Most bad guys don’t provide obvious calling cards.  That’s where detectives come in.  These masters of deduction break through the lies and deceptions and put together clues to uncover what wasn’t mean to be found.  Being a truly master detective requires not only a brilliant mind, but an equally brilliant rival to provide the challenge, proving their skill.  Here are the 7 most unique and masterful detectives.

7. Philip Marlowe

One of the classic hard-broiled film noir classic style detectives, Philip Marlowe is known for his repartee as much as his drinking.  Detective work falls somewhere in between.  Featured in several dozen books and movies, Marlowe stops drinking and smoking just  enough to launch his successful private detective agency, exposing murders, blackmailers, and femme fatales of all kinds.

6. Robert Goren

The most serious crimes are handled by detectives of the Major Case Squad.  The most serious of those cases are handled by Detective Robert Goren.  Goren focuses on the psychology of the criminals, often playing on that psychology to get criminals to reveal themselves.  He has an incredible memory and sense of smell (very handy) combined with odd social tendencies leading some to believe he suffers from some kind of high-functioning autism which would be supported by his obsession with solving crimes.

5. Sam Spade

The epitome and even inventor of the hard-broiled film noir detective, Sam Spade makes his name for his gruff cockiness more than he raw skill.  Best known for solving the complex web of lies that is the Maltese Falcon, Spade has made his adventures known in dozens of books, movies, and TV shows to which all trenchcoat wearing detectives study for pointers.

4. Hercule Poirot

Agatha Christie’s master of little gray cells is as snobby as he is brilliant.  Hercule Poirot only accepts cases that interest him, which usually leads to really expensive clients in glamorous settings.  But the man knows complex and interesting cases, best of all the Murder on the Orient Express, which for the few geeks who haven’t read it, is perhaps the most complex mystery of them all.  And Poirot solved it.

3. Sherlock Holmes

One of the most recognized figures in detectiving, Sherlock Holmes used his vast knowledge of random topics to solve every kind of mystery, from Murder, She Wrote type homicides to Scooby Doo style monsters.  He employed pure logic in his practice, saying "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."  Sound logic I’m sure.

2. Batman

Murders and blackmailers are nothing compared to the Joker and Mr. Freeze and Two-Face.  These guys are maniacs bent on causing mayhem and havoc.  Batman’s a single man CSI and Sherlock Holmes in one - he’s got the brains and the gadgets to solve any crime.  Even the Justice League, with all its raw power, relies on mild-mannered Batman to figure out how to stop the evil baddies.  X-ray vision can’t do it all alone.

1. Columbo

It only took one more thing.  Lieutenant Columbo was so good, he showed us how the entire crime was done before he even appeared on screen.  The unique show structure just proved how amazing Columbo was.  The bad guys put together elaborate crimes, but Columbo always zoned in on the villain, but he just had to figure out how to prove it.  And he always did.

The main reason Columbo is better than Batman, though, is Columbo knew the bad guy from the beginning without the gadgets and tests.  Even Batman needs an issue or two to figure out the villain (or the villain just reveals themselves).  It was a close, but Columbo smokes cigars, so he won.