Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, and Father Brown are perhaps the three most famous fictional detectives in the world. Of the three, Poirot has the most solved cases. Hercule Poirot investigates in a total of 33 novels and 7 short story collections. Since The Mysterious Affair at Styles, which brought fame to the detective and his author, there have been many movie, theater, cartoon and graphic novel adaptations. There was even a video game made about the Belgian detective, and his most famous movie actor is David Suchet. Adaptation of the stories is still happening in the form of movies and series. Thanks to Sophie Hannah, we can see the world’s most famous detective investigating again in book pages.
Sherlock Holmes appears in a total of four novels and 56 short stories, which were originally published in 5 collections. There have also been numerous adaptations of the stories. We can usually learn about Holmes’ investigations from Dr. Watson’s stories, with only 4 exceptions: in two cases the detective himself tells the story, and in two we can read the story in third person. Holmes has also been portrayed by many actors in movies and television series, and thanks to American author Nancy Springer, we were able to meet the famous detective’s 14-year-old sister, Enola Holmes.
Father Brown is a detective by English writer G.K. Chesterton, who investigates in a total of 53 short stories, which were published in five volumes between 1910 and 1936. Father Brown is a Roman Catholic priest who, with his ordinary appearance, shapeless clothes and tattered umbrella, does not attract attention, which is why he can be an observer who sees a lot and knows human nature deeply. In this respect, he is a precursor to Agatha Christie’s other famous detective, Miss Marple. Chesterton was already famous when he wrote the Father Brown stories, which he considered only ephemeral, but these volumes became his most popular works and turned into a defining part of detective literature. In Italy, they even invented their own Father Brown: Don Matteo. The stories are so popular in Great Britain that the BBC series starring Mark Williams has just premiered its 13th season.
