I just received an interesting email from one of my Classic Mysteries visitors, Dilys Baker. She observes of Gladys Mitchell's detective, "Mrs. Bradley is one of a rare species, the murderous detective. I know there are quite a few of them but offhand can only think of Valentin in the Father Brown stories. There is Dexter, of course, but I don't really think he counts as a detective."
I think she makes an interesting point. I don't think the murderous detective is all that rare - not if you consider as "murderous" those usually amateur detectives who either manage to kill off the v8illain or who allow the villain to commit suicide rather than face justice.
There are lots of examples. There's Lord Peter Wimsey, in "Murder Must Advertise," for example. Carr's Sir Henry Merrivale and Gideon Fell both allow some of the villains to choose suicide. Bulldog Drummond killed off a reasonable number of his opponents, and so did Reggie Fortune. I just finished reading one of Stuart Palmer's early Hildegarde Withers stories in which Hildy does the same thing.
I'm sure there are many more. Do any of my readers want to contribute other examples by leaving a note here in the comments?
Poirot and Philo Vance both come to mind.
Posted by: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=564454491 | August 04, 2011 at 03:49 PM
Along the same lines as Bulldog Drummond: The Saint.
He's sort of a detective. Sometimes. And he calls it "bumping off the ungodly" whenever he kills someone.
I don't have any problems reading about a detective using lethal force in theory, but writing about an executioner can lead to some pretty flimsy stories in practice.
Posted by: Josiah | August 04, 2011 at 03:58 PM
Also: Grave Digger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson from Chester Himes' books about Harlem. (The Real Cool Killers, Blind Man with a Pistol, etc.)
Those books are so violent it's downright hallucinatory. They are the closest thing I can find to Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett: that note-perfect blend of literate, truthful prose and over-the-top mayhem.
Posted by: Josiah | August 04, 2011 at 04:05 PM
This will be a SPOILER for anyone who might intend to read it. I just read a Sherlock Holmes novel by L.B. Greenwood (Sherlock Holmes and the Case of Sabina Hall) in which Holmes strongly suggested that the culprit do himself in.
Posted by: Bill | August 04, 2011 at 04:50 PM
Bill, you just reminded me that the original Sherlock Holmes was also known to encourage the occasional wrongdoer to commit suicide. He was also, in at least one story (The Speckled Band) able to arrange the villain's demise by reversing the trap said villain was trying to set for a victim.
Josiah, I suspect there are more examples among noir and hard-boiled detectives than I can imagine. I've heard good things about Himes, but never read him.
Posted by: Les Blatt | August 04, 2011 at 04:59 PM
I posted this a few days ago on the GADetection group:
It's not an uncommon phenomenon for a GAD-era novel to kill-off the murderer after exposing him or her, but the manner in which Wolfe disposes of the murderer in "Booby Trap" takes it a step or two further – and in "Black Orchids," another WWII novella, he follows in the footsteps of Reggie Fortune and Mrs. Bradley!
Posted by: TomCat | August 04, 2011 at 06:46 PM