Detectives: ARIADNE OLIVER by Agatha Christie

Complete list of appearances of mystery writer Ariadne Oliver, usually assisting Hercule Poirot. Written by Agatha Christie:

Parker Pyne Investigates ("The Case of the Discontented Soldier") (1934)
Cards on the Table (1936)
Mrs McGinty's Dead (1952)
Dead Man's Folly (1956)
The Pale Horse (1961)
Third Girl (1966)
Hallowe'en Party (1969)
Elephants Can Remember (1972)

More detectives:
HERCULE POIROT by Agatha Christie
TOMMY and TUPPENCE by Agatha Christie
MISS MARPLE by Agatha Christie
JESSICA FLETCHER (Murder She Wrote) by Donald Bain
EARL WALKER (Hometown Mysteries) by Chris Well
150 Mystery Series: 1841-2010

Detectives: NICK and NORA CHARLES by Dashiell Hammett

Complete list of film mysteries starring hard drinking retired private investigator Nick Charles, heiress wife Nora Charles, and their faithful dog Asta. The original novel, The Thin Man (1934) was written by Dashiell Hammett.

The Thin Man (1934)
After the Thin Man (1936)
Another Thin Man (1939)
Shadow of the Thin Man (1941)
The Thin Man Goes Home (1945)
Song of the Thin Man (1947)

Further reading:
The Thin Man Films Murder over Cocktails  (2008)

More detectives:
TOMMY and TUPPENCE by Agatha Christie
PHILO VANCE by S.S. Van Dine
CHARLIE CHAN by Earl Derr Biggers
NERO WOLFE and ARCHIE GOODWIN by Rex Stout
PHILIP MARLOWE by Raymond Chandler
PETER DECKER and RINA LAZARUS by Faye Kellerman

Detectives: FRANK ELDER by John Harvey

Complete trilogy of mysteries starring retired detective Frank Elder. Written by John Harvey:

Flesh and Blood (2004)
Ash and Bone (2005)
Darkness and Light (2006)

More detective series:
INSPECTOR MORSE by Colin Dexter
CHIEF INSPECTOR WEXFORD by Ruth Rendell
COMMANDER ADAM DALGLIESH by P.D. James
87TH PRECINCT by Ed McBain
EARL WALKER by Chris Well
150 Mystery Series: 1841-2010
Retirement is Murder: 10 Senior Sleuths
Still Kicking: 10 More Senior Sleuths

Detectives: C. AUGUSTE DUPIN by Edgar Allan Poe

Despite appearing in a mere three short stories written by Edgar Allan Poe, C. Auguste Dupin is generally acknowledged as the first detective in fiction, and the prototype for the likes of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle and Hercule Poirot by Agatha Christie. many tropes that would later become commonplace in detective fiction first appeared in Poe's stories: the eccentric but brilliant detective; the bumbling police; the first-person narration by a friend. Poe's Dupin stories also are the first where the detective announces his solution and then explains the reasoning leading to it.

Read all three stories free online:
"The Murders in The Rue Morgue" (1841)
"The Mystery of Marie Roget" (1842)
"The Purloined Letter" (1844)

Note: The book The Beautiful Cigar Girl: Mary Rogers, Edgar Allan Poe, and the Invention of Murder details how author Poe wrote "The Mystery of Marie Roget" as an attempt to solve a real-life unsolved crime.

Further Reading:
The Complete Stories (Everyman's Library) by Edgar Allan Poe
Complete Stories and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe

More detectives:
CHARLIE CHAN by Earl Derr Biggers
PHILO VANCE by S.S. Van Dine
ALBERT CAMPION by Margery Allingham
DR. GIDEON FELL by John Dickson Carr
NERO WOLFE and ARCHIE GOODWIN by Rex Stout
150 Mystery Series: 1841-2010
Murderous Beginnings: 40 Detective Fiction Firsts

New Releases Sept 2010

A selection of mystery, detective, and crime fiction titles coming to booksellers September 2010:

The Tale of Oat Cake Crag (Beatrix Potter) by Susan Wittig Albert
Tears of Pearl (Lady Emily) by Tasha Alexander
She Felt No Pain (Holly Martin Mystery) by Lou Allin
A Cup of Jo (Maggy Thorsen Mysteries) by Sandra Balzo
The Vaults by Toby Ball
Sherlock Holmes on Screen by Alan Barnes
Warlord: An Alex Hawke Novel by Ted Bell
Rag and Bone (Billy Boyle World War II Mystery) by James R. Benn
Death Message by Mark Billingham
Trail of Blood (Theresa Maclean) by Lisa Black
For Richer, For Danger (A Broken Vows Mystery) by Lisa Bork
Royal Blood (Royal Spyness) by Rhys Bowen
A Nose for Justice by Rita Mae Brown
Naked Heat by Richard Castle
Blue Lightning (Shetland Island Quartet) by Ann Cleeves
Back Spin (Myron Bolitar) by Harlan Coben
Quarry's Ex by Max Allan Collins
The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly
Loco Motive (Bed & Breakfast) by Mary Daheim
The Hilliker Curse: My Pursuit of Women by James Ellroy
Amos Walker: The Complete Story Collection by Loren Estleman
Wicked Appetite (Diesel #1) by Janet Evanovich
Gingerbread Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke, Leslie Meyer, and Laura Levine
Bryant & May Off the Rails (Peculiar Crimes) by Christopher Fowler
Bryant & May On the Loose (Peculiar Crimes) by Christopher Fowler
In Their Footsteps by Tess Gerritsen
The Identity Man by Andrew Klavan
Shift by Tim Kring
Comfort to the Enemy and Other Stories (collection) by Elmore Leonard
Mister X (Frank Quinn #5) by John Lutz
The Fever of the Bone (Tony Hill) by Val McDermid
Body Work (V.I. Warshawski) by Sara Paretsky
Don't Blink by James Patterson and Howard Roughan
Worst Case by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge
Bury Your Dead (Chief Inspector Gamache) by Louise Penny
The Black Lizard Big Book of Black Mask Stories by Otto Penzler
Death of a Stranger (William Monk) by Anne Perry
Portobello by Ruth Rendell
Walking Dead (Atticus Kodiak) by Greg Rucka
Bad Blood (Virgil Flowers) by John Sandford
Thrilled to Death (Wade Jackson) by L.J. Sellers
Santa Fe Edge (Ed Eagle) by Stuart Woods