Who is the greater detective?

[Miss Chicken]

I have no idea who this Poirot guy is.

Hercule Poirot is the little Belgian detective created by Agatha Christie. According to that Wikipedia article he is the only fictional character to have been given an obituary in the New York Times.

I actually like Agatha Christie's Miss Marple a little more than I like Poirot but I have read all of the Hercule Poirot stories.

 

[Canadave]

I'm going to go against the grain and say Poirot. Holmes is brilliant, sure, but Poirot was better at the psychology of things, while still able to pick up on physical clues.

 

[trekkiedane]

Aha! -so you're the second one!

I actually like Agatha Christie's Miss Marple a little more than I like Poirot but I have read all of the Hercule Poirot stories.

I've never read any of these and I haven't read any detective novels for decades.

But I

Margaret Rutherfords Miss Marple!

 

[Miss Chicken]

Margaret Rutherford is also my favourite on-screen Miss Marple.

I love detective novels. In the last year I have discovered the Detective Erlandur series by Arnaldur Indridason which are set in Iceland. I have also been reading The Cat Who series which are about a reporter who solves crimes with the help of his two cats.

 

[Pingfah]

Poirot. Christie was a superlative author of detective fiction, and IMO Poirot was her greatest creation. Miss Marple was fun too mind. One reason why I love Poirot in fiction is the time period and locations the early stories were set in, I find the 20s and 30s one of the most fascinating periods of English history.

David Suchet's excellent portrayal in the ITV show has helped cement Poirot in my mind as the greatest TV detective as well.

 

[Goliath]

Well, Poirot has a cool moustache.

But Holmes has that cool hat.

So--Holmes.





What?

 

[trekkiedane]

David Suchet's excellent portrayal in the ITV show has helped cement Poirot in my mind as the greatest TV detective as well.

And of course the Art Deco of those TV serials is exceptionally well made, and most of it (if not all) originals!

 

[Niorah]

David Suchet's excellent portrayal in the ITV show has helped cement Poirot in my mind as the greatest TV detective as well.

Oh yes, I can definitely agree about the talent of David Suchet. Fantastic performance. Although I have to say that as a huge Peter Ustinov fan, I do like his Poirot a bit better still.

 

[Phoenicianknight]

Bruce Wayne

 

[Pingfah]

David Suchet's excellent portrayal in the ITV show has helped cement Poirot in my mind as the greatest TV detective as well.

And of course the Art Deco of those TV serials is exceptionally well made, and most of it (if not all) originals!

It wouldn't surprise me if many of the props were shared with Jeeves and Wooster which also had outstanding Art Deco sets and props, both shows were produced for ITV at the same time, and both were adapted from the books by the same man, Clive Exton and both were produced by Brian Eastman.

 

[Pingfah]

David Suchet's excellent portrayal in the ITV show has helped cement Poirot in my mind as the greatest TV detective as well.

Oh yes, I can definitely agree about the talent of David Suchet. Fantastic performance. Although I have to say that as a huge Peter Ustinov fan, I do like his Poirot a bit better still.

Yes, I do like the films that Ustinov did, he never looked quite right to me though, Suchet was a better fit physcially I thought. In the books Poirot was a fairly diminutive, smart and tidy figure, whilst Ustinov is a big imposing, slightly sweaty man. Very funny though.

 

[trekkiedane]

David Suchet's excellent portrayal in the ITV show has helped cement Poirot in my mind as the greatest TV detective as well.

And of course the Art Deco of those TV serials is exceptionally well made, and most of it (if not all) originals!

It wouldn't surprise me if many of the props were shared with Jeeves and Wooster which also had outstanding Art Deco sets and props, both shows were produced for ITV at the same time, and both were adapted from the books by the same man, Clive Exton and both were produced by Brian Eastman.

You're probably right. -Another fine TV production btw.

 

[Starbreaker]

Holmes... apparently not Robert Downey Jr.'s version though.

 

[Smiley]

I have to go with Poirot. Holmes just has too great an encyclopedic knowledge of everything to be credible as a real person. Poirot knows how people act, and he knows how to think through a problem. He's also far funnier than Holmes. They're both fun to read about, but Poirot has the better style.

Of course, neither of them end up preventing the foul play all that often.

 

[Spot's Meow]

Poirot, for sure. I enjoy both characters but Poirot was much more in tune with the psychology of things, as someone else mentioned. Plus he's funnier and I like his style more. Christie's Hercule Poirot series is actually my favorite reading of all time. I love murder mysteries.

 

[Canadave]

David Suchet's excellent portrayal in the ITV show has helped cement Poirot in my mind as the greatest TV detective as well.

Oh yes, I can definitely agree about the talent of David Suchet. Fantastic performance. Although I have to say that as a huge Peter Ustinov fan, I do like his Poirot a bit better still.

Yes, I do like the films that Ustinov did, he never looked quite right to me though, Suchet was a better fit physcially I thought. In the books Poirot was a fairly diminutive, smart and tidy figure, whilst Ustinov is a big imposing, slightly sweaty man. Very funny though.

Indeed. I think Suchet is much better at the nuances of Poirot. He's always so very careful with the moustache, and he has such a great twinkle in his eye when he's excited about something, very much like the literary character. Plus, I don't think anyone can say "the little grey cells" with quite so much relish as Suchet.

 

[auntiehill]

While I like them both, I think Sherlock really is the better detective.

But, as others have said before, I think the Marple mysteries were a bit more fun than Poirot for me to read when I was a kid.

 

[An Officer]

Although I know of Sherlock Holmes, just like everyone else, I never really sat down to read nor watch Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's detective. Poirot though, I watched many a time with my mother, and thoroughly enjoyed. If there were a third choice - I would have to confess myself a confirmed Columbo woman.

 

[RJDiogenes]

^^ Columbo is great. So is Monk.

But, of course, none of these guys can hold a candle to Henry the Waiter.

 

[MANT!]

Really, I'm more akin to think the following..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QWlEH2vn3g




Yep Sledge Hammer!!!