Over one hundred names were nominated. The top 64 have been sifted. Today we begin the process of finding the favourite sleuth of detective fiction’s Golden Age (precise dates pending, but we’re saying 1920-45).
Here, then, is the top half in order — the winner of Vote 1 will play the winner of Vote 2 in the second round, and so on down for those of you who want to chart potential future matches — and all you need to do is click on your favourite in each pairing. I’d make some comments about who just missed the cut, but that would give away who to expect in the bottom half of the draw when it goes up in a fortnight.
Each character’s seeding is included after their name; I was going to include author names as well, but then I figured that you have the entire world’s knowledge at your fingertips and any unfamiliar names could be looked up quite easily (and, hey, if you don’t know who they are, I imagine you’re unlikely to vote for them).
Polls are open until 12:01 am BST on Saturday 17th September 2022; happy choosing!
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The bottom half of the draw will be here for your voting pleasure in a fortnight, on Saturday 24th September — so if your favourite sleuth isn’t here, they might be there. And don’t worry: I don’t intend to split each round of voting across two posts all the way through this, I just thought 16 choices was enough to be going on with.
Spread the word, and I’ll see you soon for the next step on the epic quest…
The Invisible Event 
Unfortunately, I completely missed the nominations, not that I think I would’ve added anything of importance.
It’s really interesting to see what people have nominated, as more than half of these names are some that I was unaware of. I also spent about 5 minutes researching who David Hadley was before realising he was the secondary inspector in the Gideon Fell books, so that was fun.
Of course, I haven’t seen the second batch of people, but I’m fairly certain the winner will be either Gideon Fell or Hercule Poirot, with maybe an upset from Merrivale, or Marple. Will be rooting for Father Brown if he’s there however!
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Some exciting names here and a few tricky matches already. Will any big seeds get knocked out? I’ll be interested to see how the voting goes!
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A couple of tough juxtapositions darn it but I got through it thanks to my strong sense of service to the cause! Very, very curious to see how this shakes out (and that the likes iof Sister Ursula made the cut at all frankly)
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This going to be a bloodbath!
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Love the way some of those matchups worked out!
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Ahh missed the nomination round! Sad to see Jules Maigret not making this time, here’s hoping he appears in the 24th Sep post. Cheers!
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I seem to be odd man out, repeatedly. C’est dommage.
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Sorry to hear that, Ron — how do you mean?
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Oh nothing horrible. I just meant that my choices are frequently going to be different from what I expect most choices will be. The competitors are such that I often think I know who will win that particular joust, but it is not my personal preference. It is a tough competition.
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I reckon we might yet get a surprise or two along the way; never say never!
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