v. 1. Batman: the Herculean detective -- James Bond: the byronic spy -- Father Brown: the clerical sleuth -- Charlie Chan: "the first nonwhite popular detective" -- Agatha Christie: creator of Hercule Poirot, the foreign sleuth, and Miss Jane Marple, the elderly sleuth -- Inspector Clouseau: the detective as buffoon -- Columbo: the disheveled detective -- Dragnet: television's most famous police drama -- Nancy Drew: the girl detective -- Jessica Fletcher: the mystery writer snoop -- Mike Hammer: "the maligned and bloody knight" -- Dirty Harry: the vigilante cop.