Monday, February 15, 2010

Let the Nominations Begin

As many of you know, in April, I will be hosting the "Detectives Around the World" theme week. One element of the theme week is going to be a tournament for the "World's Favorite Detective." This tournament will consist of weekly contests similar to the college basketball tournaments that will be going on. So, beginning this week and ending February 28th, you can nominate your favorite detectives.

There is no limit to the number of detectives you can nominate. There are 64 positions in the tournament, so if more than 64 detectives are nominated, the 64 with the highest number of nominations will be included. Enter your favorite detectives and their authors in the form below. Come back as often as you'd like to enter as many as you'd like.
What qualifies as a "detective" in this tournament you ask? A detective, for these purposes, is a character who is a police detective, a sheriff, an FBI agent or a licensed P.I. So, essentially, no spies or amateur sleuths for this tourney. The detectives can be male or female and reside anywhere in the world.

Once the 64 are nominated, a contest will be announced, much like the college basketball bracket contests you probably know about from office pools. So check back on March 1st for your chance to get in on the contest for some cool prizes!

If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments or send me an email. Let the nominations begin!

24 comments:

Naomi Johnson February 15, 2010 at 11:01 AM  

I couldn't resist nominating a bunch of names. Maybe more later as I think of them.

Kaye Wilkinson Barley - Meanderings and Muses February 15, 2010 at 12:39 PM  

This is fun!!!

Christine February 15, 2010 at 2:34 PM  

I'm with Naomi and Kaye - I got a kick out of this and nominated quite a few! Hopefully it won't mess the spreadsheet, but I put the characters' title/position along with the name on some and not on others. Don't ask me why. You should see my handwriting. I alternate between cursive and printing. ;-)

Anonymous February 15, 2010 at 3:32 PM  

I put a few in and need to sit and think about more. I would come up with a name and then think, oh they aren't a detective/cop/agent. :-)

Anonymous February 15, 2010 at 3:57 PM  

This is going to be SO much fun! Just submitted a bunch. :-)

Jen Forbus February 15, 2010 at 4:00 PM  

I love it, you guys! Keep the great nominations coming...

Kerrie February 16, 2010 at 3:18 AM  

Jen I've written a supporting post on my blog to spread the word.

Jen Forbus February 16, 2010 at 5:39 AM  

Thanks Kerrie! I appreciate the support.

Kiwicraig February 16, 2010 at 4:06 PM  

I've put in a few already, trying to mix up old Golden Age classics, newer authors, and some lesser-known ones who are truly well-written and fascinating characters, even if the books/authors aren't as well-known. Also putting in some I like now, and some I grew up loving as a kid and teen. Good to have a representative spread.

Question for you Jen: Would Frank and Joe Hardy from the Hardy Boys qualify? I'm thinking they wouldn't, because they technically weren't PIs themselves (at least originally in the series), although they were the sons of a licensed PI.

Would be a shame to leave them out (were one of my nostalgic childhood faves), but don't think they quite come within your rules...

Kiwicraig February 16, 2010 at 4:21 PM  

FYI: http://kiwicrime.blogspot.com/2010/02/detectives-do-battle-who-is-worlds.html

Christine February 16, 2010 at 4:46 PM  

Thank you, kiwicraig, for reminding me to nominate Tony Hillerman's Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee!

Jen Forbus February 16, 2010 at 8:17 PM  

Hey Craig! Good to "see" you! Thanks for joining in.

If this theme week works out well, I want to explore different sub-sets of the genre in the future, so the Hardy Boys will come into play when we look at the amateur sleuth!

I want every group to have its day in the sun.

Thanks you guys. I'm so glad people are having fun with this already. I hope it only gets better!

L.J. Sellers February 20, 2010 at 9:44 AM  

I'm going to write a supporting blog too. I'm currently reading the Baby Shark series so I can blog about her during the week of the event. Can I nominate my own Detective Jackson too? Is that playing fair?

tonymcm54 February 26, 2010 at 9:51 AM  

Has to be Harry - followed by Arkady Renko (Martin Cruz Smith)

tonymcm54 February 26, 2010 at 9:58 AM  

Has to be Harry - followed by Arkady Renko (Martin Cruz Smith)

Capt. Matt February 26, 2010 at 3:00 PM  

Great idea and fun, thanx, Capt. Matt

Joe February 26, 2010 at 9:36 PM  

Jack Reacher (Lee Child)
Harry Bosch (Michael Connelly)
Cork O'Connor (William Kent Krueger)

Three way tie! Can't beat these three.

Anonymous February 26, 2010 at 10:32 PM  

I'm going with the classic Sherlock Homes! The 1st consulting detective ever!!!

Unknown February 26, 2010 at 11:07 PM  

jen, i can't imagine anyone topping Poirot and his "little grey cells"....well maybe Sherlock Homles, but no one else. i'll be anxious to see if the results favor the old or the new.

Jen Forbus February 27, 2010 at 8:01 AM  

Joe, Jack Reacher doesn't meet the detective qualifications for this round.

John, so far the old and the new are showing up, but in terms of numbers of nominations the newer guys are leading. They'll probably end up going head to head in the tourney, though.

Anonymous February 27, 2010 at 6:56 PM  

This is a fun idea! I added 4 or 5 of my favorites. Should be interesting to see which ones get the most votes.

Jen Forbus February 27, 2010 at 7:15 PM  

Hey Bill! So happy to have you playing along with us!

Caine February 28, 2010 at 10:48 AM  

This looks really fun (and I'm having fun participating). I've "stretched" a couple hoping to get them through the process depending on the interpretation of "licensed" P.I.

Rob Kantner's Ben Perkins works through an attorney (if I remember correctly)and therefore is covered under the protection of the attorney's license (I hope). :)

I also added Jim Butcher & P.N. Elrod to make sure the darker flavored detectives were represented.

Les Blatt February 28, 2010 at 3:40 PM  

Sorry to have discovered this so late. I nominated a few of my favorites and posted a link in my blog ( www.classicmysteries.net ); also posted to the Golden Age of Detection Yahoo mail group. I hope at least a few people will be able to join in - and we'll be back to vote when the results are announced.

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