Allida Babcock: dog therapist in Boulder, Colorado, by Leslie O’Kane

Sonny Baca: part-time rodeo rider private eye in Albuquerque, New Mexico, by Rudolfo Anaya

Kate Baeier: Portuguese journalist turned private investigator, in London, England, by Gillian Slovo

Ed and Warren Baer: father and son detective team in Long Island, New York, by Herbert Resnicow

Marshall “Mars” Bahr: nicknamed Candy Man, a detective who serves as a special investigator reporting directly to the chief of police in Minneapolis, Minnesota, by K.J. Erickson

Joe Bain: sheriff in fictional San Rodrigo County, California, by Jack Vance

Lieutenant Bak: ex-charioteer, head of the Medjay police, in ancient Egypt, by Lauren Haney

Johnelle “Johnny” Baker: blonde former actress made sheriff as a publicity stunt in Tenoclock, Colorado, by John Miles

Larry Baker: screenwriter, and his perpetually drunk partner Boris Slivka, in Hollywood, California, by Carter Brown

Luis Balam: ex-traffic cop turned tour operator in the Yucatán, México, by Gary Alexander

T.T. Baldwin: sports photographer in New York City, by Shannon O’Cork

Jonathan Bale: constable in 1600s London, England, by Edward Marston

Elijah Baley: sci-fi detective, by Isaac Asimov

Hollis Ball: reporter, and Sam Wescott, her ex-husband’s ghost, in Maryland, by Helen Chappell

Kendra Ballantyne: attorney and freelance pet sitter, by Linda O. Johnston

Jessica Balzano: a detective, and her partner Kevin Byrne, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by Richard Montanari

Mario Balzic: small-town police chief in Rocksburg, Pennsylvania, by K.C. Constantine

Michaela Bancroft: in the Horse Lover’s mysteries by Michele Scott

Dr. Jo Bank: who leaves New York City after a fatal misdiagnosis of a patient and ends up in Bayfield, New Jersey, as the on-call doctor at a motel, by Robin Hathaway

Alan Banks: Eastvale detective chief inspector, in Yorkshire, England, by Peter Robinson

Paul Bannerman: and a group of former contract agents (assassins, interrogators, electronics specialists, etc.), retired in Westport, Connecticut, by John Maxim

Kate Banning: former Boston investigative reporter and trade magazine editor, in Nashville, Tennessee, by Cecelia Tishy

Lily Bard: housecleaner in Shakespeare, Arkansas, by Charlaine Harris

Cyrus Barker: private detective, and his assistant, Thomas Llewelyn, an ex-student and ex-thief, in Victorian London, England, by Will Thomas

Janet Barkin: high school dropout in Evanston, Illinois, in the Women’s Rescue Co. mysteries, by Ellen Godfrey

Hannah Barlow: ex-cop lawyer in Orange County, California, by Carroll Lachnit

Margaret Barlow: 50-something freelance journalist in New York City, by David Osborn

Thea Barlow: editor of Chicago-based Western True Adventures, who turns free-lance in Wyoming, by Carol Caverly

Alexandra “Barney” Barnaby: garage mechanic in Philadelphia, by Janet Evanovich

Tom Barnaby: chief inspector in England, by Caroline Graham

Danielle Barnea: Shin Bet (Israel’s FBI) agent in Israel, by Jon Land

Connie Barnes: an Anglo-Hopi girlfriend to T. Moore “Mo” Bowdre, a blind redneck sculptor, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, by Jake Page

Ginger Barnes: headmaster’s wife and suburban mother in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by Donna Huston Murray

Natalie Barnes: inn proprietor on Cranberry Island, Maine, in the Gray Whale Inn mysteries, by Karen MacInerney

Justin Barnes: black American maverick with his own brand of justice, by Robert Banfelder

Harry Barnett: middle-aged English caretaker in Greece, by Robert Goddard

Al Barney: by James Hadley Chase

The Baron: John Mannering, ex-jewel thief and antiques dealer, by Anthony Morton (John Creasey)

Temple Barr: public relations freelancer, and Midnight Louie, tomcat sleuth, in Las Vegas, Nevada, by Carole Nelson Douglas

Bel Barrett: professor of English in Jersey City, New Jersey, by Jane Isenberg

Stone Barrington: ex-cop and attorney, in New York City, by Stuart Woods

Zoe Barrow: police officer, in Austin, Texas, by Jan Grape

Brother Bartholomew: member of a religious community at Faith Abbey in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, by David Manuel

Matthew Bartholomew: physician, and his colleague Brother Michael, in the 14th century Cambridge, England, by Susanna Gregory

Peter Bartholomew: odd-jobs company owner in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, by Sally Gunning

Ernie Bascom: and George Sueno, US military police officers in 1960s-1970s Seoul, South Korea, by Martin Limón

Janey Bascom: landscaper and partner in Three Dirty Women Landscaping, Inc., in Pine Grove, by Julie Wray Herman

Andrew Basnett: retired professor of botany in England by E.X. Ferrars

Singer Batts: Shakespearean scholar running a hotel in a small town in Ohio, by Thomas B. Dewey

Jane Bauer: detective in the NYPD unsolved crimes department, in New York City, by Lee Harris

Tory Bauer: diner waitress in Delphi, South Dakota, by Kathleen Taylor

China Bayles: herbalist and former attorney, in Pecan Springs, Texas, by Susan Wittig Albert

Nina Baynam: former FBI agent who continually crosses paths with a serial-killer cult, by Michael Marshall

Martha Beale: in 1840s Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by Cordelia Frances Biddle

Will Beaman: working in a baseball front office starting in 1897, in Boston, Massachusetts, by G.S. Rowe

Mark Beamon: FBI special agent in the US, by Kyle Mills

Madeline Bean: caterer in Hollywood, California, by Jerrilyn Farmer

Rick Beanblossom: investigative reporter in St. Paul, Minnesota, by Steve Thayer

Goldy Bear: single mom and caterer, in Aspen Meadow, Colorado, by Diane Mott Davidson

Molly Bearpaw: major crimes investigator and advocate for the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, by Jean Hager

J.P. Beaumont: homicide detective in Seattle, Washington, by J.A. Jance

Martin Beck: police inspector in Stockholm, Sweden, by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö

John Becker: ex-FBI agent in New York City, by David Wiltse

Grace Beckmann: middle-aged mother and freelance writer in Colorado, by Jackie Lewin

Jane Bee: housemaid at Buckingham Palace in London, England, by C.C. Benison

Sergeant Beef: beer-and-darts-loving common man in England, by Leo Bruce

Joseph Bell: doctor in Edinburgh, Scotland, by David Pirie

Stephen Bellecroix: British agent in England, by David Craig

Angela Benbow: 70-something admiral’s widow, in southern California, by Corinne Holt Sawyer

Henri Bencolin: juge d’instruction (examining magistrate) in Paris, France, by John Dickson Carr

Niccolo Benedetti: world-renowned criminologist professor in Sparta, New York, by William L. DeAndrea

Bebe Bennett: executive secretary in a modeling agency in 1960s New York City in the Murder a-Go-Go Series by Rosemary Martin

Peter Benington: retired jewel thief, and Benny Ashe, a retired Mob boss, in Coral Sands, Florida, in the Old Gang of Mine series by Richard F. West

Paul Benjamin: vigilante murderer in Arizona, by Brian Garfield

Rachel Benjamin: investment banker and amateur sleuth, based in New York City, by Jennifer Sturman

Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy, taking up the story ended in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, in Regency (early 1800s) England, by Carrie Bebris

Christine Bennett: ex-nun in New York, by Lee Harris

Frank Bennett: police chief in Trout Run, in the Adirondack Mountains of New York, by S.W. Hubbard

Lilly Bennett: ex-detective private investigator in Roundup, Wyoming, by Marne Davis Kellogg

Reid Bennett: police chief, and Sam, a German Shepard, in Murphy’s Harbour, Ontario, Canada, by Ted Wood

Norm Bennis: a cop in Chicago, Illinois, by Barbara D’Amato

Rick Bentz and Reuben Montoya, police detectives in New Orleans, Louisiana, by Lisa Jackson

Bishop Berenguer: bishop in 1350s Girona, Spain by Caroline Roe

Tuppence and Tommy Beresford: intelligence agents in England, by Agatha Christie

Jim Bergerac: detective sergeant in the Bureau des Etrangers, on the island of Jersey in the English Channel, in novelizations of the BBC TV series by Andrew Saville (Andrew Taylor)

Luis Bernal: police superintendent in Spain, by David Serafin

Alan Bernhardt: actor-director private investigator in San Francisco, California, by Collin Wilcox

Jill Bernhardt: assistant District Attorney, founding member of The Women’s Murder Club, in San Francisco, California, by James Patterson

Alex Bernier: Gen-X reporter, in upstate New York, by Beth Saulnier

Nick Bertetto: freelance writer and stay-at-home dad, in Indianapolis, Indiana, by Tony Perona

Carmela Bertrand: owner of a scrapbooking shop in New Orleans, Louisiana, in the Scrapbooking Mysteries by Laura Childs

Tom Bethany: former political consultant and wrestler working as a private investigator, in Boston, Massachusetts, by Jerome Doolittle

Ambrose Bierce: journalist, and his sidekick Tom Redmond, in 1880s San Francisco, California, by Oakley Hall

Terry Biggs and Mike Lomax, police detectives in Los Angeles, California, by Marshall Karp

Margaret Binton: 70-something little old lady, in New York City, by Richard Barth

Gretchen Birch, her mother Caroline, and her aunt Nina, doll collectors in Phoenix, Arizona, in the Dolls To Die For mysteries by Deb Baker

Jefferson Birch: former Texas ranger working for Tisdale Investigations, in the American West in the second half of the 19th century, by W.W. Lee (Wendi Lee)

Verity “Birdie” Birdwood: TV researcher in Australia, by Jennifer Rowe

Jim Bishop: operative at Weiss Investigations with a penchant for violence and a mysterious military past, in San Francisco, California, by Andrew Klavan

Sally Bithron: detective constable in Cardiff, Wales, by David Craig (Bill James) 

Max Bittersohn and Sarah Kelling, an investigative couple in Boston, Massachusetts, by Charlotte MacLeod

Angela Bivens: FBI Special Agent in Washington, DC, by Christopher Chambers

Angela Biwaban: ex-embezzler Anishabe princess, in Minnesota by J.F. Trainor

Cree Black: parapsychologist with a haunted past in Seattle, Washington, by Daniel Hecht

Johnny Black: private detective in 1930s England, by Neville Steed

Kevin Black: psychiatrist in Minnesota, by Carole Nelson Douglas

Black Mask Boys: 1930s detective heroes in California, by William F. Nolan

Thomas Black: bicycling-enthusiast private eye in Seattle, Washington, by Earl Emerson

Nora, Emma, and Libby Blackbird: three sisters who inherit a two million dollar tax debt from their high-society parents in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in The Blackbird Sister Mysteries by Nancy Martin

Lobo Blacke: crippled ex-frontier lawman, and Quinn Booker, his biographer in Le Four, Wyoming, by William L. DeAndrea

Oz Blackstone: private investigator in London, England, by Quintin Jardine

Mark Blackwell: new district attorney in San Antonio, Texas, by Jay Brandon

Blackshirt: (Richard Verrell), self-educated founding who becomes a respected mystery author, and burgles for the fun of it, in England, by Bruce Graeme

Monsieur Blackshirt: Richard Verrell’s 17th-century ancestor in France, by David Graeme

Inspector Blackstone: in Victorian England and the Empire, by Alan Rustage

Barney Blaine: by Carter Brown

John Blaine: private investigator in Dublin, Ireland, by Vincent Banville

Elizabeth Blair: an American widow quilt shop owner in Bath, England, by Lizbie Brown

Margot Blair: partner in a public relations firm, by Kathleen Moore Knight

Sonora Blair: homicide detective in Cincinnati, Ohio, by Lynn S. Hightower

Modesty Blaise: gorgeous crime fighter for British Intelligence, in London, England, by ’Peter O’Donnell

Anita Blake: police consultant and vampire hunter, by Laurell K. Hamilton

Juliet Blake: computer fraud investigator in Silicon Valley, California, by Sally Chapman

Natasha Blake: genealogist in the Cotswolds, in England, by Fiona Mountain

Teri Blake-Addison: private investigator in Maine, by Linda Hall

Joanna Blalock: forensic pathologist in Los Angeles, California, by Leonard S. Goldberg

Ursula Blanchard: Lady-in-Waiting to Queen Elizabeth I, in London, England, by Fiona Buckley

Inspector Bland: in England, by Julian Symons

Isaac “Ike” Blessing: a private detective, and Fritillary “Tilly” Quilter, an arson investigator, in New York City, by Shelly Reuben

Haskell Blevins: private investigator in Pigeon Fork, Kentucky, by Taylor McCafferty

David Bliss: Detective Inspector in the C.I.D. in Hampshire, England, by James Hawkins

Vicky Bliss: American art historian in Bavaria, Germany, by Elizabeth Peters

Harvey Blissberg: ex-major league baseball player turned private eye, in Boston Massachusetts, by Richard Rosen

Kitty and Jack Bloodworth: owners of a show quality ’57 Chevy, by Lonnie Cruse

Leo Bloodworth: grumpy 50-something private investigator, in Los Angeles, California, by Dick Lochte

Theo Bloomer: retired florist and former spy, by Joan Hadley

Jason Blue: scientist specializing in how to clean toxins from the environment, and his wife Carolyn, a food writer, in El Paso, Texas, by Nancy Fairbanks

Molly Blume: true-crime writer in Los Angeles, California, by Rochelle Krich

Sebastian Bly: state trooper, and Billy Nightingale, an arson investigator, by Shelly Reuben

Max Blythe: ex-husband of Carole Trevor, a private investigator, by Judson Philips

Juliet Bodine: successful writer of Regency novels and ex-professor of English literature at Barnard in New York City, by Ellen Pall

Shauna J. Bogart: radio talk show host in Sacramento, California, by Joyce Krieg

Simon Bogner: special investigator with the Board of Trade, in London, England, by Tim Heald

Hank Bohannon: ex-sheriff, owner of a horse ranch, and crime fighter in Central California, by Joseph Hansen

Lou Boldt: detective, and Daphne Matthews, a police psychologist in Seattle, Washington, by Ridley Pearson

Myron Bolitar: injured basketball player turned sports agent in New York City, by Harlan Coben

Mariah Bolt: CIA officer, by Taylor Smith

Inspector “Bony” Bonaparte: police officer in Australia, by Arthur Upfield

James Bond: master spy for Great Britain, by Ian Fleming (the original)

James Bond: master spy in London, England by John Gardner (chosen to continue the series)

James Bond: master spy in London, England by Raymond Benson

Robert Bone: widowed British police Superintendent, by Susannah Stacey

Eli Bonnet: US Marshal during the 1890s Klondike Gold Rush, in Alaska, by Tom Hron

Quinn Booker: biographer for Lobo Blacke, a crippled ex-frontier lawman, in Le Four, Wyoming, by William L. DeAndrea

Brandy Borne: recently divorced, now back in her hometown in Iowa, with Sushi, her blind Shih Tzu, in the Trash ’n’ Treasures mysteries by Barbara Allan (Barbara and Max Allan Collins)

Harry Bosch: homicide detective in Los Angeles, California, by Michael Connelly

Sister Agnes Bourdillon: ex-cloistered nun, in London, England, by Alison Joseph

Jason Bourne: world-traveling adventurer, by Robert Ludlum

Jason Bourne series continued by Eric Van Lustbader

T. Moore “Mo” Bowdre: blind redneck sculptor, and Connie Barnes, his Anglo-Hopi girlfriend, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, by Jake Page

Victoria Bowering: 6-ft-redhead sometime-actress in New York City, by Dorian Yeager

Glenn Bowman: by Hartley Howard

Lindsay Boxer: homicide inspector and founding member of The Women’s Murder Club, in San Francisco, California, by James Patterson

Danny Boyd: private investigator, by Carter Brown

Billy Boyle: Boston cop from a family of Boston cops, on the staff of distant relative, General Eisenhower, during WWII, by James R. Benn

Nicholas Bracewell: stage manager for an Elizabethan acting company in London, England, by Edward Marston

David Brade: and Glyndwr Jenkins, police detectives in Cardiff, Wales, by David Craig (Bill James) 

Barbara Joan “Bo” Bradley: former court investigator, who works as an advocate for the mentally ill and lives with her own manic-depression, in San Diego, California, by Abigail Padgett

Beatrice Lestrange Bradley: psychiatrist and consultant to the Home Office in London, England, by Gladys Mitchell

Helen Bradley: ex-cop travel-writer in Lincoln City, Oregon, by Patricia H. Rushford

Luke Bradley: by Hugh Pentecost

Mark Bradley: gay writer of celebrity biographies, and Rayford Goodman, a jaded, once-famous private investigator, in Los Angeles, California, by Stan Cutler

Charlie Bradshaw: ex-cop turned detective in Saratoga Springs, New York, by Stephen Dobyns

Joanna Brady: deputy sheriff’s widow, now elected sheriff in Cochise County, Arizona, by J.A. Jance

Peter Brady: small town newspaper editor, by M.S. Karl

Theodora Braithwaite: clergy woman in London, England, by D.W. Greenwood

Colonel Brain: ex-army officer, and Ambrose Low, an ex-criminal, in England, by Henry Cecil

Max Bramble: attorney, and Wylie Nolan, an arson investigator, by Shelly Reuben

Grover Bramlett: sheriff in Sheffield, Mississippi, by John Armistead

Mark Brand: in England, by J.J. Connington

Michael Branden: college professor in Ohio Amish country, by Paul L. Gaus

Samantha “Smokey” Brandon: ex-stripper and forensic pathologist in Orange County, California, by Noreen Ayres

Dave Brandstetter: gay death-claims investigator in Los Angeles, California, by Joseph Hansen

Sarah Brandt: midwife in turn-of-the-19th-century New York City, in the Gaslight Mysteries by Victoria Thompson

Kate Brannigan: private eye in Manchester, England, by V.L. McDermid

John Lloyd Branson: attorney in Texas, by D.R. Meredith

Detective Sergeant Tom Brant and Chief Inspector James Roberts in London’s southeast precinct, by Ken Bruen

Nell Bray: suffragette in England, by Gillian Linscott

Miles Bredon: insurance investigator for the Indescribable Insurance Company, in England, Ronald A. Knox

Barr Breed: private investigator in Chicago, Illinois, by Bill S. Ballinger

Julie Brennan: NYPD detective in New York City, by David Cray

Temperance Brennan: forensic anthropologist in the Province of Quebec, Canada, and Charlotte, North Carolina, by Kathy Reichs

Lucy Trimble Brenner: private eye and librarian in Toronto, Canada, by Eric Wright

Paul Brenner: Vietnam combat veteran, by Nelson DeMille

Rachel Brenner: 40-something divorcee and mother of a teenaged son, along with Mac Sullivan, a retired cop, and Whiskey, his Irish Wolfhound partner, in Washington, DC, by Evelyn David

Gervase Bret: lawyer, in 11th century England, by Edward Marston

Lily Brewster: socialite and her brother, Robert Brewster, victims of the stock market crash of 1929, in the Grace and Favor mysteries by Jill Churchill

Peter Brichter: police detective, and Kori Price Brichter, a horse breeder, in Illinois, by Mary Monica Pulver

Dr. Soloman Brightman: psychologist and criminal profiler, and DCI Lorimer, in Glasgow, Scotland, by Alex Gray

Sergeants Janna Brill and “Mama” Maxwell, detectives in a future Topeka, Kansas by Lee Killough

Emil Brod, Ferenc Kolyeszar, Brano Sev, and other police and intelligence agents in Communist-era Eastern Europe, by Olen Steinhauer

Ted Brodsky: homicide cop, in New Jersey, by Nancy Tesler

David Brock: mentor to Kathy Kolla, a young Scotland Yard detective, in London, England, by Barry Maitland

Martin Brock: stoned-out small-time drug dealer who fled Britain, by Chris Haslam

Dr. Bill Brockton: forensic anthropologist in Tennessee, in the Body Farm series by Jefferson Bass

Jerry Brogan: track announcer at Surfside Meadows, in California, by Jon Breen 

Phil Broker: ex-undercover detective, in Minnesota, by Chuck Logan

Harry Bronson: police detective in Dallas, Texas, by L.C. Hayden

Andrew Broom: attorney in Wyler, Indiana, by Ralph M. McInerny

Andy Broussard: medical examiner, in New Orleans, Louisiana, by D.J. Donaldson

Sally Brown: marathoner in Delight, Arkansas, by Ami Elizabeth Reeves

Dagobert Brown: sometime researcher and writer and his wife Jane, living in southern France, by Delano Ames

Eddie Brown: comic spy in England, by Joyce Porter

Father Brown: gentle, quiet little cleric in England, by G. K. Chesterton

Middy Brown: mature liberated woman, a consultant for StarWay Beauty Products, and an assistant to a private investigator in Denver, Colorado, by M. Louise Smith

Margo Brown: language arts teacher in rural Indiana, by Marlis Day

Olivia Brown: bohemian poet and women’s rights advocate in 1920s Greenwich Village, New York, by Annette Meyers

Sally Brown: marathoner in Delight, Arkansas, by Ami Elizabeth Reeves

Maggie Browne: widow, and the St. Rose Quilting Bee, in Scottsdale, Arizona, by Annette Mahon

Verity Browne: leftist journalist, between the wars in 1930s London, England, by David Roberts

Guido Brunetti: police commissario in Venice, Italy, by Donna Leon

Theodosia Browning: owner of the Indigo Teahouse in Charleston, South Carolina, in the Tea Shop Mysteries, by Laura Childs

Beau Brummell: the arbiter of fashion in the Regency era of Great Britain by Rosemary Stevens

Thomas Brunt: CID inspector in the hill country of Northern England, by John Buxton Hilton

Arthur Bryant and John May:, detectives in the Peculiar Crimes Unit, in London, England, by Christopher Fowler

Emily and Henry Bryce: interior decorators in Manhattan, New York City, by Margaret Scherf

Tam Buchanan: lawyer, and his law student assistant Fizz Fitzgerald, in Edinburgh, Scotland, by Joyce Holms

Cecile Buddenbrooks: licensed private investigator and heiress-nun, in Boston, Massachusetts, by Winona Sullivan

Reverend Martin Buell: Episcopal rector in Farmington, Montana, by Margaret Scherf

Marco “Alligator” Buratti: former blues singer and ex-con, working as a private investigator in Venice, Italy, by Massimo Carlotto

Cassandra “Cassie” Burdette: professional golfer, by Roberta Isleib

Burke: outlaw soldier-of-fortune investigator in New York City, by Andrew H. Vachss

Connor Burke: university professor and martial-arts student, in New York City,by John Donohue

Honorable Constance Ethel Morrison-Burke: comic senior sleuth in England, by Joyce Porter

Jerry Burke: detective, by Asa Baker

James Burlane: ex-CIA operative turned private investigator in the USA, by Richard Hoyt

Maxey Burnell: investigative reporter and newspaper owner in Boulder, Colorado, by Carol Cail

Antonio “Ant” Burns: agent of the Division of Criminal Investigation and amateur rock climber in Wyoming, by Clinton McKinzie

Carl Burns: college professor in Texas, by Bill Crider

Mitch Burns: police detective, and Elise Jenkins, a reporter for the Ocean Point Weekly, in Ocean Point, New Jersey, by Laura Bradford

Jacob Burns: at-home dad and part-time scriptwriter, in Saratoga Springs, New York, by Matt Witten

Marcus Aurelius Burr: sportswriter in New York City, by Herbert Resnicow

Kate Burrows: detective inspector, and Patrick Kelly, her lover with underworld connections, in the East End of London, England, by Martina Cole

Clare Burtonall: hospital physician in England, by Jonathan Gash

Filomena Buscarsela: NYPD cop from Ecuador, who becomes an apprentice private eye, in New York City, by K.J.A. Wishnia

Mitch Bushyhead: police chief in Buckskin, Oklahoma, by Jean Hager

Dr. Rebecca Butterman: clinical psychologist and advice columnist, in Guilford, Connecticut, in the Advice Column mysteries by Roberta Isleib

Dubric Byerly: head of security at Castle Faldorrah, in a forensic fantasy series by Tamara Siler Jones

Kevin Byrne: detective, and his new partner, Jessica Balzano, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by Richard Montanari