It doesn’t take much sleuthing to see these would make great stories for TV and the movies.
But what about those literary detectives who have yet to receive their due?
There’s hundreds, if not thousands out there, waiting to be brought to life on screen.
Yearling
Sammy Keyes
There have been plenty of kid detectives over the years, particularly high school gumshoes.
But I’ll always have a soft spot for too-curious-for-her-own-good Sammy Keyes.
She’s the heroine of an 18-book series by Wendelin Van Draanen, which ran from 1997 to 2014.
Courtesy amazon
She’d be a great figure for a Disney+ series with something to offer the entire family.
She’s perturbed when one of her residents turns up dead at the bottom of an elevator shaft.
The only thing more satisfying than solving a case is prolonged yearning.
Bantam
That’s something we could use more of in on-screen depictions of detective work too.
Blanche presents an opportunity for a new perspective in detective work on screen.
In Deathdetective series, which she writes under pseudonym J.D.
Brash Books
Robb, get its own procedural.
At 50 books and counting, there’s no shortage of source material.
The series is beloved for its balance of captivating cases and the central relationship between Eve and Roarke.
Berkley
Take the wealth of novels at your disposal, Hollywood, and make this thing a sure hit.
PictureThe Mummybut with enough material to fill a 20-book series.
MLL
The Three Investigators
Forget Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys.
Grand Central Publishing
My favorite literary detectives are the way more obscure (and way more interesting) Three Investigators.
The result was an addictive mystery series that was part whodunnit, part ode to ’60s/’70s Hollywood.
Our three heroes specialized in all things bizarre including ghosts, haunted castles, mummies, and more.
Random House Books for Young Readers
Bob Andrews was the team’s bookish researcher, and Pete Crenshaw was the athletic muscle.
But the series' standout was Jupiter Jones, a former child actor turned brilliant logician.
But the books remain weirdly popular in Germany, where they’ve found an unexpected second life.
Grosset & Dunlap
(There was even a German film version in 2007, starringShamelessactorCameron Monaghanas Bob.)
With a Tinseltown setting and an Alfred Hitchcock connection, what more could Hollywood want?
