I love mysteries. I've got more than a hundred posts on this blog tagged "mystery." It's my favorite book genre, no question about it. So for today's Top Ten Tuesday prompt ("Books from Your Favorite Genre") from That Artsy Reader Girl, I give you My Ten Favorite Fictional Detectives.
1. Sherlock Holmes from the canonical books and stories by A. Conan Doyle, and also in the Mary Russell & Sherlock Holmes series by Laurie R. King.
2. Philip Marlowe from the books and some of the short stories by Raymond Chandler, who is my favorite author of all time.
3. Archie Goodwin & Nero Wolfe from the Nero Wolfe books by Rex Stout, which I love so much I've collected all of them. (I know technically these are two people, but they work as a team.)
4. Frank & Joe Hardy from the Hardy Boys by F. W. Dixon, which I read over and over and over as a kid. (Again, totally a team.)
5. Jack Reacher from all those books by Lee Child, which I guess are classified as thrillers and not mysteries, but he always solves a mystery in them, so that's how I view them.
6. Trixie Belden from the series by Kathryn Kenny, which I also read over and over and over as a kid. I loved Trixie's gang of friends, the Bob-Whites, and use to pretend I was one of them!
7. Drew Farthering from the series by Julianna Deering, which is one of the best Christian mystery series I've ever encountered.
8. Gwen Marcy from the books by Carrie Stuart Parks, the other best Christian mystery series I've found.
9. Jane Austen from the series by Stephanie Barron, which I thought was going to be dorky and irksome, but actually turned out to be really fun!
10. Irene Kelly from the series by Jan Burke, which I started reading a few years ago and really ought to finish one of these days.
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| (All photos are mine, from my Instagram account.) |
Who are YOUR favorite fictional detectives? Do we share any favorites?
I read Trixie Belden, too, when I was a little girl. My mom loved mysteries, and she hoped that I would love them, too. I never did. It's odd, but I can never figure out who-done-it. My husband can and does. What is wrong with my brain?
ReplyDeleteDeb Nance, that's interesting! I actually don't try to figure out mysteries before the reveal -- in fact, if I do figure them out first, I feel a little cheated, like the writer wasn't smart enough to fool me. I enjoy watching them get solved, not solving them myself, I guess?
DeleteSeveral other people picked mysteries this week as well! I think it's wonderful that Sherlock Holmes continues to get so much press.
ReplyDeleteMy TTT.
Lydia, mysteries certainly are popular! I agree that it's awesome that Sherlock Holmes continues to be read and enjoyed :-) Thanks for sharing your TTT list!
DeleteNo Hercule Poirot? ;-) Sherlock Holmes is the best, no doubt about it. I need to read most of the others!! When I was little I always prefered Nancy Drew to the Hardy Boys, but now that I'm older it might be the other way around. Though, I've only read two HB books and almost all of the ND books.
ReplyDeleteMC, well, no. I'm not the hugest Agatha Christie fan. I enjoy her books now and then, especially the Poirot ones, but she has this tendency to not "play fair" by either withholding evidence from the reader, but not from the detective, or by having the solution hinge on some tiny fact so arcane no reader could know it. So I read her every few years, but she's not a favorite.
DeleteI prefer the Hardy Boys to Nancy Drew because they're less spooky and have fewer romantic entanglements :-)
I'm not sure I can come up with 10, but here's a list, not necessarily in order of preference.
ReplyDelete1) Sherlock Holmes
2) Hercule Poirot
3) Miss Marple
4) Encyclopedia Brown
5) Mr. Satterthwaite & Harley Quinn
6) Philip Marlowe & Sam Spade (I combine them because of Humphrey Bogart)
7) Brother Cadfael
8) Columbo
9) Jessica Fletcher
10) Scooby Doo and the Gang
George, fun list! I loved the Encyclopedia Brown books.
DeleteI love that you included the Hardy Boys! Jack Reacher and Irene Kelly are two of my favorites. As is Cliff Janeway (hero of some of my favorite John Dunning mysteries). Great list. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lark! It's neat to meet another Irene Kelly fan -- I don't know of many people who know her books. I've not read John Dunning, but I'll keep him in mind for the future :-)
DeleteI like Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple from Agatha Christie's novels.
ReplyDeleteHere's a link to my TTT post for this week:
http://captivatedreader.blogspot.com/2019/06/top-ten-tuesday-books-from-my-favorite.html
Captivated, Poirot and Marple definitely have lots of fans! Thanks for the link to your TTT -- I'll check it out :-)
DeleteYes Sherlock and Jack Reacher.
ReplyDeleteI love a lot of Agatha Christie.
Skye, ooh, another Reacher fan! Nice :-) I think I already knew you liked Sherlock.
DeleteI read a bunch of Christie in high school and got tired of her, but I reread Murder on the Orient Express last year and liked it a lot, so I'm going to try more of hers in the future. Just not binge on them like I did as a teen, and that way I won't get tired of her, I hope.