Goodness knows what you thought when you read that title.
I want to pick your brains tonight.
I suppose I could have written detectives & confidantes, or something similar but what I'm thinking about are "pairs" of detectives.
Following on from my Rendell tribute yesterday, of course Reg Wexford's offsider is Mike Burden.
From Agatha Christie we had Hercule Poirot and Captain Hastings.
That duo was really similar to the older one of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, where Watson was at once a foil who showed how clever Holmes really was, and also a sounding board for Holmes's theories.
So from Reginald Hill we have Andy Dalziel and Peter Pascoe.
From Colin Dexter, Morse and Lewis.
From Kerry Greenwood, Phryne Fisher and Dot, and from Ian Rankin John Rebus and Siobhan Clarke.
And then from Elizabeth George comes Thomas Lynley and Barbara Havers.
Michael Robotham has created Joe O'Loughlin and Vincent Ruiz.
But the strangest pair I have met recently is Charles Todd's Ian Rutledge and "Hamish in his head". I'm in the middle of listening to a second novel from the series, and I am struck by the way Rutledge talks constantly to Hamish (whom he actually executed in a firing squad for disobeying orders during the war), and Hamish responds - or it is vice versa?
Do you know of any other novels, particularly a series, where the "foil" is actually dead?
Even if you can't help with that, what about other "pairs"? Who have I missed?
Well, Adam Dalglish has more than one, but Kate Miskin is his sidekick in many of the novels.
ReplyDeleteMore recent British fiction:
Martin Edwards: Daniel Kind & Hannah Scarlett.
Can´t come up with more tonight, but maybe later ...
NB: did you see I reviewed a Phryne Fisher novel yesterday?
Thanks for the additions Dorte. Glad to see you enjoyed your Phyrne Fisher
ReplyDeleteWell, there's Lord Peter Wimsey, who later on has Harriet Vane as his sidekick (although she probably wouldn't want to be called such!).
ReplyDeleteSpenser has Hawk (sort of, though he's more of the muscle, from what I remember)
Then Aimee Leduc (Cara Black's mysteries set in France) has Rene Friant. He's different in that he's a dwarf (and computer expert). I really like Rene in these books.
Who wrote Spenser, Lourdes?
ReplyDeleteApologies for raking over an old post, but it strikes me that there are lots of detective partnerships - both explicit and implicit.
ReplyDeletePeter Robinson's Inspector Banks and Annie Cabot
Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta and Pete Marino
Kathy Reichs' Temperence Brennan and Andrew Ryan
In fact, it might be quicker to list the proper standalone detectives in crime fiction series...