This could have been another list, but I decided to make it a timeline, because I like seeing when characters existed in relation to one another. I like seeing who mightve been contemporaries, and what plausible crossovers might exist.This is just a start, I will be adding more as I think of them.
1135: The monk Brother Cadfael investigates various mysteries.
1327: William of Baskerville investigates a series of murders at a Benedectine monastery.
1841: C. Auguste Dupin investigates the so-called “Murders in the Rue Morgue”.
1842: Inspector Bucket investigates crimes at Bleak House.
1864: Inspector Hanshichi investigates the so-called “Ghost of Ofumi”.
1866: Monsieur Lecoq investigates the Lerouge Case.
1881: Sherlock Holmes meets Doctor John H. Watson.
1910: The Catholic priest Father Brown investigates various crimes and mysteries.
1916: Hercule Poirot investigates the so-called “Mysterious Affair at Styles”.
1923: Lord Peter Wimsey investigates the murder of Sir Reuben Levy.
1925: Honolulu police detective Charlie Chan investigates the murder of a wealthy socialite.
1926: Philo Vance investigates the Benson Murder Case.
1927: Brothers Frank and Joe Hardy investigate the mystery of the so-called “Tower Treasure”.
1928: Simon Templar begins operating as the saint.
1929:
- Albert Campion becomes involved in the so-called “Crime at Black Dudley”.
- Ellery Queen investigates the so-called “Roman Hat Murder”.
1930:
- Nancy Drew investigates the so-called “Secret of the Old Clock”.
- Sam Spade investigates the crimes associated with the so-called “Maltese Falcon”.
- Miss Jane Marple solves crimes in rural England.
- Kent allard begins operating as the Shadow.
1931:
- Dick Tracy becomes a police detective.
- Commissaire Jules Maigret solves crimes for the Police Judiciaire in Paris.
1932: Nick and Nora Charles investigate the murder of Julia Wolf.
1934:
- Nero Wolfe solves crimes with the assistance of his aide, Archie Goodwin.
- The detectives Dupont and Dupond encounter the reporter Tintin while investigating a drug-smuggling ring.
1937:
- Samuel “Slam” Bradley works as a private detective.
- Kindaichi Kosuke investigates the so-called “Honjin Murders”.
- Mister Keen traces lost persons.
- "Speed" Saunders operates as private investigstor.
1939:
- Bruce Wayne begins fighting crime as the Batman.
- Philip Marlowe investigates the affair of the so-called “Big Sleep”.
1943: The Five Find-Outers (Frederick “Fatty” Trotteville, Laurence “Larry” Daykin, Philip “Pip” Hilton, Margaret “Daisy” Daykin, Elizabeth “Bets” Hilton and Buster the dog) investigate the so-called “Mystery of the Burnt Cottage”.
1947: Mike Hammer works as a private detective.
1949:
- Roy Raymond begins hosting Impossible…But True!.
- Private detective Lew Archer investigates the disappearance of Ralph Sampson.
1952: Bobo becomes the Detective Chimp.
1955: Accidentally trapped on Earth, J'onn J'onzz of Mars takes the place of Detective John Jones of the Middleton, CO Police Department.
1957: Honey West operates as a private detective.
1958: Peter Gunn operates as a private investigator.
1960: Ralph Dibny begins fighting crime as the Elongated Man.
1962: Amsterdam police Inspector Van Der Valk investigates the murder of Elsa de Charmoy.
1963: Leroy “Encyclopedia” Brown solves several mysteries.
1964: Jupiter Jones, Peter Crenshaw and Bob Andrews begin operating as “The Three Investigators”.
1967:
- Joe Mannix operates as a private investigator in Los Angeles.
- Robert T. Ironside operated operates as a consultant to the San Francisco Polce Department.
1968:
- Lieutenant Frank Columbo serves as a homicide detective in the Los Angeles Police Department.
- Detective Steve McGarrett's elite squad - sometimes known as "Five-O" - solves crimes in Hawaii.
1969: Teenagers Fred Jones, Daphne Blake, Velma Dinkley, Norville “Shaggy” Rogers and their Great Dane Scooby-Doo solve mysteries together.
1970: New Mexican Deputy Marshal Sam McCloud is “loaned” to the New York City Police department as a “special investigator”.
1971:
- Stuart “Mac” McMillan and his wife Sally solve murders together.
- Frank Cannon operates as a private detective in Los angeles.
1973:
- Lieutenant Theo Kojak serves as a member of the New York City Police Department.
- Barnaby Jones operates as a private detective in Los Angeles.
1974: Jim Rockford operates as a private investigator.
1975: Tony Baretta works as a plainclothes police detective.
1979: Jonathan and Jennifer Hart solve mysteries together.
1980: Thomas Magnum operates as a private investigator in Hawaii.
1982:
- Frank Drebin operates as a member of Police Squad!
- An adventurer, conman and gentleman thief - whose real name may have been "Harry" - assumes the idenity of the fictional detective "Remington Steele" and begins solving crimes in LA with Laura Holt.
1984: Mystery writer Jessica Fletcher investigates several murders.
1985: David Addison and Maddie Hates operate the Blue Moon Detective Agency.
1987:Dirk Gently operates his Holistic Detective Agency.
1992: High schooler Kindaichi Hajime investigates the so-called “Opera House Murder Case”.
2004: L. Lawliet has become a world-famous detective known only as “L”.
2006: Ikari Shinji joins the Kaji Detective Agency.
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In 1982, adventurer, conman and gentleman thief who's name may have been Harry, assumed the idenity of the fictional Remington Steel , and began solving crimes in LA with Laura Holt.
Wow, thanks, I forgot all about him! I'll add him when I have a moment.
Added Remington Steele.
1327: William of Baskerville investigates a murder in Umberto Eco's "Name of the Rose."
1955: J'onn J'onzz of Mars takes the place of Detective John Jones of the Middleton, Colo., Police Department.
Simon Templar, The Saint, 1928.
Kent Allard becomes The Shadow, 1930.
Speed Saunders, Detective Comics #1, 1937.