10 Fictional Detectives That Happened to be Gay

The new Netflix series Dead Boy Detectives premieres April 25, telling the story of the title characters, Charles & Edwin, who pass on the afterlife to stay on Earth and investigate supernatural crimes. The series is based on the DC comics characters that originally appeared in Sandman comics before receiving their own spinoff series of comics. The source material was not shy about depicting the love between the two characters. In honor of the new series, the blog takes a look back at 10 queer detectives who were known to solve a good mystery.

Paul Narita
Series: Days of Our Lives (NBC)
Days of Our Lives first introduced Paul Narita (Christopher Sean) as a conflict for the show's husbands, Will (Guy Wilson, Chandler Massey) & Sonny (Freddie Smith). Paul's past romance with Sonny, conflicted with his current affair with Will. Beyond the love triangle, it was also revealed that Paul was the biological son of Salem icon John Black. With Paul's baseball career ruined by injury, he joined his father in his private investigation business. While his profession was never a major focus for the character, Paul would occasionally step in to help investigate Salem mysteries until his departure. In fact, it was his detective skills that brought him back for the Beyond Salem spinoff series in 2022, leading to a new love interest in Andrew Donovan (Colton Little).

 

Captain Raymond Holt
Series: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (NBC)
Raymond Holt (Andre Braugher) began the series as captain of the 99th precinct. Within the show's narrative, he was heralded as the first black gay police captain in the NYPD. Over the course of the series, viewers were also introduced to his husband Kevin Cozner (Marc Evan Jackson), and their personal trials were featured on the series, alongside the romantic tribulations of the other characters. Holt's dedication to his work and to his team was also on full display, despite his reputation for his stoic nature. Holt was shown to be a father figure for his team. While Holt left much of each week's investigation to his team of detectives, he was not above getting his hands dirty in the field, especially after his temporary demotion in the series' later seasons.

 

Jayson Tagg
Film: Dead
A fun horror comedy from New Zealand, Dead follows Dane 'Marbles' Marbeck, a hapless stoner who can see ghosts. When he encounters recently-deceased gay cop Jayson Tagg (Hayden J. Weal), the dedicated Tagg forces Marbles to use his skills to help him find a killer to close his final case. This leads to a reluctant partnership, as they work together to save lives and deaths. The film was the brainchild of its stars, Sainsbury & Weal, who co-wrote the film with Weal also directing. Despite his character's status as a ghost, he does get his happy ending when he finally reaches heaven to find his love Khalid (Zak Enayat) waiting for him.

 

Tom Hackett
Series: The InBetween (NBC)
The short-lived fantasy crime drama The InBetween centered on Cassie Bishop, a young woman with the ability to speak to the dead. She used her gift to help her father, veteran LAPD detective Tom Hackett (Paul Blackthorne) solve various investigations. Hackett presented a rare perspective as a gay detective and father, partnering with his daughter to solve mysteries. The series also included Tom's husband, Brian Currie (Michael B. Silver), who also shared a pleasant relationship with Cassie. The last episode put Cassie in a tough position as she began seeing visions of Brian, who was set to undergo surgery for a dangerous brain tumor. The relationship between father & daughter & stepfather drove what became the series' final episode.

 

Alfred Hillinghead
Series: Bodies (Netflix)
The Netflix series Bodies followed four detectives in four different time periods, who all discover the same naked dead body, jump-starting investigations that would uncover a conspiracy running across 150 years. Dedicated police inspector Alfred Hillinghead (Kyle Soller) spearheaded the investigation in 1890, crossing paths with curious photographer Henry Ashe (George Parker). Their forbidden and illegal affair would not only bring the closeted & married Alfred closer to answers, but also right into the hands of the villain, who would use him as a scapegoat in his plans to use Alfred's family in his time-spanning plot. While Alfred & Henry seemed doomed to tragic fates, the series ended with the mystery solved and time reset, giving them a new beginning and putting them on the path to meeting once again.

 

Matthew Venn
Series: The Long Call (ITV/BritBox)
Based on the novel of the same name by Ann Cleeves, The Long Call cast out actor Ben Aldridge as Detective Matthew Venn. The detective returns to his small evangelical community in Devon in the wake of his father's death. While Matthew works through the emotions of his past with the community he was forced to leave, he finds himself knee-deep in a local murder case with no witnesses, few clues, and seemingly no motive. As UK television's first gay police detective, Matthew's internal struggles saw him leaning on his husband Jonathan Roberts (Declan Bennett) throughout the four-episode series, which was nominated for a 2022 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding New TV Series.

 

Dr. Dylan Reinhart
Series: Instinct (CBS)
Based on the novel Murder Games from James Patterson, the 2018 series Instinct introduced Dr. Dylan Reinhart, a former CIA operative working as an author and university professor when he is lured into assisting NYPD detective Lizzie Needham in her and her team's search for a serial killer. The quirky professor was often aided by his loyal husband Andy Wilson (Daniel Ings), a lawyer spending his time running his own bar and providing legal assistance to Dylan whenever needed. The series ran for two seasons on CBS. Portrayed by an out actor in Alan Cumming, Dylan Reinhart was groundbreaking at the time, being the first openly gay lead character in an hour-long American network television drama series.

 

Captain Jack Harness
Series: Torchwood (BBC)
From the mind of queer icon Russell T. Davies came the Doctor Who spinoff Torchwood, following the adventures of Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman), as he led a team from the Torchwood Institute in solving supernatural cases and neutralizing alien threats to Earth. A former Time Agent and conman from the 51st century, Captain Jack was openly gay and his relationship with his great love Ianto Jones (Gareth David-Lloyd) was often a driving force behind the series' storytelling. The series ran for four seasons in the United Kingdom. Despite its end in 2011, the enduring popularity of Captain Jack led to several audio podcast spinoffs where Barrowman continued to voice the character. He also reprised the role in the Lego Dimensions video game.

 

Donald Strachey
Films: Third Man Out/Shock to the System/On the Other Hand, Death/Ice Blues
Based on the Richard Stevenson book series, the quartet of mystery films starring Chad Allen as Detective Donald Strachey presented complex, entertaining stories for the lead detective and never shied away from Donald's sexuality and his personal life with his partner Tim Callahan (Sebastian Spence). Donald's cases often connected to him personally, whether they involved crimes motivated by homophobia or teens hiding their homosexuality. Donald was a former military man, and that past was explored as well, with Donald never being above getting physical when in danger. Donald & Tim were not above personal conflicts either, and Tim's work as a legislative aide to a New York senator often led to him being drawn into Donald's investigations as well.

 

Benoit Blanc
Films: Knives Out/Glass Onion
Writer/director Rian Johnson struck gold with his 2019 hit Knives Out. At the center of the murder mystery was private detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), who employed his unorthodox methods of investigation to root out the mystery behind a billionaire mystery writer's death. The popular sequel Glass Onion revealed that Benoit was a gay man, living with his partner Phillip (Hugh Grant), when Benoit got a visit from his latest client, looking to help him solve another murder mystery, leading him to an island retreat full of suspects. Benoit's dry, southern charm always served to disarm potential suspects, as they doubted his expertise, allowing him to gain key insights. Craig is already onboard for the third film in the series, set to begin filming later this year.