# Who was your first, favorite, fictional sleuth - and why?



## jyarrow (Aug 15, 2010)

I'll get us started by saying my first favorite was Jules Maigret, Commissaire of the Paris "Brigade Criminelle," created by French mystery writer Georges Simenon.

Laid back and fond of going home for lunch, Maigret was deeply perceptive and believed that if he delved into the victim's life deeply enough he was sure to find the murderer. The novels are gritty and realistic - Simenon said he was obsessed with a search for the "naked man" -- man without his cultural protective coloration.

Here is a link to a site devoted to Simenon and Maigret: http://www.trussel.com/f_maig.htm


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

The first "first" that comes to my mind is Elijah Baley in Asimov's _Caves of Steel_, but my favorite would be Sam Vimes in the City Watch story arc of Pratchett's "Discworld" books, starting with _Guards! Guards!_. I'll give an honorable mention to Glen Cook's Garrett, of the Garrett, P.I. series for fun escapism.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Trixie Belden.  Smarty, perky middle-class girl I could identify with.  (I just never got that into Nancy Drew.  I probably would like her more now.)

Betsy


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## Daniel Harvell (Jun 21, 2013)

As a kid, my first was Encyclopedia Brown. As a young adult, it was Sue Grafton's Kinsey Milhone. They couldn't be more different, obviously, but both detectives have a special place in my heart!


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## Not Here Anymore (May 16, 2012)

I loved the Trixie Belden mysteries, too. I remember wishing there were more of them in my library. I also read Nancy Drew and Phyllis Whitney's stand-alone YA mysteries.


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## Donna White Glaser (Jan 12, 2011)

I suppose I'd have to count Nancy Drew and the Bobsey Twins. After that, I devoured Agatha Christie. Miss Marple is still my favorite sleuth ever.


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## crebel (Jan 15, 2009)

I probably have to agree that my first favorite fictional sleuth was Trixie Belden.  My all-time favorite fictional sleuth, though, is Nero Wolfe.  

I love Archie as the hard-boiled narrator of the stories. I love Nero as the egalitarian brains behind the solutions.  I love the orchids, the brownstone, and the food preparation and recipe fights between Nero and Fritz.  The books are some of the very limited re-reads I ever do and the first that I recreated my paper collection as they have become kindleized.


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## joyceharmon (May 21, 2012)

First? Poirot. Because... logic appealed to me?


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Definitely Nancy Drew.  But also enjoyed Trixie Belden. Hardy Boys didn't do a thing for me.  Loved Encyclopedia Brown.  Also Ellery Queen. 

Of course in all cases I liked the mysteries. I liked the relationships in Nancy, but even then I thought sometimes they were not being very smart!   But it always worked out.  Also liked the relationships in Trixie and I liked that EBrown was just really clever and people LIKED him for that.   With EQ, I liked that there'd be a sort of wrap up near the end and recap everything to give you a chance to solve it before the answer was revealed.


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## meh (Apr 18, 2013)

I'd forgotten about Encyclopedia Brown until mentioned! He was my first, but I loved Nancy Drew as well--read all of them. 

Currently I'm liking Stephanie Plum and Jack Daniels. Yes, I like the humorous series.


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> Trixie Belden. Smarty, perky middle-class girl I could identify with. (I just never got that into Nancy Drew. I probably would like her more now.)
> 
> Betsy


Another vote for Trixie!


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## Tony Richards (Jul 6, 2011)

There used to be a British fictional detective called Sexton Blake, a rather more down-to-earth version of Holmes. Different authors wrote (were commissioned to write?) short novels about him, and I devoured them all.


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## meh (Apr 18, 2013)

Tony Richards said:


> There used to be a British fictional detective called Sexton Blake, a rather more down-to-earth version of Holmes. Different authors wrote (were commissioned to write?) short novels about him, and I devoured them all.


I rather like the current rendition of Sherlock Holmes in the TV series "Elementary." Snarky is fun.


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## CJArcher (Jan 22, 2011)

Another Trixie Belden fan here! I actually have the first 34 sitting in a box in my study. I pulled them out of the garage recently and tried to get my 10 y-o daughter into them, but she wasn't interested. After reading a few pages of the 1st book myself, I realised how old fashioned it was. The text was peppered with "gosh" and other twee phrases.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Loved, loved, loved Encyclopedia Brown, too.  And Rick Brandt, not the Hardy Boys.  It's been great to see some of these books appearing on Kindle.  I've picked up a few, just for fun.

Betsy


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

I suspect my first exposure to sleuthing was from either the Hardy Boys or (as NogDog said), Asimov's Elijah Bailey. I wasn't particularly fond of the Hardy boys, but I was a compulsive reader at 10-11 years of age, and stuck in a French village of 200 people with the nearest library or other source of books an hour's drive away. The library didn't have a great selection, so I had to take what I could get. I even read some Nancy Drew.

Favorite fictional sleuth is without a doubt Nero Wolfe. Honorable mention to John Dickson Carr's Henry Merrivale and Doctor Fell. Also Ellery Queen. I re-read books with these characters pretty regularly.


Mike


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## Carol M (Dec 31, 2012)

Nancy Drew and the Bobsey Twins get my vote. Don't know how I missed the Trixie Belden series (maybe our tiny public library didn't have many or any copies), but I did.


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## Dave Dykema (May 18, 2009)

Seems like I'm going with the flow on this one: I liked Encyclopedia Brown too. I would always squinch my face up and try to solve the mysteries when he had all the clues gathered.

Hardy Boys were OK. I liked the covers to those. I always wanted to have them all, but I only have 17 (in the light blue hardbacks from the sixties and seventies). Maybe I should revisit one of these and see how they hold up?

Currently, I too am reading Stephanie Plum. In fact, I just started the 18th book a few days ago. If it wasn't for the humor, I probably would have stopped these a long time ago since they seem to be treading water.


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## Donna White Glaser (Jan 12, 2011)

For those who like Janet Evanovich, have you tried Lois Greiman or Lisa Lutz? FUNNY! I love humorous mysteries, too.


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## Avis Black (Jun 12, 2012)

Albert Campion.  He was a smart guy who deliberately acted like a dingbat while he was busy sleuthing, which made people underestimate him.  Allingham's Police at The Funeral is still one of my all-time favorite mysteries.


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## Elizabeth Black (Apr 8, 2011)

Sherlock Holmes. Because I'd never read anything like that before and the stories were clever. I could never figure them out. After that I'd have to say Miss Marple and C. Auguste Dupin.


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## Nancy Beck (Jul 1, 2011)

Sara Rosett said:


> I loved the Trixie Belden mysteries, too. I remember wishing there were more of them in my library. I also read Nancy Drew and Phyllis Whitney's stand-alone YA mysteries.


This was me!  Minus the Trixie Beldens (don't ever remember seeing them at the library). I remember happily taking out and reading every Phyllis Whitney mystery from the library I could find.

The Nancy Drews? Well, besides the point I found it fun to try to figure out the mysteries, how could I *not * latch onto her first name? 

ETA: OMG, how could I forget Encyclopedia Brown? Read a ton of those as a kid. The Stephanie Plum series I wandered into when I decided to look at the garish fluorescent orange book in the small indie bookstore nearby. (It was To the Nines, BTW.) Loved it, since I'm a Jersey girl too , though I did catch a small mistake in one of the early books (the NY Giants do NOT have cheerleaders; never did) - this didn't diminish the hilarity as far as I was concerned.


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## Daniel Dennis (Mar 3, 2014)

I read here and there as a kid but didn't really engross in anything until I found Stephen King's Dark Tower series. I thought it was interesting that it took him thirty years to write the main seven core books. They were just weird enough to keep me entertained even at the slower points. I also liked how a lot of his other stories were tied in. I enjoyed The Wastelands and Wizard and Glass most.


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## Elizabeth Black (Apr 8, 2011)

Carol M said:


> Nancy Drew and the Bobsey Twins get my vote. Don't know how I missed the Trixie Belden series (maybe our tiny public library didn't have many or any copies), but I did.


How could I forget Nancy Drew? SHE was my first fictional sleuth and a long-time favorite. I wanted to become a detective because of her.


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## ZSachs (Apr 15, 2014)

Nancy Drew! (I wanted to be her.) I had a huge collection. Graduated to lots of others ... some for writing style like Raymond Chandler or twisted stories, like Ruth Rendell, others for the characters like moody Inspector Morse.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I definitely graduated to Sherlock Holmes.  Also Phyllis Whitney, Norah Lofts, and Mary Stewart . . . . . . . Oh, and Daphne duMaurier . . . . . "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderly again" . . . . . .


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## ZSachs (Apr 15, 2014)

Looove Daphne duMaurier! So many wonderful mystery writers and sleuths. Absolutely love Poirot too. Then there's Miss Marple, Brother Cadfael, Campion ... all those fun, old-timey English sleuths.

Often, when it come to contemporary mysteries and thrillers, it's not so much the detective, but the writing or the exploration of a topic that grabs me. I love the forensics of Patricia Cornwell and the information I learn when I read Tess Gerritsen. Oh yeah, and I can't forget Jeffery Deaver's Lincoln Rhyme! 

I think I'm ready for another mystery binge.


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## Meemo (Oct 27, 2008)

Nancy Drew. I credit/blame her for my continuing love of mysteries, especially series. Can't tell you why I loved them so much - maybe it was the continuity of the characters of Nancy, George, Bess, Ned, etc. Maybe it was her convertible!  Never read any of the others mentioned - no Hardy Boys or Trixie Belden or Encyclopedia Brown for me. But I did graduate to Phyllis Whitney and Victoria Holt as I got older. Then after a romance with romances, John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee brought me back to mystery series, and that's still my favorite genre.


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## Daniel Harvell (Jun 21, 2013)

I'm not sure if it's because I'm male, but I've never even heard of the Trixie Belden series - and I worked in a public library too! I thought I was at least knowledgeable on the major detective series for both kids and adults, but I've apparently missed the boat here!


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## Sapphire (Apr 24, 2012)

Nancy Drew was my first. Between my sister and me, we owned a stack of those books. The rest I borrowed from friends and checked out at the library. I'm quite sure I read every one that was published before 1958.


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## John A. A. Logan (Jan 25, 2012)

Sherlock Holmes. I quite liked that he had a difficult/awkward personality, but great focus on his work, and great loyalty to his friend, Watson, when it came down to it.


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## komura 420 (Aug 25, 2013)

Sherlock Holmes.


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

Just started reading The Big Sleep and love Phillip Marlow. I am also a big Dashielle Hammett fan, and loved The Maltese Falcon - Sam Spade.


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## bordercollielady (Nov 21, 2008)

Other than childhood books - my first adult fictional sleuth was Miss Marple.  Loved Agatha Christie.


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## anguabell (Jan 9, 2011)

Sherlock Holmes, Poirot, and rather frightening Miss Marple, in this order.  Archie Goodwin and Nero Wolfe. Judge Dee - a wonderful character. Also Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane of Dorothy Sayers,  although I admit Harriet could be rather exasperating.  
I love Raymond Chandler but I could never see Phil Marlow clearly.


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## PaulLev (Nov 2, 2012)

NogDog said:


> The first "first" that comes to my mind is Elijah Baley in Asimov's _Caves of Steel_, but my favorite would be Sam Vimes in the City Watch story arc of Pratchett's "Discworld" books, starting with _Guards! Guards!_. I'll give an honorable mention to Glen Cook's Garrett, of the Garrett, P.I. series for fun escapism.


My first and still favorite would be Elijah Baley. Why? You just can't beat a sleuth whose partner is a brilliant robot, in my book.


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## Kristine McKinley (Aug 26, 2012)

I'm another Nancy Drew fan. I never got into the Bobbsey Twins and the one Hardy Boys book I read gave me horrible nightmares. I always loved the Boxcar Children books when I was little but I don't know if they count.


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## Debbie Bennett (Mar 25, 2011)

Probably Enid Blyton's _Five Find-Outers_, at about age 5 or 6, closely followed by _Famous Five_ and EB's _Adventure Series_. Moving onto Nancy Drew, of course. I so wanted to be in the Famous Five.


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## sstroble (Dec 16, 2013)

Sherlock Holmes because of being detail oriented.


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

Well, I read a lot as a kid, too. So my first fictional sleuth was one meant for kids - Encyclopedia Brown. I loved reading his stuff in 1st, 2nd, 3rd grade.


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## MLPMom (Nov 27, 2009)

Nancy Drew hands down. I discovered her when I was about eleven and devoured everything our school library had with her in it. I think they were the first mysteries I ever read as well.


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## KTaylor-Green (Aug 24, 2011)

Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, Miss Marple. Loved them all, but my favorite was Ellery Queen. Graduated to Phyllis Whitney, Mary Stewart, and Victoria Holt. Current favorites are John Sanford, Michael Connelly, Nora Roberts' contemporary books and her Eve Dallas series, and Robert Crias.
I have a fondness for Sci-Fi and Fantasy but the Mystery Thriller is my favorite genre.


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## I&#039;m a Little Teapot (Apr 10, 2014)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> Trixie Belden. Smarty, perky middle-class girl I could identify with. (I just never got that into Nancy Drew. I probably would like her more now.)
> 
> Betsy


I came here to say Trixie Belden. She was smart and curious (a trait I can definitely relate to), and her family was super normal.


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## lmroth12 (Nov 15, 2012)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> (I just never got that into Nancy Drew. I probably would like her more now.)
> 
> Betsy


I never got into Nancy Drew and doubt that I would even now!  But that's because EVERY book seemed to mention her red-gold hair, sparkling green eyes, and her father the famous attorney, Carson Drew. Too much repetition for me. 

That aside, my first favorite detective was Sherlock Holmes. His deductions of facts to solve the crime taught me that you learn a lot if you keep your eyes open!


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## Alexis-Shore (Feb 20, 2011)

Does Dirk Gently count? I think he was the first sleuth I really loved reading and re-reading.


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## lmroth12 (Nov 15, 2012)

Ann in Arlington said:


> I definitely graduated to Sherlock Holmes. Also Phyllis Whitney, Norah Lofts, and Mary Stewart . . . . . . . Oh, and Daphne duMaurier . . . . . "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderly again" . . . . . .


I'm with you on ALL of these! I loved Sherlock because he was so analytical, but the lady authors each wove a spell of their own that drew the reader into a web of intrigue...


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## SunshineOnMe (Jan 11, 2014)

I absolutely adored the Bobbsey twins. My book was ancient, with a cracked spine. I'd open it up and read it again and again be transported into a world where girls wore patent leather shoes. I had no idea what that meant, but it seemed cozy.

After that came the Boxcar kids. They were a group of kids with a story that I wished would happen to me when I was younger. I'd play that I lived in a box car and hope that someone would notice, and rescue me.

Thank God my life changed, and I no longer needed those books as my surrogate family.


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## D. Nathan Hilliard (Jun 5, 2010)

Ellory Queen.
I loved the fact you were given all the clues and at some point in the book the reader was told he now knew enough to solve the crime.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Alexis-Shore said:


> Does Dirk Gently count? I think he was the first sleuth I really loved reading and re-reading.


Ooh! Can I change my pick? I love Sam Vimes, but he's really a cop. When it comes to private detectives, Dirk Gently is my guy!


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

D. Nathan Hilliard said:


> Ellory Queen.
> I loved the fact you were given all the clues and at some point in the book the reader was told he now knew enough to solve the crime.


The Challenge to the Reader was a clever gimmick. It was used only in the early books, vanishing by the late thirties. I'm in the slow process of re-reading the Queen books in ebook form, _The Chinese Orange_ is the next up.

Mike


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## Leslie (Apr 7, 2008)

Count me in with the Nancy Drew fans. I loved those books and collect them now.

I also read a lot of Agatha Christie when I was 12+, so those probably count as favorites. And Kinsey Milhone (sp?)..the A is for..., writer. Although the last one I read (I think it was T) was terrible and I quit her at that moment.

L


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## Guest (May 3, 2014)

Sherlock Holmes. I read all the Conan Doyle shorts and novels back to back when I was sick (in the 80s). I particularly like Dr Watson as narrator, but many of the stories themselves are fascinating and often quite surprising.


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## crebel (Jan 15, 2009)

Leslie said:


> Count me in with the Nancy Drew fans. I loved those books and collect them now.
> 
> I also read a lot of Agatha Christie when I was 12+, so those probably count as favorites. And Kinsey Milhone (sp?)..the A is for..., writer. Although the last one I read (I think it was T) was terrible and I quit her at that moment.
> 
> L


Kinsey has also been one of my favorites for years. Until 2 weeks ago I would have said Grafton had not written a bad "Alphabet" book with Kinsey. Obviously, some were better than others, but none bad, IMO. However, I read W is for Wasted 2 weeks ago and I was tempted to throw my Kindle across the room. I don't even think Grafton wrote it (I almost started a thread about it). I don't know if I'll be able to bring myself to read X, Y, and Z if they are ever released. It was horrible.


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## 31842 (Jan 11, 2011)

I LOVED Nancy Drew, Trixie Beldon, and The Bobbsey Twins!  I was terrible at spelling, and my mom would bribe me with Nancy Drew.  If I got an "A" on my test, I could have a new book.  I lobbied hard to have my new baby sister named Nancy or George.  I was very pleasantly surprised by the recent Nancy Drew movie.  I thought they did a great job staying true to the feel and the characters.

My other favorite sleuth was Linda Craig.  She rode around the southwest solving mysteries on her golden palomino horse.  Those books are now out of print and it is such a shame.  I loved them!  If I spot one in a used bookstore, I snatch it up.  

When I started outgrowing those books, I moved on to Sherlock Holmes.  I think I read the Complete Works from cover to cover in the 4th grade.  I crushed hard on him.  The new Complete Works boxed set is a thing of beauty.  Ooo!  I love a good mystery!


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## Gone 9/21/18 (Dec 11, 2008)

If we're going back to pre-adult reading, it would be the Judy Bolton mysteries for me. I read Nancy Drew too, but liked the Judy Bolton stories better. As an adult, it would Nero Wolfe, or more accurately Archie Goodwin from the stories, but as time passed the arrogance and attitude toward women wore thin, and I haven't read one of them in decades. The writer who became my favorite and still is, is Dick Francis. Of course he's gone now and what his son writes using his name isn't of anything like the quality of the father's work. So I guess I need a new favorite but can't say I've found one.


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## SidneyW (Aug 6, 2010)

I liked Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators as a kid, and I've liked Lew Archer since I was young. Matt Scudder from Lawrence Block is another fave.


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## Susan Holmes (May 19, 2014)

I'm with the crowd who read and loved Nancy Drew. Add in the Hardy Boys and Trixie Belden mysteries, too.  

And does anyone remember the Cherry Ames mysteries?


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## Gone 9/21/18 (Dec 11, 2008)

Susan Holmes said:


> And does anyone remember the Cherry Ames mysteries?


Oh, yes. I read every Cherry Ames I could get my hands on. I still remember one that had something to do with making perfume and the one where she was transporting wounded soldiers by air. Since I'm older than dirt, that means those stories have stuck with me for probably 50 years.


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## RN_Wright (Jan 7, 2014)

My first favorite detective would have been the first detective: Poe's Dupin in "The Murders in the Rue Morgue."


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## 67499 (Feb 4, 2013)

Sherlock Holmes, of course, because he seemed to my child's imagination like a better Superman. When I got older and began to think about his stories, I realized how preposterous was much of what he did. Then I began to enjoy the stories even more. My favorite modern rendition of Sherlock is Michael Chabon's *The Final Solution *, a great mystery with a bitter heart, and the best of all Chabon's books, and maybe the best Sherlock Holmes mystery of them all.


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## moirakatson (Jan 11, 2014)

Julian Kestrel! "The Devil in Music" is probably my favorite of the four novels he's in. I'm also a fan of Donna Leon's sleuth, Guido Brunetti - the novels showcase Venice in all its beauty and corruption!


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## Norman Crane (Sep 25, 2013)

I didn't read detective novels as a kid. I eventually read Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles but didn't like it very much. Then I picked up some hard boiled fiction after watching quite a lot of _noir_ films and deciding to try my hand at the source material. My favourite sleuth ended up being Lew Archer by American-Canadian author Ross Macdonald. I still think he wrote some of the best detective novels ever.


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## SidneyW (Aug 6, 2010)

Norman Crane said:


> I still think he wrote some of the best detective novels ever.


The Chill, The Goodbye Look, The Galton Case and The Blue Hammer are some of my favorite Lew Archers, and I tend to agree they're some of the best ever.


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## Sara C (Apr 30, 2014)

So, I was probably too young to be reading him, but as a child and teenager I was obsessed with the Andrew Vachss "Burke" series. I always kind of pictured him as a mixture between Dirty Harry and Charles Bukowski. I read Nancy Drew as well, because my mom had read them when she was young, and wanted me to read them too, but Burke was my main mystery man.


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## Bigal-sa (Mar 27, 2010)

DebBennett said:


> Probably Enid Blyton's _Five Find-Outers_, at about age 5 or 6, closely followed by _Famous Five_ and EB's _Adventure Series_. Moving onto Nancy Drew, of course. I so wanted to be in the Famous Five.


+1 for Enid Blyton's Famous Five and Adventure series. Then Hardy Boys followed by Sherlock Holmes for me.


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## Cactus Lady (Jun 4, 2014)

Nancy Drew for me, too. Loved those books when I was in grade school. In 4th grade, there was a girl on my street who had the complete set (complete at the time, in the early 70s). She was the envy of the whole class. I also read some Bobbsey Twins, and my brother was a huge Encyclopedia Brown fan, so I read those too because we had them in the house and I was always running out of books to read.

In junior high, I discovered Agatha Christie. I especially liked Hercule Poirot, so that was my first favorite adult detective.


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## SWF (Jun 14, 2011)

Another vote here for Kinsey Milhone. I really like that she's not the traditional pretty coiffed heroine. 

I'd never heard of Encyclopedia Brown, but it seems I missed out!


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## zandermarks (May 20, 2013)

I started with the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, but my first real favorite was Hercule Poirot. Then it was on to Sherlock Holmes.


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## AngryGames (Jul 28, 2013)

Encyclopedia Brown was my #1. I drove myself half-crazy trying to solve the mysteries before they were explained at the end (and I would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for you meddling kids!). Yes, Scoob and company were a very close 2nd. 

I think I had read every single Nancy Drew book that had ever been printed by the time I was 12. I remember putting one small yellow hardback into my mom's bookcase and pulling out the next too many times to count. However, the Hardy Boys... I hated. Absolutely hated.


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## Alexander Mori (Jun 10, 2014)

I haven't thought about Encyclopedia Brown in decades!!!  Thanks for the explosion of memories...my favorite being: telling mom I'm going to bed, and then sneaking an Encyclopedia Brown book under my blanket with a cheap, keychain flashlight!


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## RJMcDonnell (Jan 29, 2011)

My first favorite sleuth was retired Captain Edward X. Delaney of the Deadly Sin Series by Lawrence Sanders. I'm glad I started with the second novel in the series, as the First Deadly Sin featured the depressing subplot of Delaney's wife dying of cancer. Hollywood brought it to the screen with Frank Sinatra portraying Delaney and Faye Dunaway as the wife. 

As the son of a homicide detective, I found Edward X. Delaney's personality to be much closer to the cops who frequented my childhood home than the ones I had seen on television and at the movies. Dad watched all of the crime and mystery shows on TV. He would often point out scenes and dialogue that did not ring true, and actually cringed every time Joe Friday said, "I carry a badge," to open the show Dragnet.

Unfortunately, I didn't start reading Sanders until the year after my father died. I always thought he would have enjoyed Delaney's persistence and exceptional attention to detail. Eventually, I came to the conclusion that Dad would have been much happier reading than watching television. Many of his critiques involved underdeveloped characters and shortcut plot lines. These are a function of the one hour TV drama format. Novels have no such restrictions and make for a much more satisfying and realistic experience.


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## John F (May 19, 2014)

By the way, amazon.com is offering the complete Sherlock Holmes for 99¢. I have them all in print but who knows when I might be stranded away from home and need a Sherlock fix?


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

John F said:


> By the way, amazon.com is offering the complete Sherlock Holmes for 99¢. I have them all in print but who knows when I might be stranded away from home and need a Sherlock fix?


John, do you have a link?

Betsy


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## John F (May 19, 2014)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> John, do you have a link?


I just looked it up on amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/Sherlock-Holmes-Ultimate-Collection-Exclusive-ebook/dp/B00DCD53C2/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1402956317&sr=1-3&keywords=conan+doyle


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

John F said:


> I just looked it up on amazon.com:
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/Sherlock-Holmes-Ultimate-Collection-Exclusive-ebook/dp/B00DCD53C2/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1402956317&sr=1-3&keywords=conan+doyle


Thanks! I was going to get it, as I didn't have it, and thought to check my Kindle library and found I have not one but two complete collections of Sherlock Holmes. So I passed, but it looks like a great buy!

Betsy


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## Heffnerh (Feb 1, 2013)

As a Child: 
The Boxcar Children. Violet was my favorite, because I connected with her personally in a lot of ways, and I loved their unique background of having to survive in a boxcar for the first book. 

The Adventures of Tintin. Loved these books because Tintin and his adorable dog traveled the world and visited all of these other cultures. Cool to the max. 

Teenager: 
I am also a big fan of Agatha Christie mysteries. Death on the Nile blew my mind the first time I read it as a teenager. I liked how Hercule Poirot would always get the best of the murderer(s) in the end, no matter how elaborate the crime, and I liked Jane Marple, too 

Plus Sherlock Holmes in Hound of the Baskervilles was awesome and the story so deliciously creepy! I'm not too good at picking just one sleuth.


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## John F (May 19, 2014)

Now amazon.com is offering Edgar Allan Poe's complete tales and poems for $0.99, including the Auguste Dupin detective stories.

http://www.amazon.com/Edgar-Allan-Poe-including-Tell-Tale-ebook/dp/B00CFRGIEI/ref=pd_rhf_ee_s_cp_1_ZZ9T?ie=UTF8&refRID=0FDY0FTM3G54Z7HBVTK8

Also the complete Father Brown stories by G.K. Chesterton. PBS has been running a Father Brown series but though the title role is cast perfectly, the stories either modify Chesterton or are completely original. Accept no substitutes!

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Father-Brown-Mysteries-Unabridged-ebook/dp/B00GMIM61K/ref=sr_1_5?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1403180785&sr=1-5&keywords=Chesterton%2C+G.+K.


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## maryjf45 (Apr 24, 2011)

Nobody mentioned my first favourite, Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators. Found a few of them in the elementary school library. I thought that Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew were boring.  I have enjoyed and would recommend a few of the Nancy Drew computer games from Her Interactive. My kids and their friends like to play them as a group. I loved Asimov, but never read the one mentioned. Will have to remedy that.


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## Leslie (Apr 7, 2008)

crebel said:


> Kinsey has also been one of my favorites for years. Until 2 weeks ago I would have said Grafton had not written a bad "Alphabet" book with Kinsey. Obviously, some were better than others, but none bad, IMO. However, I read W is for Wasted 2 weeks ago and I was tempted to throw my Kindle across the room. I don't even think Grafton wrote it (I almost started a thread about it). I don't know if I'll be able to bring myself to read X, Y, and Z if they are ever released. It was horrible.


Well, W comes right after T so obviously she is going downhill!

It's been a few years since I read the T book but I do think the author wrote herself into a corner by keeping all the stories on a fairly short timeframe and having to write them all as occurring in the 80s (or whenever). Not that I think that cellphones and computers and so on make a story great, but in terms of detective-ing, having to confine yourself to writing in a period that doesn't exist--it must be tough to write accurately and interestingly.

It's different from reading a mystery written in "the old days" (like Agatha Christie) vs. reading a mystery that's written now and takes place in the old days, but not really old days (I have no idea if I am making any sense here...LOL). Anyway, my point is that I think the author wrote herself into a corner and it shows.

L


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## crebel (Jan 15, 2009)

Leslie said:


> Well, W comes right after T so obviously she is going downhill!
> 
> It's been a few years since I read the T book but I do think the author wrote herself into a corner by keeping all the stories on a fairly short timeframe and having to write them all as occurring in the 80s (or whenever). Not that I think that cellphones and computers and so on make a story great, but in terms of detective-ing, having to confine yourself to writing in a period that doesn't exist--it must be tough to write accurately and interestingly.
> 
> ...


Well, you would have U and V before you get to W (neither of which I thought were _bad_). Your theory about writing herself in to a corner by limiting herself to the 80s is interesting and I haven't looked at it that way before. I always thought of Kinsey (in Grafton's writing style) as being a female "hard-boiled" detective. Now she's gotten wishy-washy with some TSTL moments. I'm still not convinced Grafton is doing the writing anymore. If she is still doing the writing, she hasn't just gone downhill, she hit the bottom, fell into a lake and is drowning!


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Gotta say: I'm a fan of mystery/thriller books and enjoy a good female detective.  I think I read the A book and thought, "what's all the hype?"  I just didn't care for her character at all and haven't read one since.


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## Leslie (Apr 7, 2008)

crebel said:


> Well, you would have U and V before you get to W (neither of which I thought were _bad_). Your theory about writing herself in to a corner by limiting herself to the 80s is interesting and I haven't looked at it that way before. I always thought of Kinsey (in Grafton's writing style) as being a female "hard-boiled" detective. Now she's gotten wishy-washy with some TSTL moments. I'm still not convinced Grafton is doing the writing anymore. If she is still doing the writing, she hasn't just gone downhill, she hit the bottom, fell into a lake and is drowning!


Ah yes, pesky U and V, somehow I forgot about them! LOL.

It's been awhile since I read the T book--I think it was 2008 on my very first Kindle. I may have gotten it for 99 cents. Anyway, my memory fades on what I didn't like about the story but TSTL and wishy-washy are probably a big part of it.

L


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Ann in Arlington said:


> Gotta say: I'm a fan of mystery/thriller books and enjoy a good female detective. I think I read the A book and thought, "what's all the hype?" I just didn't care for her character at all and haven't read one since.


I read the first few and then lost interest...


John F said:


> Now amazon.com is offering Edgar Allan Poe's complete tales and poems for $0.99, including the Auguste Dupin detective stories.
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/Edgar-Allan-Poe-including-Tell-Tale-ebook/dp/B00CFRGIEI/ref=pd_rhf_ee_s_cp_1_ZZ9T?ie=UTF8&refRID=0FDY0FTM3G54Z7HBVTK8
> 
> ...


Thanks for these, John!

Betsy


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## Kali.Amanda (Apr 30, 2011)

My first was Nancy Drew. Then I graduated to Miss Marple and Poirot. I have to say I still have a fondness for Nancy.


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## Nancy Beck (Jul 1, 2011)

Ann in Arlington said:


> Gotta say: I'm a fan of mystery/thriller books and enjoy a good female detective. I think I read the A book and thought, "what's all the hype?" I just didn't care for her character at all and haven't read one since.


Have to agree, Ann. I've come around on thrillers and have loved mysteries of all sorts for quite some time, but I also read A is for Alibi and didn't understand the hype either. I mean, it was okay, IMHO, just that. That was also the last one of that series I read.


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## Rasputina (May 6, 2009)

Had to be Nancy Drew, I read a ton of those as a kid. Then I moved on Sherlock Holmes. Meg Murry in A Wrinkle in Time is pretty sleuthy.


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## dkrauss (Oct 13, 2012)

The Happy Hollisters http://thehappyhollisters.com/, which were either a Bobbsey Twins update or ripoff. In 2nd-4th grade, we all traded the books back and forth. In 5th-7th, we all traded Doc Savage paperbacks, although you probably can't call him a detective. Now, I'm more inclined to policemen and adventurers, like Bob Lee Swagger http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Lee_Swagger.


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## JFHilborne (Jan 22, 2011)

Hercule Poirot and Jane Marple. I still enjoy watching the films. I never read Nancy Drew.


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## alawston (Jun 3, 2012)

My first and favourite sleuth remains Holmes, though I did go through a bizarre phase of devouring Miss Marple books when I was quite ill with bronchitis when I was 15.

The solid characters of Holmes and Watson, and the painstaking detail of both the world they inhabit and Sherlock's brilliant deductions, contrasts brilliantly with their wonderfully bonkers and lurid pulp adventures.

I quite liked Poe's sleuth as well, though his name never fails to escape me when I talk about him on forums.


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## MMJustus (Jun 28, 2010)

As a child, my favorite sleuth was Judy Bolton. She had it all over Nancy Drew, because she actually grew _up_ over the course of the series, and some of her mysteries were based on real events.

As an adult, my favorite sleuth is Amelia Peabody, who, with her husband Emerson, her son Ramses, and the rest of their extended family and friends, get into and out of more trouble than a person could shake a stick at.


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## Emm Oh (Jul 4, 2014)

_*The Three Investigators*_. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Investigators).

I spent hours reading these when I was young. The mysteries may have been common, but the junk yard lair of Jupe, Pete, & Bob captured my imagination, and set the stage for many adventures to come.

After that, Velma, Shaggy, Fred, Daphne ... and Scoobs, of course!


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## Anna Drake (Sep 22, 2014)

Nancy Drew. I found a stack of the books in the attic when I was a child and instantly fell in love with mysteries.


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## pmac (Sep 22, 2014)

Emm Oh said:


> _*The Three Investigators*_. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Investigators).
> 
> I spent hours reading these when I was young. The mysteries may have been common, but the junk yard lair of Jupe, Pete, & Bob captured my imagination, and set the stage for many adventures to come.


The junkyard crime lab/hangout was special -- how clever to have this secret space for boys to solve mysteries. I know my friends and I tried to recreate it in our back yards.

I really loved these books.


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## Andrei Cherascu (Sep 17, 2014)

Hercule Poirot, without a doubt. I adore the little Belgian and his eccentricities.


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## ShayneRutherford (Mar 24, 2014)

My favorite sleuths, who also happened to be my first, were The Three Investigators. Hardy Boys were my second favorites.


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## Jennifer R P (Oct 19, 2012)

Lije Baley for sure. I've never been a huge fan of mysteries in the novel format, but if you wrap them up in sci fi drag I'll read them.

Hercule Poirot, but from the made for TV movies more than the novels, so does that count?


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## Tony Richards (Jul 6, 2011)

For me, it is and always will be Philip Marlowe ... he sets the benchmark by which all other detectives of his type are judged. And then Chandler had to ruin it by having him settle down in the final book. Poodle Springs is a terrible title and an awful book I put down pretty quickly.


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

For some reason, I had not read this thread in a long time. I just completed reading the last couple of pages of the thread in one go.

If you truly want "first," I have a very dim memory of reading a short series of books about a pig detective named Freddy. This would've been about the second great! The only thing I remember of the series is that Freddy was a pig and I have a memory of the spine of one of the books with the title and a drawing up a pig done up as Sherlock Holmes. Later I became a major Hardy Boys fan. I remember seeing Trixie Belden in stores, but wouldn't have dreamt of touching a book for "girls" at the time. However I actually did read one Nancy Drew mystery in my early teens when we spent a lot of time at and uncles and I was at a loss for something to read. It had belonged to my cousin who is 10 years older than me.

I did not read Sherlock Holmes until I was in the eighth grade, but once I did, he became my lifetime favorite! I loved his extensive knowledge of trivia and his analytical ways. Nowadays I also love the Victorian setting.


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

Leslie said:


> in terms of detective-ing, having to confine yourself to writing in a period that doesn't exist--it must be tough to write accurately and interestingly.


Sorry to respond so late to this, but my favorite non-Holmes detective is probably Max Allan Collins's Nate Heller character. Heller did his fictional detecting starting as a rookie cop in the mid-1930s and ending so far with the Kennedy assassination in 1963. They are very detailed stories written around real events of the period, such as Amelia Earhart's disappearance, and the death of Marilyn Monroe. This means they often feature cameo and sometimes significant roles by actual historical figures. Author Collins seems to do a great deal of historical research for each book, and even as a detail-minded history buff I can seldom catch him wrongfooted.


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