I have a fair few number of favorite fictional characters but I know it won’t surprise anybody here that Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot are tops in my book. I have the movies Hound of the Baskervilles (Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce) as well as Murder on the Orient Express (Albert Finney) saved on my TV so it’s accurate to say I’ve seen them repeatedly.
Several years ago my BFF and I decided that for our birthdays we would do experiences together rather than do more “stuff”. She does Cantus tickets for us and I do a play for us each fall. I pick three options, write them up a bit and she chooses one.
This year, a production called Holmes/Poirot was finally scheduled at Park Square Theatre. There had been discussion of it during the summer of 2023, but it never materialized. When I presented BFF with the three choices this year, I had my fingers crossed that she would choose Holmes/Poirot. Luckily she’s a sleuth fan as well. We’ve done a couple of other Sherlock “knock-offs”s as well as doing the Science Museum exhibition a couple of years ago.
The expectation was that the play would be a mash-up with the detectives pitted against each other, even though you’d have to mess with the time continuum to do this. Considering I’ve read a book with Sherlock as a dog and another with a time traveling Miss Marple facsimile, I can handle a little time continuum disturbance. When we sat down with our programs, it was clear that it was going to be two different stories…. Holmes in Act One and Poirot in Act Two. The two main actors change roles for the second act. Sherlock Holmes becomes Colonel Hastings and John Watson becomes Hercule Poirot. The other seven actors switch up characters as well.
During intermission BFF and I wondered aloud how long it would take us to re-orient ourselves to the actors changing parts. We didn’t need to worry. Within just a couple of minutes, we were all in. It was an inspired juxtaposition; both actors were excellent and completely believable in their roles. The second act was played for more comedy, which was perfect because…. well… Poirot. It’s hard not to play him with a splash of silliness.
Absolutely no spoiler alerts here but suffice it to say that the writing was great and had BFF and I guessing to the end of each segment. It was an immediate standing ovation. I’m highly recommending this if you can stlll get tickets.
Do you have a preferred detective? Fictional or otherwise?
Trail Baboon 
I’ve loved/admired/envied Holmes since childhood. I also like Harry Bosch, Jack Reacher, and Cork O’Connor. Not all purely detectives, but they excel at solving cases. . . and kicking butt when necessary.
Chris in Owatonna
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Miss Marple–both in the novels and as portrayed by Joan Hickson–is my lifelong fave. I also have a soft spot for the character Father Brown (from the current series, played by Mark Williams; I have had less success getting into Chesterton’s stories).
I have another favorite literary detective, Dame Frevisse from the mysteries by Margaret Frazer. Dame Frevisse, a relative by marriage to Chaucer, is an English nun in the 15th century. The research is top-notch–one of the co-writers was/is a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism–the characters are well-drawn, and the protagonist is portrayed as actually devout and content with her choices, which is amazingly rare in fiction (Cadfael is also fairly content, but he has few qualms about missing the Hours, unlike Frevisse, who centers her life around prayer). I wish I’d been able to tell the main author how much I loved her books, but alas, she died 11 years ago.
–Crow Girl
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Just requested The Novices Tale! (Had to go to Inner Library Loan.)
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There seem to be two in our SELCO system, so I’ll go ahead and request, too, VS. : )
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Columbo.
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One more thing….
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Some of the Star Trek: Next Generation episodes have detective story lines. Data as Sherlock Holmes was enjoyable.
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Agreed. I think I like Ship in a Bottle best…
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Daniel Davis as Professor Moriarty is an example of excellent casting.
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I love this blog where I find people who love some of the same literary characters that I do! I’ve never met anyone who even knew who Dame Frivesse is except my mom (who introduced us to her) and my sister! We also love Lord Peter Wimsey!
Naomi in St. Paul
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Naomi, you will find all kinds of quirks and quirky characters here. Welcome.
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Rise and Shine, Baboons,
I love this question, and it is hard to narrow it to one. So I will not do that. My favorite detective is Amelia Peabody Emerson of Egyptology fame, written by Elizabeth Peters, a pseudonym for Barbara Mertz who died in 2013. I miss that series. Amelia was an imperious and deeply insecure Victorian English woman of impeccable breeding. In reading those books I learned so much about Egyptian archeology. What fun. And as a bonus this audio series was narrated by the wonderful Barbara Rosenblat. The entire series was a joy.
Then there is Precious Ramotswe and Grace Makutse (Spelling?) of Alexander McCall Smith’s #1 Ladies Detective Agency. Finding a body with a ticking watch in a crocodile is not the usual resolution to a mystery. James Lee Burke’s many detectives are also characters I love, especially Dave Robicheaux and Clete Purcell. Chris already mentioned Cork O’Connor (William Kent Krueger). Lou got a Barnes and Noble gift certificate for his birthday. With it yesterday he purchased the newest of those novels, “Spirit Crossing.”
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BTW, to tolerate my self-imposed news desert during this last week of election mania, I iam listening to audiobooks. It blocks out the insanity and manages my anxiety. Kay Scarpetta is my detective/forensic pathologist/coroner of the moment.
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No actual detectives but the Darling Dahlias do solve a murder in every book. I’m currently listening on CD to The Darling Dahlias and the Unlucky Four Leaf Clover. (For the same reason as you). Yesterday I sped read through The Patchwork Quilt Murder, which was actually dreadful and I was stunned to find out that there’s at least 20 other bucks written by this author with the same main character. If it hadn’t been fairly short and a quick read, I wouldn’t have bothered.
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I did enjoy these, too, forgot to include her in my list.
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Peter Whimsey.
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sam spade is my guy
me and sam go way back
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In the past: V.I. Warshawski, Kinsie Millhone, Joe Leaphorn & Jim Chee, and Stephanie Plum. More recently: Armand Gamache, China Bayles, Maisie Dobbs, and Molly Murphy (by Rhys Bowen). And the aforementioned Cork O’C.
I’ve also really enjoyed Mary Robers Rinehart books, but don’t remember one particular character.
Going to check into Margaret Frazer…
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Ooh, and Laurie R. King’s Mary Russell is one of my favorites.
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Jackson Brodie is a favorite. Kate Atkinson’s stories go off into directions you wouldn’t predict.
I’ve never read any of the Lord Peter Winsey books, but I remember seeing some TV adaptations. Edward Petherbridge played the lead role, I believe. Those were good.
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Looks like I’ll have to look up Jackson B, too.
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