Best Detectives in Books

1 Jane Tennison (Prime Suspect by Lynda La Plante)

2 Agatha Raisin (Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death by M.C. Beaton)

3 Temperance "Bones" Brennan (Deja Dead by Kathy Reichs)

4 Sherlock Holmes (A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle) Sherlock Holmes is a fictional private detective created by British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, forensic science, and logical reasoning that borders on the fantastic, which he employs when investigating cases for a wide variety of clients, including Scotland Yard.

5 Hercule Poirot (The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie)

6 C. Auguste Dupin (The Murders in the Rue Morgue by Edgar Allan Poe)

7 Kurt Wallander (Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell)

8 Lindsay Boxer (1st to Die by James Patterson)

9 Miss Marple (The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie)

10 Father Brown (The Innocence of Father Brown by G.K. Chesterton)

The Contenders

11 Nero Wolfe (Fer-De-Lance by Rex Stout)

12 Thomas Carnacki (Carnacki, the Ghost Finder by William Hope Hodgson)

13 Nancy Drew (The Secret of the Old Clock by Carolyn Keene)

14 Harry Hole (The Bat by Jo Nesbø)

15 Sexton Blake (The Missing Millionaire by Harry Blyth)

16 Solar Pons (In Re: Sherlock Holmes - The Adventures of Solar Pons by August Derleth)