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Murder Mystery Fast Facts on Famous Detectives

Sherlock Holmes

He was created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, first published in 1887.
He appeared in four novels and 56 short stories.
His famous catch phrase: “Elementary, my dear Watson.”
Ironically, this phrase was never actually said by Holmes.
He is famously shown wearing a deerstalker cap, but no mention of this was ever made by Conan Doyle, and is attributed to illustrator Sidney Paget.
In 1891, Conan Doyle tried to end his Holmes series by killing Holmes in a fight with his nemesis Moriarty. However, due to public outcry, Conan Doyle resurrected Holmes in 1894, and continued to write Holmes stories for another 25 years.

Hercule Poirot

He was created by Agatha Christie, first appearing in print in 1920.
He has appeared in 33 novels and 54 short stories.
He is a Belgian national, living in England after the first World War. It was considered fashionable for him to be Belgian, as many Britons sympathized strongly with the fate of Belgium after its occupation by the Germans, which was one of the reasons Britain entered WWI.
Due to public pressure, Agatha Christie chose to wait to kill him off until 1975, despite the fact she had long since tired of writing about him.
Poirot is the only fictional character to have been given an obituary in the New York Times.

Miss Marple

She was also created by Agatha Christie, first appearing in print in 1927.
She has appeared in 12 novels and 12 short stories.
An elderly spinster who lives in a small village in rural England, her motto is: “The young people think the old people are fools, but the old people know the young people are fools.”
Has been portrayed on film by a variety of British actresses, including Angela Lansbury, Gracie Fields, Joan Hickson and Geraldine McEwan.

2010 Murder Mystery Dates (See Events section for details):

October 22-23, 2010 “Royal Blood”