I’m hooked on whodunits.

The problem began back in fourth grade with “The Hidden Harbor Mystery” by Franklin W. Dixon. Why I started with Book 14 of the Hardy Boys series, I don’t know.

But in the years that followed, I powered through most of the rest, often hunkered under a blanket with a flashlight long after my parents had declared lights out.

Later, a Sherlock Holmes volume for Christmas steered my obsession to more sophistication. Things didn’t get out of control, though, until audiobooks allowed me to “read” while driving, doing chores, exercising, even lying in bed and drifting off to sleep, like with a real book.

Now the Knox County Public Library feeds by addiction. I use the Overdrive app to download books, and I’m not alone. From April 2016 to March 2017, the library checked out 130,623 audiobooks through Overdrive.

So, based on my extensive research, who’s the best literary detective? I nominate these eight greats:

Hercule Poirot – Agatha Christie’s Belgium sleuth makes any list. Happily, it has been so long since I first read Dame Agatha, I’ve forgotten many of her stories and can enjoy them again.

– Agatha Christie’s Belgium sleuth makes any list. Happily, it has been so long since I first read Dame Agatha, I’ve forgotten many of her stories and can enjoy them again. Travis McGee – John D. MacDonald’s beach bum would insist he’s not a private investigator but a “salvage consultant” who helps recover lost valuables, usually for damsels in distress. In my book, though, he counts.

– John D. MacDonald’s beach bum would insist he’s not a private investigator but a “salvage consultant” who helps recover lost valuables, usually for damsels in distress. In my book, though, he counts. Jim Chee – My favorite of Tony Hillerman’s two Navajo Tribal Police detectives. Unlike his boss, Lt. Joe Leaphorn, Chee wrestles with self-doubts, a spiritual calling, and a shifting love life.

– My favorite of Tony Hillerman’s two Navajo Tribal Police detectives. Unlike his boss, Lt. Joe Leaphorn, Chee wrestles with self-doubts, a spiritual calling, and a shifting love life. Nero Wolfe – Rex Stout’s massive, moody genius hates to work – even though he does it with his eyes closed – so he must be constantly prodded by his slick, snide sidekick, Archie Goodwin.

– Rex Stout’s massive, moody genius hates to work – even though he does it with his eyes closed – so he must be constantly prodded by his slick, snide sidekick, Archie Goodwin. Adam Dalgliesh – This poet police commander is the prototypical “gentleman detective” of British fiction. Now that author P. D. James has died, American writer Elizabeth George ably maintains the genre with Detective Inspector Tommy Lynley, 8th Earl of Asherton.

– This poet police commander is the prototypical “gentleman detective” of British fiction. Now that author P. D. James has died, American writer Elizabeth George ably maintains the genre with Detective Inspector Tommy Lynley, 8th Earl of Asherton. Cormoran Strike – A Brit but no gentleman, this illegitimate son of a rock star and a groupie had his leg blown off in Afghanistan. He’s the creation of J. K. Rowling writing under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. Just three books so far, but hopes for more.

– A Brit but no gentleman, this illegitimate son of a rock star and a groupie had his leg blown off in Afghanistan. He’s the creation of J. K. Rowling writing under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. Just three books so far, but hopes for more. Kinsey Millhone – Sue Grafton’s heroine is heiress to the hard-boiled PI motif that Raymond Chandler crafted to perfection in Phillip Marlowe. But Grafton’s alphabet series has reached “’Y’ is for Yesterday.” Is there life for Kinsey after “Z”?

– Sue Grafton’s heroine is heiress to the hard-boiled PI motif that Raymond Chandler crafted to perfection in Phillip Marlowe. But Grafton’s alphabet series has reached “’Y’ is for Yesterday.” Is there life for Kinsey after “Z”? Harry Bosch – No one is more hard-boiled than Michael Connelly’s uncompromising homicide investigator. The son of a prostitute, he grew up in an orphanage before fighting as a “tunnel rat” in Vietnam. Then he joined the LAPD and things really got tough.

There are lots more, of course. Who's your favorite?



Jack McElroy is executive editor of the Knoxville News Sentinel. He can be reached at editor@knoxnews.com.

Refresh page if you're having trouble seeing the poll below.