#pbjelly thoughts

[detectivejay]

Time for a new poll! I'm curious to see the spread of answers on this one (and hear any other series not on the list.) Tried to go for a range of older and newer series on here, more on the older end of the spectrum, but I can't cover everything with the limited poll options here, so I hope you'll share your answers! :)

What was the first detective series (TV or books) you ever watched/read?

Sherlock Holmes (books, TV, cartoons or movies)

Hercule Poirot (books or TV)

Nancy Drew (books, comics, movies, TV)

The Hardy Boys (books or TV)

Columbo

Murder, She Wrote

Detective Conan / Case Closed (manga, movies or anime)

Psych

Only Murders in the Building

Dead Boy Detectives

Enola Holmes (books or movies)

Other (list below in the comments?)

Voting ended onJul 5, 2024

Please reblog for a larger sample size, thank you!

EDIT: Wow this broke containment from my little sideblog, thank you all for sharing your favorites even after the poll concluded. I love getting updates with little snippets of people's favorite and first mystery series and fond memories. Mystery nerds unite! 🥰

[detectivejay]

I finished watching The Residence on Thursday (rushing to beat a Netflix pause I set up lol) and I absolutely loved it. It had me riveted from beginning to end, and felt like such a love letter to the detective murder mystery genre, while also refreshing a lot of the building blocks used in such stories. This probably isn’t a very coherent review to follow, and I'm sure it could use a lot of editing, but here’s some of my scattered thoughts and opinions.

Spoilers ahead for the entire show:

Cordelia Cupp is so much of what I wanted to see in a female detective. She gets to be kind yet blunt, eccentric, determined, difficult at times, with her own very specific process, and yet also aware enough to tell when people are discounting her for many of those very same traits they’d more readily accept in a man. She points out the gender imbalance in the room immediately when she meets with the investigative officials and I wanted to applaud. Not to mention the unspoken racial disparity in the room–the three most sympathetic and effective investigative officials are her, Edwin and Dokes and that’s no mistake. It was a much-needed commentary on these disparities in detective stories, investigative teams, law enforcement and more, and was echoed in the disparity between the staff that work in the Residence and the politicians and members of the First Family that they work for during their time there.

Cordelia’s interest and love of birding plays into her methods, which was another element of her character I really enjoyed. She has a life outside her detective work, a passion that informs her professional work. She uses birding journals as detective journals as well, drawing everything, taking notes, jotting down ideas, sketching maps in perhaps the most relatable form of detective work I’ve ever seen portrayed. It’s not all up in some mind palace, abstract and somehow perfectly recalled. While she has an incredible memory for details, she’s also working things out on the page, recording names, sketching her impressions and observations to revisit later. This felt much more real and relatable to me and I enjoyed her all the more for it.

The fact that she goes into the summation without having 100% confirmed or decided on who she believes is the killer is incredible. She employs again her technique of the hawk, circling and waiting to see who will reveal a weakness that gives her further insight. Lilly was one of my top suspects from around the middle of the show’s run all the way to the end, but I was still second guessing myself, not wanting it to be Jasmine, surprised if it was Elliot, deeply saddened and refusing to believe if it was Elysie or Bruce, disappointed if it was all just some hijinks by Tripp (and some of it was, but thankfully not all. If this was all just some bungled accidental manslaughter by him, it would have been way less satisfying.) Lilly’s attempts to still spin the story and evade and throw others under the bus only made you root for her defeat as the villain even more. All along there were hints she was the outlier who hated the house and didn’t respect the people in it, but still you questioned whether she was smart enough, capable enough. I can’t wait to rewatch later on when I’ve forgotten some of the details and see how that foreshadowing hits a second time around.

The White House itself was an excellent and creative setting for a murder mystery, like a big house straight out of Clue, but also very real. It’s both a familiar setting to us and yet a foreign and mysterious one with all the portions of the home that are closed to the public. I have no idea if all the trick doors and closets and stairways are real, but I believed they could be in such a place with such a long and winding history. All the staff felt real and human and I grew to care for so many of them, just like AB did, even with their quirks and difficulties and flaws.

Being from the DC area myself, I was delighted to see a mystery set in a city I know and yet still surprise me with new details like the lights on 16th street in the White House windows. So many stories are afraid to be set in DC and have to contend with politics, and yet The Residence handles this so elegantly by creating their own fictional politicians, with whom they can still deliver insightful commentary without having to be beholden to current events to the letter. When most murder mystery shows in the present day are set in New York or London, setting The Residence in DC, somewhere only this particular mystery in this particular house with these particular characters could happen, gave the show such distinct character and contextual nuance and they really used that setting to the fullest here.

I think the only place I was left wanting slightly more was the ending, the denouement, but then again, I always want more at that point, and that’s also a good sign. A sign I didn’t want to leave this story world, that I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to these characters yet. I wanted a promise that Cordelia, Edwin and Dokes would work together again, that maybe Edwin would become Cordelia’s Watson or protege. I didn’t mind the visit with Nan Cox (who had previously turned on a Sherlock Holmes movie or show, yes girl, cooped up in her room with mystery shows?), but when Cordelia goes to stand in the Game Room after, I wished we maybe saw the young boy who spotted the red light getting his White House tour behind her, just one more little nod to close out that story thread.

Other stray thoughts? WHAT WAS UP WITH THE CALLIGRAPHER? Did the poor man have carpal tunnel? Was he so tired of seating and guest changes that he just decided to write illegibly to make the place cards pass for just about anyone? Did he hurt his dominant hand and have to switch suddenly to his other? It was such a funny gag but that was one detail that never played into the mystery at large, and so maybe it was just meant to be a red herring, another nod to mystery conventions, defying the idea that everything has to play into the larger mystery. But when pretty much all of the other small details did, I wanted this one to also, even if in a very minor way. That’s just how compelling most of those details were.

I did find Tripp being responsible for the dragging of the body and cutting of AB’s wrists and the blood in 301 to feel like a little bit of a letdown, but I think after 8 episodes of build up, you want everything to be masterminded and significant perhaps, just like with the Third Man, and yet the real answer ends up being much more human, wacky and unintentional. Maybe a lesson for me in that, and the logic did hold up, so I can’t complain too much. They even managed to give that guy a little bit of pathos, as insufferable as he was normally, with how he cleaned up his act to go to the State Dinner in memory of his mom and her Australian heritage. But he’d been the screw up for too long and his brother refused. Just with that short bit of backstory, he became more than just a clown, well done.

The gingerbread house part still makes me sad. More of people being nice to AB please, that man’s job was so hard and so thankless so often.

Was anyone else picking up maybe a vibe between Cordelia and the tree/forestry lady? It may have just been hi I respect an expert on this topic I know less about, similar to her respect for Anne Dodge the medical examiner, but I dunno, I was getting some sapphic vibes heey. Cordelia is some flavor of queer, but who’s to say what, and I love that for her. If she did date the forestry lady, they’d be an incredible natural expedition team with their knowledge of birds and plants. Benoit Blanc has a cute baker husband, maybe it might be nice for Cordelia to have a partner too, if she wishes. If not, she has a very full life. She was adorable as an auntie with her nephew, being open and honest in talking to him about herself, her personality, her way of thinking, why she does what she does, her relationship with her sister/his mom, and more. Her nephew was also precious, being willing to meet her where she was at, ask questions without much judgment (even if his mom had some feelings on the matter lol), and try to learn from and relate to his aunt. More of them birding together please, they’re very cute and wholesome.

I enjoyed the framing device of the Senate hearing, and appreciated the storytelling options it gave to the mystery, while also giving this mystery a distinct character and acknowledging the setting it was taking place in. Of course a murder in the White House is going to undergo more scrutiny. Of course people will try to use it as a platform to push their political agendas. But by the end, the two lead Senators were just as invested as we were. And I always enjoy when stories play with how we’re given information, whether in the moment, or with someone telling us in hindsight, as they were in the hearings. How the whole Third Man part played out, how Cordelia was able to quit and try to get away from it all, only to end up watching the hearings because Edwin reached out. The fact that Cordelia quit at all, because they wanted to wrap the whole matter up with a bow on their timetable, or Dokes, whom she respected deeply, would be the one penalized for it.

Having to solve the mystery on a timetable that pleased the political factions and law enforcement agencies and others added a different element of urgency and challenge to the case unlike others I’ve seen before. I also enjoyed the whole discussion of a “nemesis bird” versus a “nemesis case”, a concept that I’ve seen before in detective fiction, that case that always sticks with them, but never have heard it described so well, in such a fresh way. The analogies to Cordelia’s birding continue to strengthen the story and its themes and what might have seemed like some irrelevant hobby for characterization, something many of the other characters dismiss early on as some weird quirk and nothing more, is actually highly relevant to the entire story and her process as a whole.

I have no real effective way of wrapping all my rambling up, except to say please watch The Residence on Netflix. If you want to see a queer, likely neurodivergent woman of color getting to be every bit the eccentric, brilliant, human, captivating detective that you so often get to see men like Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, Shawn Spencer, Adrian Monk, Benoit Blanc and so on get to be on our screens, then please watch. Even if you somehow don’t care about that, still watch. It’s an excellently crafted mystery that pays homage to the genre (I love the episode titles, the shoutouts to Holmes, Marple, Agatha Christie in general, and Blanc) while also refreshing some of its elements, and it works. It really works. It’s funny, smart, and engaging with very human characters, in a very unique setting, with a well-crafted payoff. What more could you ask of a mystery? I hope Detective Cupp gets a new season every few years, just as much as I always wish for more Benoit Blanc movies.

[detectivejay]

Detective/Mystery Media List

Open to more recommendations if I’m missing any favorites I should check out, let me know! Particularly any other good Sherlock adaptations, but also interested in finding more female, PoC and/or queer-led detective media.

Watched/read/played/etc:

Sherlock Holmes (ACD canon)

Sherlock - Basil Rathbone adaptation film series

Sherlock - Granada, Jeremy Brett adaptation TV series (some episodes, need to rewatch) - shoutout to @thegreatandlovablespacedorito for reminding me to revisit this one

BBC Sherlock TV series

Sherlock - Robert Downey Jr movies

Enola Holmes (movies)

Moriarty the Patriot/Yuumori (manga and anime)

Ron Kamanohashi: Deranged Detective/Forbidden Deductions aka RKDD (anime, need to read the manga)

Hercule Poirot novels (not all but a large portion) - need to watch more of the TV show Spenser novels by Robert B Parker (not all but a large portion)

Auguste C Dupin - The Purloined Letter by Edgar Allan Poe (short story)

The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett (book)

The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler (book)

Case Closed / Detective Conan (anime, some episodes/seasons)

Knives Out movies

Psych TV series

Only Murders in the Building TV series (caught up to the current season)

The Dresden Files books

Brookyln 99 TV series

House MD TV series

True Detective TV series

Monk TV series (watched some episodes)

Murder She Wrote (a few scattered episodes)

Hannibal TV series

Bones TV series (some episodes, not all)

Fargo movie and TV series (watched some episodes)

White Collar TV series

Justified TV series

Miami Vice TV series

Nash Bridges TV series

Killing Eve TV series

High Potential TV series (American version)

The Clue movie

Anita Blake book series (up to book 10)

Some Nancy Drew books

Ace Attorney video games (AA1-AA6 plus Investigations 1+2)

Professor Layton video games (not all but I believe at least the first 3)

Sherlock Hound

The Great Mouse Detective

Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century

Inspector Gadget cartoon

Scooby Doo cartoons

The Boxcar Children

Detective Pikachu movie

The Case Study of Vanitas (anime/manga)

The Millionaire Detective - Balance: Unlimited (anime) - @prapo237 got me into this one x3 so silly

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (read years ago, need to watch the show) - recommended by @holisticcomedian

The Residence TV series on Netflix

Currently watching/reading/playing/etc:

Sherlock Holmes and Co - podcast (currently listening to The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax - Part One, thanks to suggestions from @wasabitheweirdo and @cuil-chan)

Sherlock - Elementary TV series (on 3rd season)

Miss Sherlock - Japanese TV series also suggested by @meg-pond (just started)

The Invisible Library novel series by Genevieve Cogman recommended by a friend IRL (up to book 7 currently, The Dark Archive)

The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles - video game duology, includes Herlock Sholmes (on case 3 of game 2)

Case File nº221: Kabukicho anime - unusual modern day adaptation of Sherlock in Japan (on episode 3)

My Dear Detective: Mitsuko’s Case Files manga suggested on the JR Discord (on volume 2)

Persona 5 (video game) recommended by friends on the JR Discord (only beat the first palace so far)

Watson's Sketchbook by @contact-guy

To watch/read/play/etc:

Detective L - Chinese Sherlock-inspired TV series on Youtube recommended by @meg-pond

Bodkin TV series on Netflix - Irish, female-led, recommended by @rubycountess

Columbo TV series

Remington Steele

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle novel by Haruki Murakami

More Auguste Dupin stories and other mysteries by Poe

Murder on the Orient Express movie

The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes film

Bonnie MacBird Sherlock Holmes books recommended by @romanathree

Soviet made Sherlock Holmes film recommended by @imlostatau on Youtube

Famous Five books

Midsomer Murders TV series

Twin Peaks TV series

Mindhunter TV series

Murdoch Mysteries TV series

Death in Paradise TV series

Phryne Fisher's murder mysteries books and TV show recommended by @milenathebrave

Turner and Hooch TV series

Magnum PI TV series

Father Brown TV series

The Professionals movie

Homeland TV series

Cadfael TV series

Broadchurch TV series

Criminal Minds TV series

Shetland TV series

Police procedural shows like NCIS, CSI, etc.

Baskerville play by Ken Ludwig suggested by @wolfyraged

Without a Clue suggested by @helloliriels

Young Sherlock suggested by @helloliriels

Vera Stanhope novels by Ann Cleeves suggested by @nightshadezombie

Charlotte Holmes books by Sherry Thomas suggested by @lej418

Sherlock Holmes stories by Anthony Horowitz ("House Of Silk" and "Moriarty") recommended by @bringerofworlds

Miss Marple novels by Agatha Christie

Any other Agatha Christie novels I haven’t read (Sad Cypress recommended by @romanathree )

AJ Raffles books by William Hornung recommended by @romanathree

The Hardy Boys books and TV series

Elemental Masters by Mercedes Lackey

Holmes, Marple and Poe by James Patterson - curious to see how this book treats these original characters inspired by the greats, the new characters are Brendan Holmes, Margaret Marple (maybe related to Jane Marple?) and Auguste Poe (takes his first name from Poe’s detective, Auguste Dupin)

The rest of the Dupin stories

The rest of the Raymond Chandler books

More Arsene Lupin stories (including ones vs Herlock Sholmes)

Nero Wolfe novels by Rex Stout

Pet Shop of Horrors anime/manga recommended by @eden-falls

Otherside Picnic recommended by @eden-falls

Lonely Castle in the Mirror recommended by @eden-falls

The Angel of the Crows by Katherine Addison, saw this one posted recently by @seeingteacupsindragons and I'm curious so added it to the list

Magnus Archives horror/thriller mystery podcast recommended by @writingandwritten

Fawx & Stallion podcast - @224bbaker

The Beekeeper's Picnic indie game - @beekeeperspicnic

Hearth & Holmes indie game - @abigailmoment

Undead Murder Farce or Undead Girl Murder Farce - Manga Adaption / Anime Adaption - female led series suggested and recommended by @leithianeth

Kyouko Suiri / In/Spectre -invented inference- Light Novel -> Manga Adaption -> Anime Adaption - female led series suggested by @leithianeth, recommends the manga

Gosick - Light Novel -> Manga Adaption -> Anime Adaption female led series suggested by @leithianeth - older series

The Detective Is Already Dead - Light Novel -> Anime Adaption female led series suggested by @leithianeth (but not really recommended)

Sakurako-san no Ashimoto ni wa Shitai ga Umatteiru / Beautiful Bones: Sakurako's Investigation - Light Novel (a redditor has been translating them very diligently) -> Anime Adaption - female led series suggested and recommended by @leithianeth

Kindaichi Shonen no Jikenbo - older manga and anime recommended by @pinkvoidsandwich

EDIT: Last updated 5/22/25

[detectivejay]

When the favorite Sherlock adaptation poll was ongoing this past week, I had a bunch of ideas for other detective related polls I wanted to throw out there and see people's takes on. Now with the Sherlock one wrapped up, here's a new one I'm really curious about!

I'm sure there will be a myriad of other detectives I haven't included on this list, either because I forgot, have never read/watched/played their media, or haven't even heard of it. There's no way I could hope to capture them all, especially without hitting the poll entry limit. If you have one you really love, you can still show love for them in the Other category! And tell us about them in your comments/reblogs. 😄

For the purposes of this poll, I'm keeping this list to characters who work as some sort of private/consulting/civilian detective or investigator, not for the police (Columbo, B99, etc.) or in some other field like medicine (such as House or Maomao.)

Favorite Fictional Detective?

Sherlock Holmes (any version)

Hercule Poirot (any version)

Miss Marple (any version)

Shawn Spencer (Psych)

Benoit Blanc (Knives Out franchise)

Adrian Monk

Conan Edogawa (Case Closed/Detective Conan)

Ranpo Edogawa (Bungo Stray Dogs)

Ron Kamonohashi (RKDD)

Enola Holmes (any version)

Harry Dresden (The Dresden Files)

Other (Poll couldn't fit them all, so name below in the comments?)

Voting ended onJun 20, 2024

Shoutout to Nancy Drew, Sam Spade, Spenser, Phillip Marlowe, the Hardy Boys, Auguste Dupin, Nero Wolfe, the Dead Boy Detectives (still need to watch this), Bodkin, the Only Murders podcaster trio, Detective L, Charlotte Holmes and countless others that I couldn't fit here. Give them some love in the Other category!

As before with the Sherlock poll, feel free to reblog for a larger sample size. :)

[detectivejay]

Reading book one of The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman, and someone please tell me Peregrine Vale, the Earl of Leeds is a Sherlock Holmes expy. I mean, don’t tell me, I don’t want spoilers for this book, but he comes off like such a Sherlock figure, and Irene seems to have clocked it too.

Now I’m wondering how did my friend who suggested I read this NOT use this detail to sell me on the book? She’s waaaay better at holding in surprises in her recommendations than I am. 😆 Vale has already figured out so much about “Strongrock” and “Winters” from just their accents and clothing alone, I’m already a fan. More please.

[detectivejay]

I need to reread the Yuumori manga now that I've finished my rewatch, but one thing just occurred to me: Sherlock uses disguises fairly often in ACD canon (all credit to @thenorwoodbuilder for this thorough post with the details), but he doesn't disguise himself much in Moriarty the Patriot, does he? I don't have the best memory, but I can think of only one time he uses a disguise in the manga as far as I've read, and that was to surprise a friend.

It’s unusual for him, but maybe it's because his role in this adaptation is different than most Sherlock media. He’s usually not the one with the grand plans, the mastermind, instead he’s the one unraveling things after the fact, using his intellect but not as much scheming ahead of time. We see much more planning scenes from the Moriarty group’s POV, as their operations are more of the focus.

From what I remember, Irene, Bond and Fred use disguises the most here, and Liam does a little too after the fall when he returns to London (otherwise mostly preferring to cover up with hooded cloaks), but Sherly so far hasn't tricked one criminal that I can recall by using a more in-depth disguise. He'll use ruses for sure, like in The Sign of Mary or A Scandal in the British Empire, but besides putting on a hat or pretending to have a different job, he's generally just being himself without too much physical alteration.

Maybe it’s also because there’s already a few different characters who specialize in disguises, that as a result the creators chose not to focus on that approach with Sherly? Irene and later Bond particularly have a talent for them coming from the theater world, so maybe Sherly doing the same often would be too redundant in the story?

[detectivejay]

Lmaaaao this is the closest the Yuumori version of Gregson will ever come to admitting he has a garbage personality and I love it, he’s at least been told he sucks. Probably by Lestrade or Patterson, he wouldn’t listen to Sherly 😆 image from @we-intentionally-exude-calmness

[detectivejay]

A poll is coming uh… hopefully soon, I got a nice request for one about a Sherlock related book series in my inbox before vacation that I want to post. It’s been delayed a bit since I have been battling jetlag for a while and now I’m adjusting to a new work schedule I have to wake up a good deal earlier for, so thank you for your patience everyone. 💕

Will have it up when I can string sentences together better and my eyes are less tired lol.