The Golden Age of Detective Fiction: 1920s & 1930s- Who is Your Favorite Fictional Detective?

I vote:

Sherlock Holmes

Creator: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Debut In: A Study in Scarlet

Swansong in: His Last Bow; The Final Solution

Holmes is a good candidate for favourite fictional detective, but His last bow came out in 1917, so he doesn't have much to do with the 20s and 30s.

My favorite detective series started in the 1930's and continued for the next 40+ years -Ellery Queen.

A tie. Nick and Nora Charles.

Who are Nick and Hora Charles?

Other famous fictional characters:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detective_fiction/Early_Western_detective_fiction

Has to be Nero Wolfe for me. Starting with Fer de Lance in 1934 and continuing for the next 40 years. Nothing beats a good Rex Stout Nero Wolfe book.

I used to read The Saint , Simon Templar by Leslie Charteris.

I want to read the books again and also for the other who want to do so.

http://blog.saint.org/2013/08/the-saint-is-back-in-print.html

#5: Nick and Nora Charles are protagonists of The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett. They were really better known from the movie series than the book, though.

Dashiell Hammett's The Thin Man.

I like Nero Wolfe (and Archie Goodwin even more), but I'm also fond of Edgar Wallace's Mr. J. G. Reeder.

Well technically The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes were stories published between 1921 and 1927 so that does mean Doyle was working during the 20s but then again I wouldn't rank him as being apart of being the "golden age" of detective fiction stylistically.

As to who my favourite golden age detective is it is very hard to decide on one to be honest. But my top favourites would be Miss Marple, Mrs Bradley, Gervase Fen, Lily Wu, Poirot and Peter Wimsey.

I'd like to nominate R. Austin Freeman's Dr. Thorndyke, a truly scientific detective and almost certainly the best of the so-called "rivals of Sherlock Holmes". Although the full-length novels are undeniably uneven, a large proportion of the short stories are as good as any of the Holmes canon, and sometimes better (it's interesting to read The Norwood Builder and wonder how long Thorndyke would have taken to solve the crime).

No fans of Margery Allingham's Albert Campion & Lugg?

For me, it would be hard to choose between Poirot, Lord Peter Wimsey, and Inspector Alan Grant (from Josephine Tey) as top favorite. But I also like Campion and Patricia Wentworth's Miss Silver, Nero Wolfe, Sam Spade, Gervase Fen, Inspector Appleby...

I could not choose. Albert Campion, Roderick Alleyn, Miss Silver, Miss Marple, Lord Peter Wimsey, Mrs. Bradley, Simon Templar, Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin... sigh. So many wonderful hours reading and re-reading them all.

Here's one who hasn't been mentioned yet: Asey Mayo, the Codfish Sherlock, from Phoebe Atwood Taylor's books.

Edit:
Oops sorry, didn't read the topic properly.

>15 tardis: I have read one or two of Phoebe Atwood Taylor's books but they were later (1950s or so). I didn't realize that the series went back to the 20s & 30s... As a Massachusetts native, it is fun to read books like these which are set in places I have been...

I'd have to go with Lord Peter, although Nero Wolf is a very very close second. But Dorothy Sayers wins out for me just by virtue of Gaudy Night -- one of my very favorite mysteries, ever.

I am a big fan of Lord Peter Wimsey and his partner/wife Harriet Vane.

I was brought up on classic detectives so, in nor particular order I'd recommend Albert Campion, Lord Peter Wimsey, Mrs Bradley, Asey Mayo, Gervase Fen, Inspector Alleyn and Inspector Bonaparte (Boney). Though I have to admit I fell in love with Albert Campion at the age of ten.

This thread's been going for a year, but so far no-one has mentioned Maigret. What are we thinking of? He must vie with Wimsey and Poirot as one of the most important fictional detectives ever. Maybe we just forget that he started his career in the thirties because it went on for so long?

If you're interested in this period of crime fiction , the British Library are republishing forgotten classics from the time. There's about 10 already.

I am a big fan of Lord Peter Wimsey, and also Earl Derr Biggers: Charlie Chan. I know he is a stereotype, but the books have great atmosphere.

I have read only one Maigret book and loved it. Also, I read the first Charlie Chan book recently and was surprised by how good it was. Those were the first two I thought of when I saw this thread this morning.

Inspired by the TV series, I will add Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton to the list. Always a moral to the story, but he doesn't hit you over the head with it. I think he was the one to notice that the costume worn by a waiter in a gentlemen's club was exactly the same as those of the gentlemen he was serving--therefore he could hide in plain sight!