Jessica Beatrice "J. B." Fletcher is a fictional detective and writer and the main character and protagonist of the American television series Murder, She Wrote. Portrayed by award-winning actress Angela Lansbury, Fletcher is a best-selling author of mystery novels, an English teacher, amateur detective, criminology professor, and (briefly) congresswoman. In 2004, Fletcher was listed in Bravo's "100 Greatest TV Characters". AOL named her one of the "100 Most Memorable Female TV Characters". The same website listed her among "TV's Smartest Detectives". She was ranked at number six on Sleuth Channel's poll of "America's Top Sleuths". Guinness World Records called her the "most prolific amateur sleuth".
Malice Aforethought (1931) is a crime novel written by Anthony Berkeley Cox, using the pen name Francis Iles. It is an early and prominent example of the "inverted detective story", claimed to have been invented by R. Austin Freeman some years earlier. The murderer's identity is revealed in the first line of the novel, which gives the reader insight into the workings of his mind as his plans progress. It also contains elements of black comedy, and of serious treatment of underlying tensions in a superficially respectable community. It is loosely based on the real-life case of Herbert Armstrong, with elements of Doctor Crippen.
Taken at the Flood is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in March 1948 under the title of There is a Tide. .. and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in the November of the same year under Christie's original title. The US edition retailed at $2.50 and the UK edition at eight shillings and sixpence (8/6). It features her famous Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot, and is set in 1946.
Poirot Investigates is a short story collection written by English author Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by The Bodley Head in March 1924. In the eleven stories, famed eccentric detective Hercule Poirot solves a variety of mysteries involving greed, jealousy, and revenge. The American version of this book, published by Dodd, Mead and Company in 1925, featured a further three stories. The UK first edition featured an illustration of Poirot on the dust jacket by W. Smithson Broadhead, reprinted from the 21 March 1923 issue of The Sketch magazine.
Partners in Crime is a short story collection by British writer Agatha Christie, first published by Dodd, Mead and Company in the US in 1929 and in the UK by William Collins, Sons on 16 September of the same year. The US edition retailed at $2.00 and the UK edition at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6). All of the stories in the collection had previously been published in magazines and feature her detectives Tommy and Tuppence Beresford, first introduced in The Secret Adversary (1922).
Poirot's Early Cases is a short story collection written by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by Collins Crime Club in September 1974. The book retailed at £2.25. Although the stories contained within the volume had all appeared in previous US collections, the book also appeared there later in 1974 under the slightly different title of Hercule Poirot's Early Cases in an edition retailing at $6.95.
Dr. John Evelyn Thorndyke is a fictional detective in a long series of 21 novels and 40 short stories by British author R. Austin Freeman (1862–1943). Thorndyke was described by his author as a 'medical jurispractitioner': originally a medical doctor, he turned to the bar and became one of the first — in modern parlance — forensic scientists. His solutions were based on his method of collecting all possible data and making inferences from them before looking at any of the protagonists and motives in the crimes. Freeman ensured that his methods were practical by conducting all experiments mentioned in the stories himself.
Dr. Richard Austin Freeman was a British writer of detective stories, mostly featuring the medico-legal forensic investigator Dr. Thorndyke. He invented the inverted detective story. This invention has been described as Freeman's most notable contribution to detective fiction. Freeman used some of his early experiences as a colonial surgeon in his novels. Many of the Dr. Thorndyke stories involve genuine, but sometimes arcane, points of scientific knowledge, from areas such as tropical medicine, metallurgy and toxicology.
Blue Shoes and Happiness is the seventh in The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series of novels by Alexander McCall Smith, set in Gaborone, Botswana, and featuring the Motswana protagonist Precious Ramotswe.
"C" Is for Corpse is the third novel in Sue Grafton's "Alphabet" series of mystery novels and features Kinsey Millhone, a private eye based in Santa Teresa, California.
A Gentleman After Dark is a 1942 crime/drama film starring Brian Donlevy and Miriam Hopkins.
Three of a Kind is a 1936 American comedy film directed by Phil Rosen. It was made by Invincible Pictures Corporation which was later absorbed into Republic Pictures.
Love Yunge from the Desert is a 2015 Chinese television series based on Tong Hua's novel Song in the Clouds. It is a sequel to Sound of the Desert (2014), also based on a novel by Tong Hua. The series was produced by Yu Zheng and stars Angelababy, Du Chun, Lu Yi, Chen Xiao and Yang Rong. It aired on Hunan Television from 13 September to 23 November 2015.
The Wrong Mr. Wright is a 1927 American silent comedy film directed by Scott Sidney and written by Harold Shumate and James Madison. It is based on the 1897 play The Wrong Mr. Wright by George Broadhurst. The film stars Jean Hersholt, Enid Bennett, Dorothy Devore, Edgar Kennedy, Walter Hiers, and Robert Anderson. The film was released on February 27, 1927, by Universal Pictures.
The Echoing Strangers is a 1952 mystery detective novel by the British writer Gladys Mitchell. It is the twenty fifth entry in her long-running series featuring the psychoanalyst and amateur detective Mrs Bradley.
The High Sheriff is a 1937 mystery detective novel by the British writer Henry Wade. Wade was a writer of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, best known for his series featuring Inspector Poole. This was one of a number of stand-alone novels he wrote, structured as a partially inverted detective story.
Bats in the Belfry is a 1937 detective novel by E. C. R. Lorac, the pen name of the British writer Edith Caroline Rivett. It is the thirteenth in her long-running series featuring Chief Inspector MacDonald of Scotland Yard, a Golden Age detective who relies on standard police procedure to solve his cases. Lorac wrote it in the summer of 1936 while staying with her mother at Westward Ho! in North Devon. Originally published by Collins Crime Club, it was reissued in 2018 by the British Library Publishing as part of a group of crime novels from the Golden Age of Detective Fiction.
Death Knows No Calendar is a 1942 detective novel by the British writer John Bude. It was a stand-alone novel rather than one featuring his regular detective Superintendent Meredith. In this case the investigation is led by a former army officer Major Boddy. It takes the former of a locked room mystery with a closed circle of suspects, both popular variations of the genre during the period. Originally published by Cassell, in 2020 it was reissued by the British Library Publishing in a single edition with another Bude novel Death in White Pyjamas, as part of a series of republished crime novels from the Golden Age of Detective Fiction.
Appleby Plays Chicken is a 1957 detective novel by the British writer Michael Innes. It is the fourteenth novel in the long-running series by Innes featuring John Appleby, a senior detective with the Metropolitan Police. It blends the traditional Golden Age detective story with a mystery spy thriller plot. It was published in the United States under the alternative title Death on a Quiet Day.
As a Thief in the Night is a 1928 detective novel by the British author R. Austin Freeman. Part of his long-running series of novels featuring the forensic investigator Doctor Thorndyke, it was published in London by Hodder and Stoughton and in New York City by Dodd, Mead.
