The greatest fictional detective...

[C]

....it's got to be Columbo

I am a massive fan and addict.

I have seen every episode umpteen times



You?




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[Darkness_Fish]

Got to be Rebus for me, but not on TV. Solves crimes by hanging around Edinburgh bars, drinking with unsavoury types. Sounds like the perfect job.

[Samoan]

Got to be Rebus for me, but not on TV. Solves crimes by hanging around Edinburgh bars, drinking with unsavoury types. Sounds like the perfect job.

I haven't read any of the novels but Rebus is a big favourite of mine too although not John Hannah's Rebus but Ken Stott. I think he's incredibly attractive, particularly his accent.

[C]

drinking with unsavoury types.

I prefer a scruffy raincoat, a filthy cigar and a beat up Peugeot

Oh, and just one more thing....




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[Belle Lettre]

Maigret for me. Currently working my way through the lot.

[Minnie the Minx]

Sarah Lund

[toomanyhatz]

Eazy Rawlins or Jim Rockford. (Both LA PIs! They should work together!)

[Fonz]

Holmes is a good choice, and Morse an even better one, but I’m going for Dave Brandstetter.

[GoogaMooga]

Columbo, with Kojak a close second. They are almost polar opposites of each other. One cajoles, the other barks orders. Columbo is devious, Kojak is more direct. I love those cat and mouse games in "Columbo", and all the establishing scenes where he arrives at the scene of the crime, usually early in the morning, all sleepy-eyed, morning cigar in hand, his hair all tousled, and the habitual request for a cup of coffee which is brought to him. To me they are the key moments in the series. They are almost like a ritual. No other detective show has been repeated more often on Danish TV; only "The Persuaders" show comes anywhere near the cult of "Columbo".

[Flower]

Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg ... I wish that Fred Vargas would write more books.

Reg Wexford would be my second choice (Ruth Rendell can't write anymore books)

[souphound]

Clouseau is on my good side mes amis.

[Tom Waits For No One]

Saga Norén

[Charlie O.]

I'm with C and Googa on Columbo (I've watched the entire run twice in the past year), and with souphound on Clouseau.

[kath]

i do love columbo. brought up on it... as TV detectives go.

i don't know who rebus is. must consult with my sister, the maniac mystery fan.

i used to read scads of mysteries when i was young, but they're all pretty old skool.

[Positive Passion]

On TV, it is Rockford, though Joan Hickson's version of Jane Marple is also outstanding.

On paper, there's no question that Holmes, Maigret and Poirot are the greatest.

[Dr. Baron]

I wonder whether there is a meaningful distinction to be made for the purposes of this thread between a detective (who is a cop) and a private detective (who is not a cop). Maybe it doesn’t matter, but I think of them differently.

[souphound]

I'm with C and Googa on Columbo (I've watched the entire run twice in the past year), and with souphound on Clouseau.

Columbo was very popular here in French at the time. My whole family was nuts for him. I liked him too, but only when the hockey wasn't on.

Funnily enough, I haven't read a whole lot of detective/cop type stories. Absolutely, Agatha Christie had some great stuff to offer and I read a few of hers, but my main literary interests lay elsewhere than that genre overall. I still have a few unread books of the type here now. I wonder if maybe my tastes have changed over time. May just try one soon.

[Charlie O.]

Funnily enough, I haven't read a whole lot of detective/cop type stories. Absolutely, Agatha Christie had some great stuff to offer and I read a few of hers, but my main literary interests lay elsewhere than that genre overall. I still have a few unread books of the type here now. I wonder if maybe my tastes have changed over time. May just try one soon.

I'm the same way. When I was a youngster, I loved a series of books featuring boy detective Leroy "Encyclopedia" Brown (and his cohort Sally, the muscle of the operation) solving local crimes - usually petty ones (school bully Bugs Meany was frequently the culprit), but sometimes more serious ones (his dad was the police chief, and would often ask Leroy's advice on cases). I read all of those books that I could get my hands on, but somehow it didn't translate into pursuing mystery books as an adult.

[Lord Rother]

Columbo was great but they were so so formulaic.

Harry Bosch
Dave Robicheaux
Lincoln Rhyme

On TV, Cumberbatch’s Sherlock Holmes.

[C]

the habitual request for a cup of coffee which is brought to him. [Columbo]

Don't forget the boiled egg and disposing of the shell...





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