie: The Queen of Crime
Agatha Christie is the most famous writer from the Golden Age. She is also one of the best-selling authors of all time. When she died in 1976, she was the best-selling novelist in history.
Many of the most popular books from the Golden Age were written by Agatha Christie. She created long series of books with famous detectives like Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. Her success came from her complex puzzles, interesting characters, and charming settings. Some of her famous books include Murder on the Orient Express (1934), Death on the Nile (1937), and And Then There Were None (1939).
Detective Stories Around the World
China
From 1900 to 1949, China had its own Golden Age of crime fiction. Western detective stories were translated, and Chinese writers also created their own.
Cheng Xiaoqing was a key figure. He loved Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories. Cheng translated them and then wrote his own detective novels, like Sherlock in Shanghai. His detectives, Huo Sang and Bao Lang, were like the Chinese versions of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson.
Iran
The first major detective story in Persian was "Sadiq Mamquli, The Sherlock Holmes of Iran, The Sherriff of Isfahan," published in 1925.
Japan
Edogawa Rampo is considered the first major Japanese modern mystery writer. He started the Detective Story Club in Japan. Rampo admired Western mystery writers and added strange and fantastic elements to his stories in the 1920s.
Later, Seichō Matsumoto started the "social school" of Japanese mystery writing. These stories focused on social realism, showing crimes in everyday settings and linking motives to social problems.
Pakistan
Ibn-e-Safi is a very popular Urdu detective fiction writer. He started his famous Jasoosi Dunya Series in 1952, featuring characters like Colonel Fareedi and Captain Hameed. In 1955, he began the Imran Series with Ali Imran, a secret service chief.
Russia
Stories about robbers and detectives have been popular in Russia for a long time. Some early examples include "Bitter Fate" (1789) and "The Finger Ring" (1831). Later, famous authors like Fyodor Dostoevsky wrote novels like Crime and Punishment (1866) which had detective elements. In modern Russia, Boris Akunin is a well-known writer of historical detective fiction.
United States
In the United States, detective fiction in the 1960s and later became a way to tell stories about different groups of people. For example, Tony Hillerman wrote detective novels about Native American communities in New Mexico.
Other writers explored different communities:
- Harry Kemelman wrote about a Conservative Jewish community in Massachusetts.
- Walter Mosley wrote about the African American community in 1950s Los Angeles.
- Sara Paretsky explored different groups in Chicago.
Types of Detective Stories
Hardboiled Detectives
Arthur Morrison created Martin Hewitt in 1894, one of the first modern private detectives. He was an "Everyman" detective, different from the "superman" type like Holmes.
In the late 1920s, people became curious about the American crime underworld. Magazines like Black Mask published violent stories. These stories focused on the chaos and unfairness around criminals. Often, there wasn't even a real mystery; the stories were about getting justice for bad people.
In the 1930s, American writers fully embraced the private eye genre. Dashiell Hammett was a key writer with his famous private investigator, Sam Spade. This style became known as "hardboiled" fiction. It usually deals with crime in big cities, a world of disconnected signs and strangers. These stories were told in a tough, realistic way.
Later, Raymond Chandler updated this style with his detective Philip Marlowe. Marlowe had a more personal voice. His stories had rhythmic dialogue and mysterious descriptions, painting a picture of dark alleys, tough guys, and powerful people.
Ross Macdonald also updated the style with his detective Lew Archer. Archer was like a camera, observing everything. Macdonald was good at using psychology and beautiful writing. Like other 'hardboiled' writers, he aimed for realism with violence and conflict.
In the modern age, Michael Collins wrote about his private investigator, Dan Fortune. Collins explored how society affected people and showed that crime can happen anywhere.
For a long time, female authors rarely wrote private eye novels. But in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Marcia Muller, Sara Paretsky, and Sue Grafton became successful. Their female detectives were smart and strong.
Inverted Detective Stories
An inverted detective story, also called a "howcatchem", is different from a regular whodunit. In these stories, you know who committed the crime from the very beginning. The story then shows how the detective tries to solve the mystery and gather evidence against the known criminal. There might also be smaller puzzles, like why the crime was committed.
Police Procedural Stories
Many detective stories have police officers as the main characters. These stories often try to show the realistic daily work of police officers. They might be working on several cases at once. In some, the criminal is known, and the story is about finding enough evidence.
In the 1940s, the police procedural style became popular. Unlike the super-smart detectives, police detectives in these stories could make mistakes. They also had to follow rules and regulations. They do the actual things police officers do to catch criminals. Writers like Ed McBain and P. D. James wrote in this style.
Historical Mysteries
A Historical mystery is a detective story set in the past. The main plot involves solving a mystery or crime, usually a murder. While these stories existed earlier, Ellis Peters's Cadfael Chronicles (1977–1994) helped make them very popular.
A famous example is Josephine Tey's The Daughter of Time. In this book, a police inspector investigates the historical mystery of Richard III. He wants to find out if Richard III really murdered his nephews to become king.
Cozy Mysteries
Cozy mysteries became popular in the late 20th century. They are a new version of the Golden Age whodunit. These novels usually avoid violence and intense suspense. They often feature female amateur detectives. Modern cozy mysteries are often funny and have themes like cooking, animals, or quilting.
This style has very little violence and focuses on a solution found by thinking, not by police procedures. The characters are often polite, and the story is set in a small, closed community. Agatha Christie also wrote stories that fit this style.
Legal Thrillers
A legal thriller, or courtroom novel, is also related to detective fiction. The justice system itself is a big part of these stories, almost like a character. The legal system provides the setting for the story. Legal thrillers often start with court proceedings after an investigation. This often leads to new clues that change the outcome of the case. In these stories, what happens in court is very important to solving the crime. Erle Stanley Gardner made courtroom novels popular with his Perry Mason series.
Locked Room Mysteries
A locked room mystery is a type of detective story where a crime (almost always murder) happens in a way that seems impossible. It looks like the criminal could not have entered or left the crime scene without being seen. Edgar Allan Poe's "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" (1841) is thought to be the first locked-room mystery.
In these stories, the crime scene has no sign of how an intruder got in or out. The reader is usually given the puzzle and all the clues. You are encouraged to solve the mystery before the answer is revealed at the exciting climax.
Occult Detective Stories
Occult detective fiction mixes detective stories with supernatural horror fiction. Unlike a regular detective, the occult detective investigates cases involving ghosts, demons, curses, magic, monsters, and other strange, unexplainable things. Some occult detectives even have magic powers or are psychic themselves.
Modern Thoughts on Detective Stories
Keeping Secrets in Stories
Sometimes, advertisers, reviewers, or even fans accidentally give away important plot details or the solution to a mystery. For example, after the movie Witness for the Prosecution, viewers are asked not to talk about the plot. This helps future viewers enjoy the mystery fully.
Is it Realistic?
For stories with amateur detectives, it can seem unlikely that they keep finding so many crimes. For example, the character Miss Marple dealt with about two murders a year! Similarly, Jessica Fletcher from Murder, She Wrote seemed to find killed people wherever she went. In her small hometown, nearly 2% of the residents were killed by the end of the show! It's often more believable if the main characters are police officers or forensic experts.
The TV show Monk often jokes about this. The main character, Adrian Monk, is often called a "bad luck charm" because murders happen so often around him.
How Technology Changes Stories
New technology can make old plots seem unrealistic. For example, mobile phones and pagers have changed dangerous situations. Detectives can now call for help easily.
One way writers avoid this is by setting their stories in the past. These historical detective stories force the detective to use more creative ways to investigate, since they don't have modern tools.
On the other hand, some detective fiction now uses computer technology and deals with cybercrime. An example is the Daemon book series.
Rules for Detective Stories
Many authors have tried to create a list of "Detective Commandments" for writers.
In 1928, Van Dine wrote "Twenty Rules for Writing Detective Stories." He said: "The detective story is like an intellectual game. It's a sporting event. And there are clear rules for writing detective stories." Ronald Knox also wrote a set of Ten Commandments in 1929.
Most crime fiction authors agree on a specific set of rules for a true detective novel. Here are 8 key rules often found in detective novels from the last 100 years:
- A crime, usually a murder, happens early in the story.
- There are several suspects, each with different reasons for the crime.
- A main character acts as the detective, either officially or unofficially.
- The detective collects evidence about the crime and the victim.
- The detective usually interviews the suspects and witnesses.
- The detective solves the mystery and reveals the real criminal.
- The criminal is usually arrested or punished.
Famous Fictional Detectives
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes is a British fictional detective created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. He first appeared in A Study in Scarlet. After being published in Strand Magazine in 1891, Sherlock Holmes became incredibly popular. Many mystery writers copied Doyle's style and Holmes's characteristics in their own detective stories.
Sherlock Holmes stories are perhaps the most popular type of detective fiction. Doyle even tried to stop writing about him, but people wanted more, so he continued the tales. The popularity of Sherlock Holmes goes beyond books. For example, the BBC TV series Sherlock, which started in 2010, brought new interest to the character. Because of Holmes's popularity, Conan Doyle was almost as famous as Queen Victoria.
Hercule Poirot
Hercule Poirot Hercule Poirot is a fictional Belgian private detective created by Agatha Christie. He is one of Christie's most famous characters. Poirot appeared in 33 novels, one play, and over 50 short stories between 1920 and 1975.
Hercule Poirot first appeared in The Mysterious Affair at Styles in 1920. He died in Curtain, published in 1975, which was Agatha Christie's last work. On August 6, 1975, The New York Times even published an obituary for Poirot's death on their front page!
C. Auguste Dupin
C. Auguste Dupin Le Chevalier C. Auguste Dupin is a fictional character created by Edgar Allan Poe. Dupin first appeared in Poe's "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" (1841). This story is widely seen as the first detective fiction story. He also appeared in "The Mystery of Marie Rogêt" (1842) and "The Purloined Letter" (1844).
C. Auguste Dupin is considered the model for many fictional detectives who came later. This includes Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle and Hercule Poirot by Agatha Christie. Conan Doyle once wrote that Poe's detective stories were the "root from which a whole literature has developed."
Ellery Queen
Ellery Queen Ellery Queen is a fictional detective created by American writers Manfred Bennington Lee and Frederic Dannay. Ellery Queen was also the pen name used by these two cousins. He first appeared in The Roman Hat Mystery (1929). He starred in over 30 novels and many short stories. In the 1930s and 1940s, Ellery Queen was probably the most famous American fictional detective.
Detective Debuts and Final Cases
Many detectives appear in more than one book or story. Here is a list of some first and last appearances.
| Detective | Author | Debut | Final appearance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Misir Ali | Humayun Ahmed | Devi | Jakhan Namibe Andhar |
| Roderick Alleyn | Ngaio Marsh | A Man Lay Dead | Light Thickens |
| Lew Archer | Ross Macdonald | The Moving Target | The Blue Hammer |
| Byomkesh Bakshi | Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay | Satyanweshi | Bishupal Badh |
| Alan Banks | Peter Robinson | Gallows View | |
| Parashor Barma | Premendra Mitra | Goenda Kobi Parashar | Ghanada O Dui Doshor Mamababu O Parashar |
| Tom Barnaby | Caroline Graham | The Killings at Badger's Drift | A Ghost in the Machine |
| J. P. Beaumont | J. A. Jance | Until Proven Guilty | |
| Martin Beck | Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö | Roseanna | The Terrorists |
| Bimal | Hemendra Kumar Roy | Jakher Dhan | |
| Anita Blake | Laurell K. Hamilton | Guilty Pleasures | |
| Sexton Blake | Harry Blyth, George Hamilton Teed, Edwy Searles Brooks | The Missing Millionaire | |
| Harry Bosch | Michael Connelly | The Black Echo | |
| Joanna Brady | J. A. Jance | Desert Heat | |
| Jackson Brodie | Kate Atkinson | Case Histories | |
| Father Brown | G. K. Chesterton | "The Blue Cross" | "The Mask of Midas" |
| Brother Cadfael | Ellis Peters | A Morbid Taste for Bones | Brother Cadfael's Penance |
| Jack Caffery | Mo Hayder | Birdman | Wolf |
| Vincent Calvino | Christopher G. Moore | Spirit House | |
| Albert Campion | Margery Allingham | The Crime at Black Dudley | The Mind Readers (last story completed by Allingham) |
| Mr. Campion's Falcon (last story completed by Philip Youngman Carter) | |||
| (Series continues written by Mike Ripley) | |||
| Georgia Cantini | Grazia Verasani | Quo Vadis, Baby? | |
| Nick and Nora Charles | Dashiell Hammett | The Thin Man | |
| Cao Chen | Xiaolong Qiu | Death of a Red Heroine | |
| Elvis Cole | Robert Crais | The Monkey's Raincoat | |
| Quinn Colson | Ace Atkins | The Ranger | |
| The Continental Op | Dashiell Hammett | Arson Plus | The Dain Curse |
| Lord Edward Corinth and Verity Browne | David Roberts | Sweet Poison | Sweet Sorrow |
| Jerry Cornelius | Michael Moorcock | The Final Programme | |
| Dr. Phil D'Amato | Paul Levinson | "The Chronology Protection Case" | |
| Harry D'Amour | Clive Barker | "The Last Illusion" | |
| Adam Dalgliesh | PD James | Cover Her Face | The Private Patient |
| Andrew Dalziel and Peter Pascoe | Reginald Hill | A Clubbable Woman | Midnight Fugue |
| Peter Decker | Faye Kellerman | The Ritual Bath | |
| Alex Delaware | Jonathan Kellerman | When the Bough Breaks | |
| Harry Devlin | Martin Edwards | All the Lonely People | |
| Peter Diamond | Peter Lovesey | The Last Detective | |
| Harry Dresden | Jim Butcher | Storm Front | |
| Nancy Drew | Carolyn Keene | The Secret of the Old Clock | |
| Auguste Dupin | Edgar Allan Poe | The Murders in the Rue Morgue | The Purloined Letter |
| Marcus Didius Falco | Lindsey Davis | The Silver Pigs | |
| Feluda | Satyajit Ray | Feludar Goendagiri | Robertson-er Ruby |
| Erast Fandorin | Boris Akunin | The Winter Queen | |
| Kate Fansler | Amanda Cross | In the Last Analysis | The Edge of Doom |
| Dr. Gideon Fell | John Dickson Carr | Hag's Nook | Dark of the Moon |
| Sir John Fielding and Jeremy Proctor | Bruce Alexander | Blind Justice | |
| Tecumseh Fox | Rex Stout | Double for Death | The Broken Vase |
| Rei Furuya | Gosho Aoyama | Detective Conan | |
| Dirk Gently (Svlad Cjelli) | Douglas Adams | Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency | The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul (last completed work) |
| The Salmon of Doubt (unfinished) | |||
| Ganesh Ghote | H. R. F. Keating | The Perfect Murder | A Small Case for Inspector Ghote? |
| George Gideon | John Creasey | Gideon's Day | Gideon's Drive |
| Gordianus the Finder | Steven Saylor | Roman Blood | |
| Saguru Hakuba | Gosho Aoyama | Magic Kaito | |
| Mike Hammer | Mickey Spillane | I, the Jury | Black Alley (last story completed by Spillane) |
| (Series continues from unfinished Spillane manuscripts completed by Max Allan Collins) | |||
| The Hardy Boys | (ghostwriters) | The Tower Treasure | |
| Heiji Hattori | Gosho Aoyama | Detective Conan | |
| Tony Hill | Val McDermid | The Mermaids Singing | |
| Neil Hockaday | Thomas Adcock | Sea of Green | Grief Street |
| Sherlock Holmes | Sir Arthur Conan Doyle | A Study in Scarlet | The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place |
| Jayanta | Hemendra Kumar Roy | Jayanter Keerti | |
| Art Keller | Don Winslow | The Power of the Dog | |
| Craig Kennedy | Arthur B. Reeve | The Silent Bullet | The Stars Scream Murder |
| Sammy Keyes | Wendelin Van Draanen | Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief | |
| Kikira | Bimal Kar | Kapalikera Ekhono Ache | Ekti Photo Churir Rahasya |
| Shinichi Kudo / Conan Edogawa | Gosho Aoyama | Detective Conan | |
| Jake Lassiter | Paul Levine | "To Speak For The Dead" | |
| Charles Latimer | Eric Ambler | The Mask of Dimitrios (AKA A Coffin for Dimitrios) | The Intercom Conspiracy |
| Joe Leaphorn | Tony Hillerman | The Blessing Way | |
| Nelson Lee | Maxwell Scott | A Dead Man's Secret | Waldo, the Gang Buster |
| Inspector Lund | Willy Corsari | Het Mysterie van de Mondscheinsonate (The Mystery of the Moonlight Sonata) | Spelen met de Dood (Playing with Death) |
| Thomas Lynley and Barbara Havers | Elizabeth George | A Great Deliverance | |
| John Madden | Rennie Airth | River of Darkness | |
| Jules Maigret | Georges Simenon | The Strange Case of Peter the Lett | Maigret and Monsieur Charles |
| Philip Marlowe | Raymond Chandler | The Big Sleep | Playback |
| Miss Marple | Agatha Christie | The Murder at the Vicarage | Sleeping Murder |
| Darren Matthews | Attica Locke | Bluebird, Bluebird | |
| Travis McGee | John D. MacDonald | The Deep Blue Good-by | The Lonely Silver Rain |
| Sir Henry Merrivale | Carter Dickson | The Plague Court Murders | The Cavalier's Cup |
| Kinsey Millhone | Sue Grafton | "A" Is for Alibi | "Y" Is for Yesterday |
| Kiyoshi Mitarai | Soji Shimada | The Tokyo Zodiac Murders | Final Pitch |
| Kogoro Mori | Gosho Aoyama | Detective Conan | |
| Inspector Morse | Colin Dexter | Last Bus to Woodstock | Remorseful Day |
| Thursday Next | Jasper Fforde | The Eyre Affair | |
| Gideon Oliver | Aaron Elkins | Fellowship of Fear | |
| Jimmy Perez | Ann Cleeves | Raven Black | |
| Stephanie Plum | Janet Evanovich | One for the Money | |
| Hercule Poirot | Agatha Christie | The Mysterious Affair at Styles | Curtain |
| Ellery Queen | Ellery Queen | The Roman Hat Mystery | A Fine and Private Place |
| Jack Reacher | Lee Child | Killing Floor | |
| Precious Ramotswe | Alexander McCall Smith | The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency | |
| John Rebus | Ian Rankin | Knots and Crosses | |
| Dave Robicheaux | James Lee Burke | The Neon Rain | |
| Kiriti Roy | Nihar Ranjan Gupta | Kalo Bhramar | Avagunthita |
| Lincoln Rhyme | Jeffery Deaver | The Bone Collector | |
| Huo Sang | Chen Xiaoqing | The Shadow in the Lamplight | |
| Matthew Scudder | Lawrence Block | The Sins of the Fathers | |
| Masumi Sera | Gosho Aoyama | Detective Conan | |
| Dan Shepherd | Stephen Leather | True Colours | |
| Miss Silver | Patricia Wentworth | Grey Mask | The Girl in the Cellar |
| Arthur Simpson | Eric Ambler | The Light of Day | Dirty Story |
| Rabbi David Small | Harry Kemelman | Friday the Rabbi Slept Late | That Day the Rabbi Left Town |
| Sam Spade | Dashiell Hammett | The Maltese Falcon | They Can Only Hang You Once |
| Spenser | Robert B. Parker | The Godwulf Manuscript | Sixkill (last novel completed by Parker) |
| (Series continues written by Ace Atkins) | |||
| Vera Stanhope | Ann Cleeves | The Crow Trap | |
| Cormoran Strike | J.K. Rowling (under the pen name Robert Galbraith) | The Cuckoo's Calling | |
| Tintin | Hergé | Tintin in the Land of the Soviets | Tintin and the Picaros (last completed work) |
| Tintin and Alph-Art (unfinished) | |||
| Tommy and Tuppence (Thomas and Prudence Beresford) | Agatha Christie | The Secret Adversary | Postern of Fate |
| Philip Trent | E. C. Bentley | Trent's Last Case | Trent Intervenes |
| Kurt Wallander | Henning Mankell | Faceless Killers | The Troubled Man |
| V.I. Warshawski | Sara Paretsky | Indemnity Only | |
| Willam Warwick | Jeffrey Archer | Nothing Ventured | |
| Reginald Wexford | Ruth Rendell | From Doon with Death | No Man's Nightingale |
| Lord Peter Wimsey | Dorothy L. Sayers | Whose Body? | Busman's Honeymoon (last novel completed by Sayers) |
| "Talboys" (last story written by Sayers) | |||
| The Late Scholar (last story completed by Jill Paton Walsh) | |||
| Nero Wolfe | Rex Stout | Fer-de-Lance | A Family Affair (last novel completed by Stout) |
| (Series continues written by Robert Goldsborough) | |||
| Manabu Yukawa | Keigo Higashino | Tantei Galileo (AKA Detective Galileo) | |
Books About Detective Fiction
- Bloody Murder: From the Detective Story to the Crime Novel – A History by Julian Symons ISBN: 0571094651
- Stacy Gillis and Philippa Gates (Editors), The Devil Himself: Villainy in Detective Fiction and Film, Greenwood, 2001. ISBN: 0313316554
- The Manichean Investigators: A Postcolonial and Cultural Rereading of the Sherlock Holmes and Byomkesh Bakshi Stories by Pinaki Roy, New Delhi: Sarup and Sons, 2008, ISBN: 978-8176258494
- Killer Books by Jean Swanson & Dean James, Berkley Prime Crime edition 1998, Penguin Putnam Inc. New York ISBN: 0425162184
- Delightful Murder: A Social History of the Crime Story by Ernest Mandel, 1985. Univ. of Minnesota Press.
- Clifford's War: The Bluegrass Battleground by J. Denison Reed ISBN: 978-1737164029
See also
In Spanish: Ficción detectivesca para niños
- Closed circle of suspects
- List of Ace mystery double titles
- List of Ace mystery letter-series single titles
- List of Ace mystery numeric-series single titles
- List of crime writers
- List of detective fiction authors
- List of female detective characters
- Mafia
- Mystery film
