The best detective books with the most memorable protagonist

What I found remarkable about this book is that it was Christie’s first published book. Written over 100 years ago, here was a fully-formed Poirot with an established fact-finding system and method of deduction. Memorable, Belgian, polite, small, slightly overweight, fastidious in dress, and reliant on his "little grey cells" to solve the crime. I loved his difference from all other detectives.

After I read it and realised it was her first novel, I imagined being the lucky publisher on whose desk it first landed. I would have broken out the champagne and celebrated my successful future. Amazingly, she was rejected by six publishing houses before being accepted. It was they who suggested changing the ending where Poirot reveals all, from a courtroom to the house’s library. And the rest . . . . At the end of this and all other Poirot stories, I find myself saying: Ah, of course!

I admire Christie’s ability to maintain this Poirot formula over so many stories and still have the reader trying to figure out the crime right to the moment when they walk into the library/lounge/dining room.

I chose this book as it was the one that introduced me to Morse, not the code but the Detective Chief Inspector. Apart from being an excellent crime solver, he is also a superb Times crossword solver. I liked that this cerebral activity was a clue in itself to his method of disentangling the threads linking the criminal to the murder. In that respect, he resembles Poirot, like Morse, a man of limited physical activity.

I found the man, rather than the policeman, was an enigma. He can be charming, but mostly he’s curt, cranky, and cynical. He has a passion for Real Ale, Scotch Whisky, and pubs but loses himself in classical music and opera. He’s a bachelor, sometimes a little lecherous, but he loves and admires women.

I was amused by the fact no one knew his first name. If asked, he would say it was Inspector. In fact, his name isn’t revealed until the penultimate story in the thirteen-book series. Despite Morse’s bluntness, stubbornness, and taciturn nature, I found I had, as did his colleagues, a tremendous respect for him as a crime solver.

As a multi-genre author, I was interested to see how the creator of a world-famous boy wizard was going to change her name and turn her hand to crime writing. I relished the result: the first outing for a new private investigator, a character called Cormoran Strike.

Known simply as Strike, he is a P.I. with a handicap (aren’t they all?). Not just the common ones; excessive drinking, difficult relationships, and so on, Strike lost half his right leg whilst serving in Afghanistan. Retiring from service, the ex-MP becomes a private investigator. He has few clients, no money, and is scruffy and unkempt because he sleeps in his office. But he does have a motto, "Do the job and do it well."

In social relationships, Strike isn’t a likable character; demanding and sometimes just plain rude. He has lost his last assistant. I warmed to him the more his traits stacked up against him. The more the writer developed the character in the story, the more I loved Strike’s individuality, eye for detail, and determination to solve the crime, which he does with the help of his new, extremely able assistant.

CJ Sansom, a renowned historian, released this first fiction novel to huge acclaim. I was fascinated to find the investigator was a London lawyer during the reign of Henry VIII. It ticked all the boxes: history, a juicy murder, crime, and mystery. I was not disappointed. In my own writing, I endeavour to make my characters individual and memorable and, therefore, look for that in books I read.

The protagonist, lawyer Matthew Shardlake, has the brain, persistence, and vision of a Holmes or Poirot in uncovering the clues and is admired by all for his ability to win cases. Despite this, one thing continually erodes his confidence: he is a hunchback. Not restricted by twenty-first-century political correctness, his enemies take delight in reminding him of this. I loved the way the author handled that.

I enjoyed the detective story in an entirely different setting. It is a magnificent first book; I have continued to enjoy Shardlake stories.

This was Lee Child’s first Jack Reacher novel written after leaving a lengthy career in television. I read it years before I got the writing bug. Along with the rest of the world, I loved Reacher from the outset, a no-nonsense ex-US Army military policeman. A loner who believes in justice, he freewheels around America, walking into trouble and bumping into people with problems that he helps to solve. He’s a big man you can’t forget or miss; Reacher is six feet five.

I knew the theme was familiar, but the character was original, exciting, and tough. Frequently called hardboiled, Reacher hurts people if he has to, sometimes has to kill the ones who want him dead, but he’s a man you want on your side. He doesn’t pussyfoot around. He gets things done. A genuine hero.

I found, like the man, that the writing was sharp, tight, and concise. Every word mattered. When writing a book containing violence, depending on the scene, I have found myself thinking: What would Jack Reacher do?