By Lisa Black

Since last month I asked ChatGPT to tell me who it thought the world’s favorite book villains were, this time I thought I’d ask for the world’s favorite detectives. Its response was singularly unsurprising.

Chat GPT’s Top 6 Favorite Detectives

1. Sherlock Holmes

Created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes is perhaps the most recognized detective in literature, known for his remarkable powers of deduction, keen observational skills, and a cold, analytical approach to solving crimes. His iconic deerstalker hat, pipe, and his famous address at 221B Baker Street have become symbols of the detective genre itself.

2. Hercule Poirot

Agatha Christie‘s Belgian sleuth, known for his fastidiousness and reliance on “the little grey cells,” is the protagonist of over 30 novels and numerous short stories. Unlike Holmes, who often leaps to conclusions, Poirot emphasizes methodical logic and psychological insight into the motivations of suspects.

3. Philip Marlowe

Raymond Chandler‘s Philip Marlowe is the quintessential hardboiled detective. Operating in the shadowy world of 1930s and ’40s Los Angeles, Marlowe is a tough, street-smart private eye with a moral code of his own. Marlowe’s biting wit have cemented him as a favorite in American noir fiction, standing out with lines like, “It was a blonde. A blonde to make a bishop kick a hole in a stained-glass window.”

4. Miss Marple

An elderly, unassuming woman living in the quiet village of St. Mary Mead, Miss Jane Marple appears to be the antithesis of a crime-fighter. Yet, through her deep insight into people’s behavior and a mind sharpened by years of observing human folly, Miss Marple consistently outsmarts even the professionals.

5. Sam Spade

Sam Spade is a cynical, no-nonsense private detective, famously portrayed by Humphrey Bogart in the film adaptation of The Maltese Falcon (1930). His approach to solving crimes is pragmatic and often morally ambiguous, embodying the gritty reality of noir fiction.

6. Inspector Maigret

Maigret, a French police detective, takes a patient, methodical approach to his work and is one of the most prolific fictional detectives, starring in 75 novels and 28 short stories. His character is more grounded and empathetic, focusing not only on catching criminals but also on understanding why they commit their crimes.

These detectives, each with their distinct styles and methods, have captured the imaginations of readers across the globe.

Solid choices, though perhaps hampered by reliance on one-hundred years of best-of lists, leaving our new friend AI chained by the Anglo-Saxon, Golden Age of Detective Fiction years, leaving out anything written after the early 70s. I love Golden Age stuff too, devoured Ngaio Marsh and named a character after John Dickson Carr, but let me add my favorites.

Lisa Black’s Top 5 Favorite Detectives

1. Ellery Queen

Okay, there I am right back in Golden Age-land, but childhood crushes never really die. Ellery was quirky, logical, a writer of all things, never lifted a weight in his life and saw no problem in living with his dad. Certainly I was influenced by the TV show (I lived for Thursday nights) where Jim Hutton gave Ellery a sweet warmth that, in re-reading the books as an adult, I realize he might not have had.

2. Ruby Gardner

The eleven year old of Peter Abrahams’ The Tutor is an observant, tenacious detective so unassuming that she thinks she’s only playing Sherlock Holmes, unaware that her deductions have put her in the sights of a very real danger to her family in the form of her brother’s new tutor.  

3. Danielle Burton

One of the three desperate women portrayed in Lisa Gardner’s Live to Tell, nurse Danielle is devoted to reaching the unreachable—the severely disturbed children in a locked-down psych facility, one of whom might be the key to saving them all.

4. Agent Pendergast

Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child’s creation is a thinking girl’s Captain America, able to go anywhere, do anything, and convince anyone to give up their secrets. His only flaw in this girl’s mind is that, should we meet at a cocktail party, his stratospheric intelligence would bounce me out of his orbit like a baseball hitting a trampoline.

5. Chloe Sevre

A college student out for vengeance in Vera Kurian’s Never Saw Me Coming, Chloe is brilliant, enviably chameleon-like, and focused. Oh, and she’s also a diagnosed psychopath, but you needn’t worry about that. Just don’t cross her, and you’ll be fine.

So that’s my list. Who’s on yours?

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