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Just out – and a must for every mystery fan – is a
comprehensive and lavishly illustrated A-Z guide from Russell James:
Great British Fictional Detectives, featuring over four
hundred Great British Detectives, and highlighting their
characteristics, books, TV appearances and films. Among the many
titbits of information set around the main A-Z is this section on
Day Jobs of the Amateur Detective, which Russell has allowed us
to quote here:
Day Jobs of the Amateur Detective
Where
did amateur detectives really earn their money? Some were toffs,
and didn’t need to worry (too much) about where the next meal was
coming from, and some had a sufficiently full casebook to live on
their sleuthing earnings, but many of our amateur detectives needed
a day job. Here are some of them.
|
Detective (and author) |
Where the money came
from: |
|
Johnny Ace (Ron Ellis) |
Disc Jockey |
|
Robert Amiss (Ruth D
Edwards) |
Civil Servant |
|
Jonathan Argyll (Iain Pears) |
Art dealer |
|
Bertie (Peter Lovesey) |
Prince of Wales |
|
Mrs Bradley (Gladys
Mitchell) |
Consultant psychiatrist at
the Home Office |
|
Theodora Braithwaite (D M
Greenwood) |
Deaconess |
|
Nell Bray (Gillian Linscott) |
Suffragette |
|
Miles Bredon (Ronald Knox) |
Investigator (Indescribable
Life Insurance Co) |
|
Father Brown (G K
Chesterton) |
Roman Catholic Priest |
|
Keith Calder (Gerald
Hammond) |
Gunsmith |
|
Albert Campion (Margery
Allingham) |
Gentleman of leisure
(possibly of royal blood) |
|
Canaletto (Janet Laurence) |
Artist |
|
Melissa Craig (Betty
Rowlands) |
Crime novelist |
|
Auguste Didier (Amy Myers) |
Master chef |
|
Montague Egg (D L Sayers) |
Commercial Traveller |
|
Dr Gideon Fell (J D Carr) |
Lexicographer & historian |
|
Gervase Fen (Edmund Crispin) |
Oxford Professor of English
& clumsy motorist |
|
Flash the Alsatian (John W
Bobin) |
Dog |
|
Reginald Fortune (H C
Bailey) |
Pathologist |
|
Antony Gillingham (A A
Milne) |
Gentleman of leisure |
|
Lindsay Gordon (Val
McDermid) |
Noisy journalist |
|
Francis Hancock (Barbara
Nadel) |
Anglo-Indian undertaker |
|
Dido Hoare (Marianne
MacDonald) |
Antiquarian book dealer
|
|
Mr Jellipot (Sydney Fowler) |
Solicitor |
|
Arnold Landon (Roy Lewis) |
Archaeologist |
|
Lovejoy (Jonathan Gash) |
Antiques dealer |
|
Miss Jane Marple (Agatha
Christie) |
Spinster |
|
Peter Maxwell (M J Trow) |
Teacher |
|
Phyllida Moon (Eileen
Dewhurst) |
Actress |
|
Charles Paris (Simon Brett) |
Heavy drinking actor |
|
Francis Pettigrew (Cyril
Hare) |
Barrister |
|
Miss Pink (Gwen Moffat) |
Mountaineer |
|
Dr Priestley (John Rhode) |
Mathematician and scientist |
|
Mr Pringle (Nancy Livinston) |
Tax inspector |
|
Roger Sheringham (Anthony
Berkeley) |
Novelist |
|
Tim Simpson (John Malcolm) |
Antiques expert |
|
Nigel Strangeways (Nicholas
Blake) |
Journalist and poet |
|
Dr Thorndyke (R Austin
Freeman) |
Medical Jurist and amateur
scientist of note |
|
Ludovic Travers (Christopher
Bush) |
Gentleman of leisure |
|
Mark Treasure (David
Williams) |
Merchant Banker |
|
Philip Trent (E C Bailey) |
Artist |
|
Merrily Watkins (Phil
Rickman) |
Deliverance Consultant |
|
Lord Peter Wimsey (D L
Sayers) |
Gentleman of leisure |
|
David Wintringham (Josephine
Bell) |
Doctor |
This is just one of the sections in the book. The
bulk is a comprehensive A to Z of fictional British
detectives in books, TV or film – a far more detailed guide than
we’ve seen elsewhere, describing not only the famous names (Sherlock
Homes, John Rebus, Inspector Morse) but also many equally
fascinating but less well-known detectives. However many you
personally may have come across, we’re sure there’ll be some here
you didn’t know. In fact, how many detectives can you name? Can
you name the book with
* the first woman detective
* the first nurse detective
* a blind detective
* two Edwardian cycling detectives
* the first transsexual sleuth
* the dog that accompanied Valerie Drew?
Do you remember Z-Cars on TV? In Great
British Fictional Detectives you’ll find not only the best-known
TV detectives of today and yesterday but some old favourites you
thought that you’d forgotten. Perhaps you remember Superintendent
Lockhart — but what was the name of the programme? If you watch TV
you’ll know Morse and Rebus, but who are the starring actors in
Life on Mars and Mind to Kill?
The A-Z section lists over four hundred detectives,
some of whom have only a line or two while the more interesting
sleuths have several pages each. But there’s far more in the book
than that. You’ll find quotes from stories, lots of pictures and a
wealth of inside information about detectives and crime fiction.
You’ve got to have this book by your bedside!
GREAT BRITISH FICTIONAL DETECTIVES
by
Russell James
published by Remember When
(an imprint of Pen & Sword)
Recommended price £19.99
(though check for lower on the net!)
ISBN 978 1844 680269
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