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

Avisa Baglatoni: lady locksmith in 15th century Bologna, Italy, by M.E. Cooper

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

Annie Bailey, later Annie Carter, on the streets of London, a gangster’s moll, and more, in early 1970s London, England, by Jessie Keane

Rachel Bailey: detective constable from a deprived childhood, and Janet Scott, a straight-laced detective constable, in Manchester, England, by Cath Staincliffe

Stuart Bailey: private investigator based in Los Angeles, California, by Roy Huggins

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

Avery Baker: New York textile designer turned home renovator, and her boyfriend and business partner, handyman Derek Ellis, in fictional Waterfield, Maine, in the Do-It-Yourself mysteries by Jennie Bentley

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

Frank Baldwin and Chad Hunter, weapons experts, in the Hypershot thrillers, by Trevor Scott

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

Michele Balistreri: police commissario in charge of World Cup security, in 2006 Rome, Italy, in the “Evil” trilogy [Trilogia del Male] reaching into the past, by Roberto Costantini

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

Dr. David Ballineau: Los Angeles emergency room chief and Special Forces veteran, and his girlfriend, nurse Carolyn Ross, by Leonard Goldberg

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

Henry Bane: gang fixer and loanshark, in mid-1990s Manchester, England, by Tom Benn

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

Marquitta “Skeet” Bannion: a half-Cherokee ex-Kansas City homicide detective, now chief of the campus police force at Chouteau University, in Brewster, Missouri, by Linda Rodriguez

Conor Bard: homicide detective in New York City, by Charles Kipps

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

Dr. George Barnabas: forensic and general pathologist at Royal Eastern Hospital, in London, England, by Claire Rayner

Alexandra “Barney” Barnaby: garage mechanic in Baltimore, Maryland, 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

Berkeley Barnes: lawyer, hypochondriac, and private investigator, and Larry Howe, his “Archie,” in New York City, by Eugene Franklin (Franklin Bandy)

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

Ezell “Easy” Barnes: former prize fighter and cop turned private investigator, in Newark, New Jersey, by Richard Hilary

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

Jersey Barnes: former marine anti-terrorist specialist turned private security investigator and bar owner, in Wilmington, North Carolina, by T. Lynn Ocean

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

Nigel Barnes: genealogist working with Detective Chief Inspector Grant Foster, in London, England, by Dan Waddell

Zach Barnes: private investigator in Hartford, Connecticut, by Steve Liskow

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)

Hugo Baron: gentleman agent working for a British organization called Diecast, by John Michael Brett (Miles Tripp)

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

Smoky Barrett: FBI agent who was badly scarred by a serial killer, in Los Angeles, California, by Cody McFadyen

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

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

Alun Barry: a doctor in England, by Kenneth O’Hara

Kay Barth: district attorney based in Aspen, Colorado, by Norma Schier

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

Don Bartholomew: anti-hero in Sydney, Australia, by John Carroll (J.R. Carroll)

Lee Bartholomew: ghostwriter in London, England, and then Long Island, New York, by Hope McIntyre

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

Laurence Bartram: World War I veteran and young widower in 1920s England, by Elizabeth Speller

Carver Bascombe: black poet and private investigator, in San Francisco, California, by Kenn Davis

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

Stanley Bass: professional gambler in southern California, by David Anthony

Henry Bassett: retired Detective Chief Superintendent, in Herefordshire, England, by Pat Burden

Andy Bastian: police lieutenant in the US Southwes, by Richard Wormser

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

Mace Bauer: middle daughter of Mama, who’s been married at least four times, in rural Florida, by Deborah Sharp

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

Richard Baxter: chief inspector in Cambridge, England, by Margaret Moore

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

Josie Baylor-Bates: criminal defense lawyer in greater Los Angeles, California, in the Witness series by Rebecca Forster

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

Ivy Beasley: a cantankerous spinster, and Gus, a newcomer to the village of Barrington, England, by Ann Purser

Arthur Beauchamp: scholarly, self-doubting lawyer retired as a hobbyist farmer on Garibaldi Island, off the coast of British Columbia, Canada, by William Deverell

Arabella Beaumont: courtesan and sleuth in Regency London, England, by Pamela Christie

Brie Beaumont: wounded Minneapolis homicide detective, recovering on the coast of Maine, in the Windjammer mysteries by Jenifer LeClair

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

David Becket and Simon Ames, secret agents for Queen Elizabeth, in 1580s England, by Patricia Finney (P.F. Chisholm)

Sam Becket: African-American homicide detective, and wife Grace Lucca, a child psychologist, in Miami Beach, Florida, by Hilary Norman

Jessie Beckett: a bounty hunter tracking federal fugitives, later with the Sentinals, an elite vigilante group, in an ensemble cast, in the Sweet Justice series by Jordan Dane

Jo Beckett: forensic psychiatrist, in San Francisco, California, by Meg Gardiner

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

Mina Beckwith, a newspaper reporter, and Ned Manusia, a playwright, in 1930s Honolulu, Hawaii, by Victoria Nalani Kneubuhl

Simon Bede: an Episcopal priest and assistant to the Archbishop of Canterbury, and Helen Bullock, a world-famous photographer, by Barbara Ninde Byfield

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

Josiah Beede: war hero at the Battle of New Orleans, retired lawyer, and 1830s New England farmer, by Clyde Linsley

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

Frank Behr: ex-cop private investigator, in Indianapolis, Indiana, by David Levien

Behrens and Calder, country gentlemen serving as counterintelligence agents, in England, by Michael Gilbert

John Bekker: former police detective whose wife was killed and daughter institutionalized after a brutal attack, by Al Lamanda

Isaac Bell: no-nonsense private investigator with the Van Dorn Detective Agency, in early 20th century America, by Clive Cussler

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

Stephen Bellecroix: British agent in England, by David Craig

Hector Bellevance: a disgraced Boston cop rebuilding his life as a constable in his childhood home of Tipton, in northeast Vermont, by Don Bredes

Harry Belltree: homicide detective in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, by Barry Maitland

Nick Belsey: detective constable in London, England, by Oliver Harris

Richard Belzer: private investigator based in New York City, by Richard Belzer with Michael Black

Mike Benasque: journalist caught up in international intrigue, by Alan Caillou

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

Junior Bender: high-end burglar who moonlights as a private eye for crooks, in Los Angeles, California by Timothy Hallinan

Tina Bender: gossip columnist with the L.A. Informer, the premier tabloid magazine in Los Angeles, California, in the Hollywood Headlines series by Gemma Halliday

Simon Bendor: master thief doing battle with the Yakuza, in Japan and elsewhere, by Marc Olden

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

Annika Bengtzon: novice reporter, later crime editor, for Kvallspressen, a tabloid in Stockholm, Sweden, by Liza Marklund

David Bengu: large assistant police superintendent known as “Kubu” (hippopotamus), in Botswana, by Michael Stanley

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

Fred Bennett: ex-cop, unlicensed private investigator in Los Angeles, California, by Elliott Lewis

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

Michael Bennett: police detective with 10 adopted children, in New York City, by James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge

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

Steve Bentley: adventurous certified public accountant based in Washington, DC, by Robert Dietrich (E. Howard Hunt)

Theodora “Teddy” Bentley: zookeeper living on a houseboat on the central coast of California, in the Zoo mysteries by Betty Webb

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

Spike Berenger: private investigator with Rockin’ Security, providing security for rock and roll stars, by Raymond Benson

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)

Alison Bergeron: newly divorced English professor at St. Thomas, a small Catholic college in the Bronx, New York City, by Maggie Barbieri

Charlie Berlin: ex-bomber pilot and POW in World War II, rejoining the police force in 1947 Victoria, Australia, by Geoffrey McGeachin

Liv Bergen, manager of a limestone mine, and her boyfriend FBI agent Streeter Pierce, near Fort Collins, Colorado, and then in the Black Hills of South Dakota, by Sandra Brannan

Fredrika Bergman: investigative analyst with a special unit of the federal police in Sweden, by Kristina Ohlsson

Siri Bergman: 34-year-old psychologist living in an isolated cottage, working in Stockholm, Sweden, by Camilla Grebe & Åsa Träff

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

Charlotte Bessette: proprietor of Fromagerie Bessette, in fictional Providence, Ohio, in the Cheese Shop mysteries by Avery Aames

Ernest Best: detective sergeant, later inspector, starting in 1870s London, England, by Joan Lock

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

Colonel Nur Bey: policeman in Turkey, by Julian Rathbone

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

Joe Binney: deaf private investigator, in New York City, by Jack Livingston

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

Sam Birge: homicide detective captain in a big city somewhere, by William Krasner

Sam Birkett: amusing detective inspector at Scotland Yard, and his assistant, Sergeant Saunders, in London, England, by Laurence Payne

Jo Birmingham: detective inspector and single mother in Dublin, Ireland, by Niamh O’Connor

Bishop: author of books about personality under stress and an observer of other people’s problems, and his Oxford-educated assistant, Vera Gorringe, based in London, England, by Adam Hall

Henry “Harry” Bishop: college professor, in Portland, Oregon, by Conrad Haynes

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

Cassidy Blair: 29-year-old amateur sleuth, later private investigator, in Australia, by Kirsty Brooks

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

India Black, a young madam running a brothel catering to gentlemen, in 1870s London, England, by Carol K. Carr

Randy Black: part-time stunt pilot with a fondness for alcohol, bent on vengeance, but perhaps not beyond redemption, by C.J. West

Helen Black: ex-cop lesbian private investigator, based in Berkeley, California, by Pat Welch

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

Willie Black: mixed-race reporter in Richmond, Virginia, by Howard Owen

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

Sam Blackman:, a former Chief Warrant Officer in the Criminal Investigation Detachment of the U.S. military who lost part of his leg in Iraq, in Asheville, North Carolina, by Mark De Castrique

Edmund Blackstone: Bow Street runner in early 19th-century London, England, by Richard Falkirk (Derek Lambert)

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

Harper Blaine: private investigator who can see ghosts, zombies, and the like, after being dead for two minutes, in Seattle, Washington, in the Greywalker series by Kat Richardson

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

Dr. Alexandra Blake: geneticist and forensic specialist working for the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Washington DC, by Lori Andrews

Andy Blake: an antique dealer, and his adventurous sharpshooting wife Arab (Arabella), by Richard Powell

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

Brandon Blake: a loner who lives on an old wooden cruiser, on the waterfront of Portland, Maine, by Gerry Boyle

David Blake: white-collar criminal, working for gangster Bobby Mahoney, in Newcastle, England, by Howard Linskey

Eliza Blake: TV news morning show host, along with producer Annabelle Murphy, cameraman B.J. D’Elia, and psychiatrist Dr. Margo Gonzalez, in New York City, in the Sunrise Suspense Society series by Mary Jane Clark

Fred Blake: writing a history of the WWII Normandy landings — actually Giovanni Manzoni, an ex-Mafia boss in the FBI Witness Protection Program — and his family in Cholong-sur-Avre, Normandy, France, by Tonino Benacquista

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

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

Royston Blake: head doorman at Hopper’s Wine Bar & Bistro, in the town of Mangel, in the West Country of England, by Charlie Williams

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

Sir Percy Blakeney, the Scarlet Pimpernel, the mysterious English baronet who rescues French aristocrats from certain death after the French revolution, by Baroness Orczy

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

Gary Blanchard: amateur sleuth in the American West, starting in the 1950s, by Alan Cook

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

Inspector Bland: in England, by Julian Symons

Billy Blessing: celebrity chef and restaurateur, and food anchor for morning TV show Wake Up America!, in New York City, by Al Roker with Dick Lochte

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

Nils-Frederik Blixen: TV producer and amateur sleuth, mostly in Los Angeles, California, by Charles Larson

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

Peter Boone: former Red Sox pitcher turned private investigator, in rural Vermont, by William Jaspersohn

Blotto, the Honourable Devereux Lyminster, and his sister Twinks, in 1920s England, by Simon Brett

Annabelle Blue: 19-year-old working in her family’s dry-goods store in 1923, in fictional Rosedale, in southeast New Mexico, by Alice Duncan

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

Linda Bluenight: anthropologist and 4th-grade teacher, in and around Tucson, Arizona, by Rebecca Cramer

Alec Blume: American ex-patriot police commissario, in Rome, Italy, by Conor Fitzgerald

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

Dr. Marissa Blumenthal: investigator at the Centers for Disease Control, in Atlanta, Georgia, by Robin Cook

Nellie Bly: American investigative reporter, in Paris and around the world, starting in 1889, by Carol McCleary

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

John Bogdanovic: police sergeant and aide to the NYPD Chief of Detectives, in New York City, by H. Paul Jeffers

Kathryn Bogert: owner of Good Buys, an estate sale business, and Charli, a Brittany spaniel, in Chicago, Illinois, by Diane Petit

Simon Bognor: 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

Dave “The Pro” Bolt: professional athletic agent, former star with the Dallas Cowboys, by Richard Curtis

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

Dr. Thomas Bond: physician assisting the police investigating brutal serial killings, in 1880s London, England, by Sarah Pinborough

Robert Bone: widowed British police Superintendent, by Susannah Stacey

Zoë Boehm: 40-something private investigator in Oxford, England, by Mick Herron

Katie Bonner: manager of Artisans Alley and an amateur sleuth, in the Victoria Square mysteries by Lorraine Bartlett

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

J.D. Books: Bureau of Land Management Law Enforcement Ranger, based in Kanab, Utah, by Michael Norman

Hadrian Boone: co-founder of the colony of Carthage, located near the Great Lakes, in Post-Apocalyptic 21st century America, by Eliot Pattison

Martin Bora: anti-Nazi Anglo-German officer in World War II Europe, by Ben Pastor

Bordelli: police inspector (commissario) in 1960s Florence, Italy, by Marco Vichi

Johnny Bordelon: former New Orleans cop, now a private investigator, in Louisiana, by George Ogan

Lizzie Borden: three decades after her acquittal of the axe-murder of her father and stepmother, by Walter Satterthwait

Will Borders: former homicide detective, in Cincinnati, Ohio, by Jon Talton

Nina Borg: Red Cross nurse in Copenhagen, Denmark, by Lene Kaaberbøl & Agnete Friis

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)

Josef Boruvka: sensitive police lieutenant coping with bureaucracy and Soviet invasion in 1960s Prague, Czechoslovakia, by Josef Škvorecký

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

Jock Boucher: federal judge of Cajun background, in New Orleans, Louisiana, by David Lyons

Charles “Shake” Bouchon: professional wheelman who walks out of prison after a three-year sentence for grand theft auto determined to change his life and become a chef, by Lou Berney

Tony Boudreaux: private investigator based in Austin, Texas, by Kent Conwell

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

Mike Bowditch: game warden in the wilds of Maine, by Paul Doiron

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

Patrick Bowers: FBI agent specializing in environmental criminology in the US, by Steven James

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

Harry Bracken: former CIA agent working as an insurance investigator, in New York and New England, by David Parry & Patrick Withrow

Noah Braddock: surfer and private investigator in San Diego, California, by Jeff Shelby

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

Benjamin Bradshaw: electrical engineering professor at the University of Washington in Seattle in the early 1900s, by Bernadette Pajer

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

Peter Bragg: former reporter turned private investigator and part-time bartender, in Sausalito and San Francisco, California, and elsewhere, by Jack Lynch

Joseph Bragg: down-to-earth detective sergeant, and James Morton, an upper-crust constable, in 1890s London, England, by Ray Harrison

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

James Brampton: America’s first private detective, as reported by Dr. John B. Williams, the ur-Watson, by John Babbington Williams

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-20th-century New York City, in the Gaslight Mysteries by Victoria Thompson

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

Penny Brannigan: manicurist and expatriate Canadian living in Llanelen, Wales, by Elizabeth J. Duncan

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

Casey Brandt: TV news editor, later director, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, by Carolyn J. Rose

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

Alexander Brass: newspaper columnist in 1935 New York City, by Michael Kurland

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

Cathal Breen: detective sergeant, and WPC Helen Tozer, of the Metropolitan Police, in the late ’60s music scene, in London, England, by William Shaw

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

Orwell Brennan: police chief in rural Dockerty, Ontario, Canada, by Marc Strange

Philip Brennan: detective inspector in the Major Incident Squad, and Marina Esposito, a psychologist, in Colchester, England, by Tania Carver (Martyn and Linda Waites)

Rob Brennan: detective inspector with the Lothian and Borders Police in Scotland, by Tony Black

Samantha Brennan: fake psychic, and Annabelle Haggerty, FBI agent and true psychic, in Los Angeles, California, by Kris Neri

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

Tory Brennan: science-obsessed niece of Temperance Brennan, living on a remote island off the coast of South Carolina in this suspense series for teens 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

Simon Brenner: police detective, the Columbo of Austria, by Wolf Haas

John Brentford: detective inspector, in England, by S.B. Hough

Claire Breslinsky: former fashion model and world-wanderer, turned photographer, from Queens, New York, by Mary Anne Kelly

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

Charlie Brewer: CIA agent involved in international intrigue, by William H. Hallahan

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

Dan Bridger: elite professional thief on the run from the cops and the Mob, by James Patrick Hunt

Robert Briganti: the Assassin, dedicated to wiping out the Mafia, by Peter McCurtin

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

Max Brindle by A.S. Fleischman

Roscoe Brinker: former INS agent, now a private investigator, in Tuscon, Arizona, by James C. Mitchell

Sophie Brinkmann: a nurse and single mother tangled up with organized crime, in Stockholm, Sweden, by Alexander Söderberg

Christy Bristol: amateur astrologer who works as a secretary in a sheriff’s substation, in the San Joaquin Valley of California, by Sunny Frazier

Alec Brno: lawyer in New York City, beginning in 1969, by Alan Hruska

Harry Brock: private investigator, as well as an amateur painter and naturalist, on an island in southwest Florida, by Kinley Roby

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

Harry Brock: a world-weary detective chief inspector, and Dave Poole, a scruffy detective sergeant, in London, England, by Graham Ison

John “Badger” Brock: police superintendent in Melford, England, by John Bingham

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

Douglas Brodie: crime reporter in Glasgow, Scotland, in the 1940s, by Gordon Ferris

Jackson Brodie: ex-cop, ex-husband, and private investigator, in the UK, by Kate Atkinson

Jim Brodie: bilingual part-owner of Brodie Investigations, a detective agency founded by his father in Tokyo, and the operator of a Japanese art and antique gallery in San Francisco, California, by Barry Lancet

Dan Brodsky: an unemployed mathematician who pays the rent as a private investigator, based in San Francisco, California, by Erik Rosenthal

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

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

Fredrik Broman: police detective on the island of Gotland, Sweden, by Håkan Östlundh

Chris Bronson: detective sergeant, later working undercover for the Metropolitan Police, based in London, England, in an historical conspiracy thriller series by James Becker (Peter Stuart Smith)

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

Charlotte Brontë: author in mid-1880s England, by Laura Joh Rowland

Roger Brook: special agent for Prime Minister William Pitt, from 1783-1815, in Europe, Asia, and the Americas, by Dennis Wheatley

Dr. David Brooks: part-time physician and sleuth, with a briefcase named “Friday”, based in Connecticut, by Jerry Labriola

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

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

Amanda Brown: young American missionary in the Belgian Congo in the 1950s, by Tamar Myers

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

Persimmon “Simmy” Brown: florist in the Lake District of England, by Rebecca Tope

Peter Brown: emergency room doctor in Manhattan, New York, formerly Pietro “Bearclaw” Brnwa, a hitman for the New Jersey mob, by Josh Bazell

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

Vee Brown: private investigator who writes songs as Vivian Brown (his real name), in New York City, by Carroll John Daly

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

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

Cayetano Brulé: Cuban-born private investigator based in Valparaiso, Chile, by Roberto Ampuero

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

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

Giordano Bruno: monk, philosopher, and astronomer on the run from the Roman Inquisition, serving as an agent for Queen Elizabeth I, in late 16th century England, by S.J. Parris

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

Sydney Bryant: private investigator in San Diego, California, by Patricia Wallace

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

Kevin Bryce, an ex-sheriff’s detective, and Katharine Craig, a sculptor, in Lake Tahoe, California, by Deborah Valentine

Ren Bryce: FBI agent based in Denver, Colorado, by Alex Barclay

Ed Buchanan: member of the police Special Branch, in London, England, by George Sims

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

Stella Thornton Buckley: moving from Manhattan with her husband, Nick, to small-town Vermont, in the Pret’ Near Perfect mysteries by Amy Patricia Meade

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

Jane Bunker: former Florida police detective, now a marine insurance investigator and later a sheriff’s deputy in coastal Green Haven, Maine, by Linda Greenlaw

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

Sloane Burbank: 30-year-old former FBI crisis negotiator, now an independent consultant, and her former lover FBI agent Derek Parker, in New York City, by Andrea Kane

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

Gladie Burger: a matchmaker-in-training, and her eccentric Grandma Zelda, in fictional Cannes, California, in the Matchmaker series by Elise Sax

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

Caley Burke: 30-something private investigator, in northern California, by Bridget McKenna

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

Ethan Burke: Secret Service agent who becomes trapped in the strange village of Wayward Pines, Idaho, by Blake Crouch

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

Jerry Burke: detective, by Asa Baker

Kate Burkholder: female chief of police in the Amish town of Painters Mill, Ohio, by Linda Castillo

Abigail Bukula: a young black lawyer, and Yudel Gordon, an experienced Jewish prison psychologist, in Johannesburg, South Africa, by Wessel Ebersohn

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

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

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

Owen Burns: Edwardian dilletante and amateur sleuth assisting Scotland Yard, by Paul Halter

Will Burns: in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, by Stuart Langford

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

Julian “Digger” Burroughs: freelance insurance investigator, in Las Vegas, Nevada, by Warren Murphy

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

Morgan Butler: Korean War veteran who worked for a San Francisco detective agency, now farming and sleuthing in Ohio and West Virginia, by David Anthony

Harry Butten: newspaper reporter, by Jay Barbette (Bart & Betty Coe Spicer)

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

Lillian Byrd: a sometime reporter, street musician, and amateur sleuth based around Detroit, Michigan, by Elizabeth Sims

Daniel Byrne: an investigator of miracle claims for the Vatican’s Office of the Devil’s Advocate, by Sean Chercover

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