While browsing through Border the other day, I noticed a book called Oscar Wilde and a Death of No Importance, which is the latest entry in the subgenre of mysteries in which improbable literary figures turn into detectives. In fact, it may represent the end of the genre– I think they may have exhausted the possible sources, unless somebody out there has a great idea for an Emily Dickinson mystery…
This got me to thinking, though, that science is a criminally underused source of material for this sort of thing. Yeah, there’s a swashbuckling Nikola Tesla book or two, and Einstein turns up in a few places, but that’s not really the same thing. We need some good ideas for mystery novels in which improbable scientists turn to solving crimes.
So, a question for the audience:
What famous scientist should be featured as a detective in a mystery novel?
Remember, part of the fun of the genre is in having the amateur detective turn out to be as improbable as possible (I mean, there’s a whole series of mysteries with Groucho Marx as the detective…). Richard Feynman would be an OK choice, but he makes much too much sense, as he’s already a larger-than-life figure. Stephen Hawking would be much better.
Leave your suggestions in the comments.