If you like lists: Top 10 cops in fiction

[cbabe]

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/may/24/top-10-cops-in-fiction-alan-parks

Top 10 cops in fiction

At war with the establishment, putting themselves in reckless danger and succumbing to terrible habits, these unreliable figures are dependably entertaining

Alan Parks
Wed 24 May 2023 07.00 EDT

Cops. Good ones, bad ones, corrupt ones, ones with hunches, ones that fight the system, ones that drink, ones that have unhappy home lives, ones that have an unsolved case haunting them. They come in all varieties in crime fiction – though sadly for the most part they are still all men – and apart from solving the case in hand they have to entertain us en route. Their foibles are part of the deal. The cop who listens to classical music, who spends half his hours drinking real ale in a cosy pub, the cop who reads philosophy in his spare time. Every cop needs a gimmick.

…more…

(Who’s on your list?)

[rampartc]

1. inspector cleuseau comes to mind

columbo
and about every detective on "law and order"

most of the great detectives = sherlock holmes, mike hammer etc practiced privately. many =jessica fletcher were not even private detectives.

[rsdsharp]

2. Dave Robichaeux, James Lee Burke's principal character.

Great writing, but Dave and his sidekick Crete Purcell are getting a little long in the tooth to continue beating the hell out of the bad guys.

[Beatlelvr]

3. Sherlock Holmes!

Tom Barnaby, Inspector Morse, Inspector Lewis, Dalgleish, Will Trent.

[gay texan]

4. Hmmm

Lt. Det. Frank Bullitt

Frank Drebin

Jim West and Artemis Gordon (secret service agents, it counts)

[Chainfire]

5. Jack Frost, Columbo and Jim Rockford

Rockford also hold the world record for the number of times knocked out by thugs.

[ExWhoDoesntCare]

7. Rockford wasn't a cop

He was a PI.

[ExWhoDoesntCare]

6. Well, let's see if I can answer without getting slammed for it

I agree with most of the list, especially Bosch & Rebus. I own every book in both series.

Some greats who could have easily made the list:

Ari Arason, author Ragnar Jónasson

Alan Banks, author Peter Robinson

Martin Beck, authors Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö

Elma & Sæver, author Eva Ægisdóttir

Tony Hill & Carol Gordon; Karen Pirie, author Val McDermid

Jules Maigret, author Georges Simenon

Jimmy Perez; Vera Stanhope, author Ann Cleeves

Jane Templeton, author Lynda la Plante

Kurt Wallender, author Henning Mankell

[cbabe]

8. Lt. Leaphorn and Jim Chee/Tony Hillerman and

Chief Inspector Armand Gamache/Louise Penny

Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers/John Sandford