25 FLETCH
CHEVY CHASE, JON HAMM
KEY FILMS Fletch (1985), Confess, Fletch (2022)
Made famous by Chase (and respectably rebooted with Hamm), investigative reporter Irwin M. Fletcher might not be good with deadlines but he's a stupendous sleuth, keen on disguises and fake names (Dr. Rosenpenis, John Cocktolstoy), and good on roller skates…
KEY CASE Drug trafficking on Los Angeles’ beaches, “the shame of the city".
24 BRENDAN FRYE
JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT
KEY FILM Brick (2005)
A high-school student who operates like a Dashiell Hammett detective, Brendan isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty to find his lost love. Despite the film's heightened style and hard-boiled dialogue, the look in his eyes says it all: this is for real.
KEY CASE The disappearance of his ex, Emily (Emilie de Ravin).
23 AXEL FOLEY
EDDIE MURPHY
KEY FILMS Beverly Hills Cop (1984), Beverly Hills Cop II (1987)
Motormouthed Detroit ’tec Axel Foley takes to Beverly Hills like a fish to water. A piranha in everyone’s Evian that is, causing a scene wherever he goes, trampling red tape and biting privileged white folks on their flabby asses. Murphy’s charisma matches ’80s Cruise – Beverly Hills Cop was the first of seven Murphy films on the bounce to open at number one.
KEY CASE Axel avenges a friend’s murder and uncovers a major drugs conspiracy in the original movie.
22 COLUMBO
PETER FALK
KEY TV Prescription: Murder (1968), Murder By The Book (1971)
Peter Falk played the shrewd-but-shabby LAPD lieutenant in 69 TV films. Columbo seems like a collection of quirks – raincoat, ramshackle car, catchphrase “Just one more thing…” – but his interrogations are borderline Socratic. Sherlock creator Steven Moffat is a fan, and summarised the character to Crime Scene mag as “a friendly smile, a steeltrap mind, and the heart of a joyful sadist”.
KEY CASE Columbo investigates a TV detective (meta!) played with panache by William Shatner (Fade In To Murder, 1976).
21 BENOIT BLANC
DANIEL CRAIG
KEY FILMS Knives Out (2019), Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)
