Crime Fiction

The first detective story (debatable – see below – but if asked, this is the answer to give)

Murders in the Rue Morgue (Edgar Allan Poe, 1841)

The first fictional detective (appeared in The Murders in the Rue Morgue)

Auguste Dupin

Beware of questions about the first fictional detective – and especially about the first one "in English fiction". Edgar Allan Poe was of course American, although he did (equally of course) write in English. Charles Dickens wrote about Inspector Bucket in Bleak House (1852); but Bleak House could not be called a detective story, and Inspector Bucket is a relatively minor character. The first detective novel in English fiction was probably Wilkie Collins'sThe Moonstone (1868) – because The Murders in the Rue Morgue was a short story (as were Poe's other detective stories). The detective hero of The Moonstone is Sergeant Cuff – and he is also sometimes described as the first detective in English fiction.

Interestingly, it wasn't until around 1850 (according to The Online Etymology Dictionary) that the word detective was first used as a noun – nine years after The Murders in the Rue Morgue was written!

Sherlock Holmes

Has been portrayed in more films than any other fictional character; habitually injected cocaine to stimulate the brain, and used morphine as a recreational drug		Sherlock Holmes
Number of Sherlock Holmes stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle		56
Monthly magazine in which most of the Sherlock Holmes stories were first published (1891–1927)		The Strand Magazine
Illustrator of the Holmes stories in Strand magazine		Sidney Paget
The first Sherlock Holmes story		A Study in Scarlet
The second Sherlock Holmes story		The Sign of the Four
Said to have been considered by Doyle to be the best of his stories – title refers to a snake (Indian swamp adder): The Adventure of ...		The Speckled Band
Sherlock Holmes's address		221B Baker Street
Sherlock Holmes was addicted to		Cocaine
Sherlock Holmes's elder brother		Mycroft
Portrayed in adaptations as Sherlock Holmes's arch–enemy – referred to by him as "the Napoleon of crime" – although he only appeared in one of Doyle's stories		Professor James Moriarty
Sherlock Holmes's housekeeper		Mrs. Hudson
Scotland Yard detective who often called on Holmes for advice		Inspector Lestrade
Sherlock Holmes's instrument		Violin
Type of hat associated with Sherlock Holmes (although not mentioned in the text of the books – only in illustrations)		Deerstalker
Dr. Watson's first name		John
Dr. Watson was invalided home from the Battle of Maiwand, which (in reality as well as in Doyle) was one of the principal engagements of the		(Second) Afghan War
Nickname given by Holmes to the group of street urchins, led by an older boy named Wiggins, whom he employed (at a shilling per day, with a guinea prize for a vital clue) to collect data for his investigations		Baker Street Irregulars
Setting for The Hound of the Baskervilles		Dartmoor
After retiring, Holmes moved to the Sussex Downs to take up		Bee–keeping
Location in Switzerland where Holmes and Moriarty fell to their deaths		Reichenbach Falls
Story in which Moriarty makes his only real appearance, and in which he and Holmes die (published in 1893): The Adventure of the ...		Final Problem
Story in which Holmes reappears (published in 1903): The Adventure of the ...		Empty House
Author of the Sherlock Holmes novels The House of Silk (2011) and Moriarty (2014)		Anthony Horowitz
In the 1892 short story The Adventure of Silver Blaze – from which Mark Haddon took the title of his 2003 novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night–Time – Silver Blaze was		A racehorse

Sexton Blake

The other fictional detective who lived in Baker Street		Sexton Blake
Sexton Blake's assistant		Tinker
Sexton Blake's faithful bloodhound		Pedro

Father Brown

Father Brown was created by		G. K. Chesterton
The first Father Brown story		The Blue Cross
Character who appears in the first Father Brown story as a notorious jewel thief, but is reformed and often assists Father Brown in his crime–solving		M. Hercule Flambeau
The first Father Brown collection (1911)		The Innocence of Father Brown

Inspector Morse

Inspector Morse's first name		Endeavour
Inspector Morse's sidekick		Sergeant Lewis
Lewis's first name		Robbie
The first Inspector Morse novel (1975) – last episode in Series 2 on TV		Last Bus to Woodstock
The fifth Inspector Morse novel (1981), and the first episode in the TV series		The Dead of Jericho
The last Inspector Morse story (in print and on TV)		The Remorseful Day

Agatha Christie

Hercule Poirot

Her first novel (1920); the first to feature Hercule Poirot, and later (1935) one of Penguin's first 20 titles. Supposedly based on a real life case that happened in Mussoorie, India; Kipling mentioned it to Conan Doyle, who suggested it to Christie		The Mysterious Affair at Styles
Poirot's nationality		Belgian
Poirot's best friend and sleuthing partner – often narrates the stories that Poirot appears in		Captain Hastings
Captain Hastings's first name		Arthur
Poirot's last case (1975 – one year before the death of the author; Poirot murders the suspect before his own death); also takes place at Styles		Curtain
Poirot's secretary ("unbelievably ugly and incredibly efficient")		Miss (Felicity) Lemon
Poirot's valet		George

Miss Marple

Her tenth novel (1930), and the first to feature Miss Marple		Murder at the Vicarage
Miss Marple lives in (village)		St. Mary Mead
Miss Marple's first name		Jane
Miss Marple's assistant (in films – none in the books)		Stringer

Titles (Other)

Title is a quotation from Tennyson's poem The Lady of Shalott		The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side
Wealthy heiress Linnet Doyle is murdered by her newly–wed husband Simon, on their honeymoon		Death on the Nile
Her fifth novel (1926), described by her modern publisher as her masterpiece: turns out to be narrated by the murderer		The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
Ten people murder Samuel Ratchett in		Murder on the Orient Express

Other detectives (etc.)

Created by Peter Robinson; played on television by Stephen Tompkinson; based in the fictional Yorkshire town of Eastvale (said by the author to be a blend of Richmond and Ripon)		Inspector Alan Banks
12th century detective created by Edith Pargeter, writing as Ellis Peters, and played on TV by Derek Jacobi		Brother Cadfael
Former burglar Magersfontein Lugg is manservant to		Albert Campion
Created by P. D. James; appeared in 14 of her 19 novels, including Cover Her Face (her 1962 debut)		Adam Dalgliesh
First appeared in The Secret of the Old Clock (1930); Bess and George are or were girlfriends of		Nancy Drew
Private detective, created by H. C. McNeile, writing as 'Sapper'		Hugh 'Bulldog' Drummond
Sir Denis Nayland Smith was the nemesis of		Fu Manchu
Private detective: protagonist of P. D. James's An Unsuitable Job for a Woman (1972) and The Skull Beneath the Skin (1982)		Cordelia Gray
Private investigator: created by Mickey Spillane, first appeared in I, the Jury (1947)		Mike Hammer
Scotland Yard detective: created by the American writer Elizabeth George, is the 8th Earl of Asherton, has the first name Thomas or Tommy, and is assisted by Sergeant Barbara Havers; featured in a BBC1 television series (2001–8), when he was described by The Guardian as "the poshest copper on the box"		Inspector Lynley
Created by Raymond Chandler; features in The Big Sleep, Farewell my Lovely, The Long Goodbye		Philip Marlowe
La forma dell'acqua (1994) – published in English in 2002, as The Shape of Water – was the first novel to feature		Inspector (Salvo) Montalbano
Lived at, and worked from, Flat 203, 56B Whitehaven Mansions, London		Hercule Poirot
Created by Agatha Christie: appears in a short story collection entitled (...) Investigates (1936); lived at No. 17 Richmond Street		Parker Pyne
Created by Ian Rankin; featured in the novels Let it Bleed and Black and Blue, and the short story collection Beggar's Banquet (all named after Rolling Stones albums); retired in Exit Music (2007 – named after a Radiohead song) – but continued to appear in later novels!		Inspector (John) Rebus
Forensic scientist, created by Patricia Cornwell and based in Richmond, Virginia: features in a series of novels beginning with Postmortem (1990), Chaos (2016) being the 24th		Dr. Kay Scarpetta
Miles Archer was an assistant to ... (but was murdered early in the plot of the only full–length novel in which either of them appeared)		Sam Spade
Swedish detective, based in Ystad; created by Henning Mankell, and played on British TV (2008, 2010) by Kenneth Branagh		Kurt Wallander
Appeared in 12 novels, starting with Faceless Killers (published in 1991 in Sweden, 1997 in the UK) and ending with The Troubled Man (2009 and 2011)
Has a Labrador named Jussi, after the Swedish tenor Jussi Bjorling
Created by Ruth Rendell; features in 24 novels, from From Doon with Death (1964) to No Man's Nightingale (2013); Detective Inspector Mike Burton is a colleague of		Inspector Wexford
Son of the 15th Duke of Denver; married Harriet Vane (originally a suspect, later an assistant); lived at 110A Piccadilly		Lord Peter Wimsey
New York–based armchair detective, created in 1934 by Rex Stout		Nero Wolfe

Authors and Creators (other)

Creator of the 'blue–blooded sleuth' Albert Campion – supposedly (according to Wikipedia) as a parody of Dorothy L. Sayers's Lord Peter Wimsey		Margery Allingham
Police inspector turned private detective, Jackson Brodie – first appeared in Case Histories (2004)		Kate Atkinson
Honolulu–based Chinese American police detective Charlie Chan (inspired by the real–life ditto Chang Apana)		Earl Derr Biggers
Creator of Hamish Macbeth and Agatha Raisin		M. C. Beaton
Trent's Last Case: author		E. Clerihew Bentley
Philip Marlowe		Raymond Chandler
Creator of detectives Vera Stanhope (played on TV by Brenda Blethyn) and Jimmy Perez (played in the TV series Shetland by Dougie Henshall)		Ann Cleeves
Veteran LAPD detective Heironymus 'Harry' Bosch – first appeared in The Black Echo (1992)		Michael Connelly
Inspector Morse		Colin Dexter
Aurelio Zen (Italian detective – 11 books, 1988–2007; author died 2009)		Michael Dibdin
Creator of Paul Temple (originally for a BBC radio serial, in 1938)		Francis Durbridge
Van der Valk (the TV series was based on his character and settings but not his plots)		Nicolas Freeling
Cormoran Strike (first appeared in The Cuckoo's Calling, 2013)		Robert Galbraith
Creator of DCI Tom Barnaby (central character in ITV's Midsomer Murders, until the retirement of actor John Nettles)		Caroline Graham
Sam Spade (The Maltese Falcon – also three less well-known short stories)		Dashiell Hammett
Dalziel and Pascoe (originally in a series of novels)		Reginald Hill
Simon Serralier (first appeared in The Various Haunts of Men, 2004)		Susan Hill
Adam Dalgliesh (begins as a DCI, rises to Commander) appears in 16, and is the protagonist in 14, of the 19 novels (including the 1962 debut) of		P. D. James
Cordelia Gray, a young woman who works in London as a private detective, appears in An Unsuitable Job for a Woman (1972) and The Skull Beneath the Skin (1982) – two novels by
Edinburgh–based deputy chief constable Bob Skinner ('Britain's toughest cop'), private detective turned Hollywood actor Oz Blackstone, and his wife/widow Primavera Blackstone		Quintin Jardine
Aberdeen–based Detective Sergeant Logan McRae – first appeared in Cold Granite (2005)		Stuart MacBride
Inspector Alleyn		Ngaio Marsh
Clinical psychologist Dr. Tony Hill (played by Robson Green in the ITV series Wire in the Blood, 2002–8)		Val McDermid
Lindsay Gordon (journalist, feminist, socialist and lesbian), Kate Brannigan (private investigator), Inspector Karen Pirie
Capt. Hugh 'Bulldog' Drummond, private detective		H. C. McNeile ('Sapper')
Mrs. (Beatrice Adela –later Dame Beatrice) Bradley – appeared in 66 novels published 1929–75; played by Diana Rigg in a BBC television series of four episodes (1998–2000); previously played by Mary Wimbush – best known as Julia Pargeter in The Archers – on BBC radio		Gladys Mitchell
Oslo police detective Harry Hole (first appeared in The Bat, 1997)		Jo Nesbo
The Thursday Murder Club (2020), The Man Who Died Twice (2021), The Bullet that Missed (2022)		Richard Osman
Detective V. I Warshawski (played on film in 1991, and subsequently on BBC Radio 4, by Kathleen Turner)		Sara Paretsky
Inspector (John) Rebus		Ian Rankin
Forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan, protagonist of the Fox TV series Bones (2005–17)		Kathy Reichs
Inspector Wexford		Ruth Rendell
Inspector Banks (adapted for television as DCI Banks, starring Stephen Tompkinson in the title role)		Peter Robinson
Lord Peter Wimsey		Dorothy L. Sayers
Inspector Maigret		Georges Simenon
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, Tears of the Giraffe (etc.)		Alexander McCall Smith
Jack Frost (played on TV by David Jason)		R. D. Wingfield

Miscellaneous

The Nine Tailors (Dorothy L. Sayers) were		Church bells
Inspector Maigret's first name		Jules
First name of Inspector Alleyn (Ngaio Marsh)		Roderick
Profession of Inspector Alleyn's wife		Portrait painter
Murders in the Rue Morgue (Edgar Allan Poe): the murderer was		An orang–utan
Inspector Wexford (Ruth Rendell) lives and works in		King's Markham
Perry Mason's secretary		Della Street
Inspector Rebus novels (Ian Rankin): set in		Edinburgh

© Haydn Thompson 2017–23