From the Sherlock Holmes spin-offs to The Sheep Detectives, DIY sleuths are on the case all over TV and cinema. But where did the trope of the outsider who outsmarts the professionals come from \u2013 and how do these depictions compare to reality?<\/p>\n
On Television you don\u2019t have to be a cop to solve crime; the police can just hire you as a consultant. All you need is the uncanny ability to solve each and every mystery in time for the next episode. You might be a retired detective (Monk, Ridley, the many Poirot spin-offs) or a bestselling mystery writer (Murder, She Wrote, Castle) or a vicar (Grantchester) or a convicted fraudster seeking redemption (White Collar, Wild Cards). You could be a faux psychic (Psych, The Mentalist), a human lie detector (Lie to Me), or a private investigator (all the Sherlock Holmes adaptations and spin-offs, and Shonda Rhimes\u2019s The Residence). Or even, in the case of Death Valley, a retired actor widely known for playing a detective on TV).<\/p>\n
The trope of the \u201cconsultant\u201d\u2013 a hyper-talented investigator who isn\u2019t part of the police, but teams up with them to solve crimes \u2013 is widespread, so much so that the pop-culture website TV Tropes gives it its own page: \u201cNo badge? No problem!<\/a>\u201d But recently the evergreen character has enjoyed a boost.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/008081dddf1fe899b7e30bca575dc0f169cdf92e\/199_713_3965_3172\/master\/3965.jpg?width=140&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=8b62a808ef8e1cae8acf5f4ebacdab19\" "\\"Sleuthing")
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