Solving crimes isn’t easy. Besides the obvious fact that most criminals don’t want to be caught (and so, hide their involvement), there are lots of skills that sleuths need that don’t necessarily come naturally. In real life,
Solving crimes isn’t easy. Besides the obvious fact that most criminals don’t want to be caught (and so, hide their involvement), there are lots of skills that sleuths need that don’t necessarily come naturally. In real life, police detectives go through police academy training, and then spend time on the police force (and often, take exams) before they become detectives. Even then, they often spend time working with seasoned veterans before they do a lot of detection on their own. Private investigators, too, need to get licenses, and they often go through training as well. In other words, the process of learning to be a detective takes time and a certain amount of formal preparation. So it’s realistic to expect that to be the case in crime fiction, too. In fact, one criticism of the amateur sleuth in crime fiction is that it’s not a realistic depiction of what it takes to “learn the ropes” of solving crimes.
Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes is, of course, a self-taught detective. When Watson meets Holmes in A Study in Scarlet, we find that Holmes has been teaching himself chemistry, among other things, because he wants to pursue detection, and he knows that chemistry is an important part of detection. Holmes’ brilliance, and his knowledge about so many different fields, isn’t realistic by today’s standards, but he mentions in more than one case that he’s made special studies of one or another area. For instance, in The Sign of the Four, Watson asks Holmes about his specialized knowledge. Holmes repiles:
“Yes, I have been guilty of several monographs. They are all upon technical subjects. Here, for example, is one 'Upon the Distinction between the Ashes of the Various Tobaccos.' In it I enumerate a hundred and forty forms of cigar, cigarette, and pipe tobacco, with coloured plates illustrating the difference in the ash.”
Dorothy Sayers’ Lord Peter Wimsey is also what you might call “self-taught.” Investigation and detection are his hobbies, so he learns some of his skills through reading up on the topic. Wimsey also benefits greatly from his friendship with Inspector Parker, who of course, has had police training. Some people have criticized Sayers for attributing too much knowledge and skill to Wimsey, considering his lack of formal preparation in detection, but what’s interesting about the Wimsey stories is that many of the mysteries center on topics on which Wimsey or one of his friends does have some background.
Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poriot started his career as a member of the Belgian police force, which is where he was taught about crimes and criminals. While Christie’s novels don’t focus on his career in Belgium, there are several references to Poirot’s career as a police detective. One of Christie’s short stories, The Chocolate Box, which appears in Poirot’s Early Cases, actually takes place during Poirot’s years on the police force. In that story, Poirot is asked to investigate the death of French deputy Paul Deroulard, who’s living in Belgium. Suspicions fall between Deroulard’s neighbor, M. de Saint Alard, who’s on the opposite side from Deroulard on a controversial political issue, and Deroulard’s neighbor, John Wilson. Wilson has no motive for the murder, but the poison used as the murder weapon was found in his possession. Poirot names the wrong killer, and that person is arrested. It’s not until then that the real killer summons Poirot and tells him exactly how and why Deroulard was killed. Since this is not one of Poirot’s successes, we can only assume that it took place during Poirot’s early years on the force ; ).
We do get some interesting insights into how police sleuths “learn the ropes” in Carol O’Connell’s Mallory’s Oracle, in which we meet Detective Kathleen “Kathy” Mallory. She was taken in at the age of eleven by N.Y.P.D. Detective Louis Markowitz after a traumatic childhood. As the years go by, she decides to follow in his footsteps. When Markowitz is murdered, Mallory, by then a police officer herself, decides to investigate the death. What’s interesting in this novel is the way Mallory is mentored by Detective Riker, Markowitz’ former partner. Riker is a jaded, seasoned veteran with his own “ghosts,” and he’s got his hands full, so to speak, helping Mallory channel her energy and intelligence, and helping her cope with her own childhood “ghosts.” Mallory learns a great deal from Riker, and as the series moves on, we see how she depends on him in a lot of ways.
Ian Rankin’s Detective Sergeant Siobahn Clarke learns a great deal from her mentor, John Rebus, too. Clarke and Rebus first work together in The Black Book, where she gets an object lesson in getting things done in unconventional ways. In that novel, Rebus searches for the truth behind