List of fictional private investigators
This is a partial list of fictional private investigators — also known as private eyes or PIs — who have appeared in various works of literature, film, television, and games.
Detective | Creator | Debut |
---|---|---|
Karen Andersen | Louise Burfitt-Dons | The Missing Activist[1] (2018) |
Angel | Joss Whedon | Angel (TV) (1999) |
Harry Angel | William Hjortsberg | Falling Angel (1978) |
Lew Archer | Ross Macdonald | The Moving Target (1949) |
Bilqees "Bobby" Ahmed | Samar Shaikh | Bobby Jasoos (2014) |
Jagga Bagchi | Anurag Basu | Jagga Jasoos (2017) |
Byomkesh Bakshi | Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay | Satyanweshi (1934) |
Goenda Baradacharan | Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay | Monojder Advut Bari |
Parashor Barma | Premendra Mitra | Nagchampa (1968) |
Benoit Blanc | Rian Johnson | Knives Out (2019) |
Kate Brannigan | Val McDermid | Dead Beat[2] (1992) |
Nestor Burma | Léo Malet | 120, rue de la Gare (1943) |
Joe Caneili | Hayford Peirce | Trouble in Tahiti: P.I. Joe Caneili, Discrétion Assurée[3] (2000) |
Frank Cannon | Edward Hume | Cannon (TV) (1971) |
Carlotta Carlyle | Linda Barnes | A Trouble of Fools[4] (1987) |
Rex Carver | Victor Canning | The Whip Hand (1965) |
Dipak Chatterjee | Swapan Kumar | Adrishya Sanket (1953) |
Detective Chimp | John Broome and Carmine Infantino | Adventures of Rex the Wonder Dog #4 (July–August 1952) |
Emerson Cod | Bryan Fuller | Pushing Daisies (TV) (2007) |
Elvis Cole | Robert Crais | The Monkey's Raincoat (1987) |
The Continental Op | Dashiell Hammett | The Tenth Clew[5] (1924) |
Alexa Crowe | Claire Tonkin | My Life Is Murder (TV) (2019) |
Clifford Dee | J. Denison Reed | Cliffords War: The Bluegrass Battleground[6] (2021) Cliffords War: Without End[7] (2022) |
Frankie Drake | Carol Hay and Michelle Ricci | Frankie Drake Mysteries (TV) (2018) |
Harry Dresden | Jim Butcher | Storm Front (2000) The Dresden Files (TV) (2007) |
Nancy Drew | Carolyn Keene | The Secret of the Old Clock (1930) |
Feluda, or Prodosh Chandra Mitra | Satyajit Ray | Feludar Goendagiri (1965) |
Phryne Fisher | Kerry Greenwood | Cocaine Blues (1989) |
Jessica Fletcher | Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson and William Link | Murder, She Wrote (TV) (1984) |
Dan Fortune | Michael Collins | Act of Fear[8] (1967) |
Josephine Fuller | Lynne Murray | Larger Than Death[9] (1997) |
Ganesh | Sujatha | Nylon Kayiru (1968) |
Dirk Gently | Douglas Adams | Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (1987) |
J.J. 'Jake' Gittes | Robert Towne | Chinatown (Film) (1974) |
Lindsay Gordon | Val McDermid | Report for Murder[10] (1987) |
Bernhard "Bernie" Gunther | Philip Kerr | March Violets (1989) |
Mike Hammer | Mickey Spillane | I, the Jury[11] (1947) |
Cliff Hardy | Peter Corris | The Dying Trade[12] (1980) |
Frank and Joe Hardy | Franklin Dixon | The Tower Treasure (1930) |
Sherlock Holmes | Sir Arthur Conan Doyle | A Study in Scarlet (1887) |
Jack Irish | Peter Temple | Bad Debts (1996) |
Jessica Jones | Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Gaydos | Alias (Comic Book) (2001) Jessica Jones (TV) (2015) |
Kemal Kayankaya | Jakob Arjouni | Happy Birthday, Türke! (1985); English translation: Happy Birthday, Turk! (1994) |
Arthur Lemming | Monty Python | Monty Python's Flying Circus - "Owl Stretching Time" (TV) (1969) |
Miss Madelyn Mack | Hugh C. Weir | "The Problem of the Eliminated Bridegroom" (1909)[13] |
Trent Malloy Carlos Sandoval | Albert S. Ruddy & Leslie Greif and Paul Haggis and Christopher Canaan | Walker, Texas Ranger (TV) (1997) |
Thomas Magnum | Donald P. Bellisario and Glen A. Larson | Magnum, P.I. (TV) (1980) |
Joe Mannix | Richard Levinson and William Link | Mannix (TV) (1967) |
Philip Marlowe | Raymond Chandler | The Big Sleep (1939) Murder, My Sweet (Film) (1944) |
Miss Jane Marple | Agatha Christie | "The Tuesday Night Club" (1927) |
Hemlock Marreau | Robert Farrow | Marreau and the Chocolate Policeman[14] (1991) |
Veronica Mars Keith Mars | Rob Thomas | Veronica Mars (TV) (2004) |
Mitin Masi | Suchitra Bhattacharya | Pālābāra Patha Nē'i |
Travis McGee | John D. MacDonald | The Deep Blue Good-by[15] (1964) |
Kinsey Millhone | Sue Grafton | "A" Is for Alibi[16] (1982) |
Tess Monaghan | Laura Lippman | Baltimore Blues[17] (1997) |
Adrian Monk | Andy Breckman | Monk (TV) (2002) |
Bhaduri Moshai | Nirendranath Chakravarty | |
Tex Murphy | Chris Jones | Mean Streets (Video Game) (2004) |
Mr. Nadgett | Charles Dickens | Martin Chuzzlewit. He was the first fictional private investigator[18] |
Nameless Detective | Bill Pronzini | The Snatch[19] (1971) |
Harry Orwell | Howard Rodman | Harry O (TV) (1974) |
Hercule Poirot | Agatha Christie | The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920) |
Ellery Queen | Frederic Dannay and Manfred Bennington Lee | The Roman Hat Mystery (1929) |
Agatha Raisin | M.C. Beaton | Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death (1992) |
Precious Ramotswe | Alexander McCall Smith | The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency[20] (1998) |
Jeff Randall | Dennis Spooner | Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) (TV) (1969) |
Sunny Randall | Robert B. Parker | Family Honor[21] (1999) |
Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins | Walter Mosley | Devil in a Blue Dress (1990) |
Jim Rockford | Richard T. Heffron | The Rockford Files (TV) (1974) |
Kiriti Roy | Nihar Ranjan Gupta | Kalo Bhramar (1930s) |
Matthew Scudder | Lawrence Block | The Sins of the Fathers (1976) |
John Shaft | Ernest Tidyman | Shaft (1970) |
Eddie Shoestring | Robert Banks Stewart and Richard Harris | Shoestring (TV) (1979) |
Sam Spade | Dashiell Hammett | The Maltese Falcon[22] (1930) The Maltese Falcon (Film) (1931) |
Shawn Spencer | Steve Franks and Andy Berman | Psych (TV) (2006) |
Spenser | Robert B. Parker | The Godwulf Manuscript (1973) |
Larry "Doc" Sportello | Thomas Pynchon | Inherent Vice (2009) |
Johnny Staccato | Everett Chambers, producer | Johnny Staccato (TV) (1959) |
Juno Steel | Harley Takagi Kaner and Kevin Vibert | The Penumbra Podcast (2016) |
Cormoran Strike | Robert Galbraith | "The Cuckoo's Calling" (2013) "Strike" (TV) (2017) |
Three Investigators | Robert Arthur Jr. | The Secret of Terror Castle (1964) |
Tommy and Tuppence | Agatha Christie | The Secret Adversary (1922) |
Amos Walker | Loren D. Estleman | Motor City Blue[23] (1980) |
V. I. Warshawski | Sara Paretsky | Indemnity Only[24] (1982) |
Nero Wolfe | Rex Stout | Fer-de-Lance (1934) |
References
- ^ "The Missing Activist".
- ^ Dead Beat
- ^ P. I. Joe Caneili, Discretion Assuree
- ^ "A Trouble of Fools (A Carlotta Carlyle Mystery #1)".
- ^ The Tenth Clew
- ^ "Best Selling Author Talks About His Book".
- ^ "Cliffords War Without End".
- ^ "Act of Fear". Archived from the original on October 1, 2007. Retrieved July 18, 2006.
- ^ "Larger Than Death (Josephine Fuller, #1)".
- ^ Report for Murder
- ^ I, the Jury
- ^ The Dying Trade
- ^ Great Mystery Stories in Illustrated Sunday Magazine, The Gazette Times (Pittsburgh), December 12, 1909 (first story is on previous page)
- ^ Marreau and the Chocolate Policeman
- ^ The Deep Blue Good-by
- ^ A is for Alibi
- ^ "Baltimore Blues (Tess Monaghan #1)".
- ^ Mitzi Brunsdale, Gumshoes: A Dictionary of Fictional Detectives, Introduction, p.3. Also, LeRoy Lad PanekBefore Sherlock Holmes: How Magazines and Newspapers Invented the Detective. p.97
- ^ The Snatch
- ^ The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency[permanent dead link]
- ^ Family Honor
- ^ The Maltese Falcon
- ^ Motor City Blue
- ^ "Indemnity Only". Archived from the original on October 3, 2008. Retrieved October 15, 2008.
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Lists of fictional agents
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