Jason Wade: rookie crime reporter, in Seattle, Washington, by Rick Mofina

Carly Wagner: Texas congresswoman, and Mr. Jones, a bodyguard and private investigator, in Washington, DC, by Jo-Ann Power

Wagner, Gabe: homicide detective in Denver, Colorado by Rex Burns

Walker, Amos: Vietnam vet and private eye in Detroit Michigan by Loren D. Estleman

Walker, Calico Jack: an ex-patrol cop in Los Angeles, California by Paul Bishop

Valena Walker: geology student, by Sarah Andrews

Wallander, Kurt: an inspector in Ystad, Sweden by Henning Mankell

Wallis, Talba: (aka Baroness de Pontalba), a black poet and computer expert New Orleans, Louisiana by Julie Smith

Walsh, Jackie: professor of film studies in Palmer, Massachusetts by Melissa Cleary

Stoney Walsh: in Detroit, Michigan, by William J. Coughlin

Walters, Alexandra: a gospel singer in the fictional town of Donlyn in the San Joaquin Valley of California by Lorie Ham

Wanawake, Penny: a 6' photographer in England by Susan Moody

Mei Wang: modern, independent woman, and private investigator, in Beijing, China, by Diane Wei Liang

Ward, Emerson: a freelance writer in Chicago, Illinois by Michael W. Sherer

Ward, Eric: a policeman turned solicitor in England by Roy Lewis (b.1933)

Wareham, Liz: a 40-ish public relations consultant in New York, New York by Carol Brennan

Warner, Jack: an auto-body shop worker in North Dakota by John Early

D.D. Warren: police detective, and Bobby Dodge, a state police sniper, in Boston, Massachusetts, by Lisa Gardner

Warren, Leigh Ann: a police officer in North Carolina by Chassie West

Warren, Penelope: ex-Marine mystery bookstore owner in Empty Creek, Arizona by Garrison Allen

Warshawski, V. I.: attorney turned private eye in Chicago, Illinois by Sara Paretsky

Washburn, Claire: medical examiner a founding member of The Women's Murder Club in San Francisco, California  by James Patterson

Watchman, Sam: a Navajo state trooper in Arizona by Brian Garfield

Waterhouse, Salome: Feng Shui practitioner by  Denise Osborne

Waterman, Leo: wisecracking private eye in Seattle, Washington by G. M. Ford

Waters, Stanley: a retired weatherman operating a bed and breakfast in Higgins, Virginia by Bill Crider

Watkins, Merrily: an Anglican priest and single mom, near the Welsh border, in northeast Herefordshire, England, by Phil Rickman

Waverly, Anne: a university professor in alternative religious movements by Laurie R. King

Wayles, Lucy: librarian in New York, New York by Lydia Adamson

Wayne, Morgan: a series character by Davis Dresser as Matthew Blood

Carl Wayward: professor of psychology, based in New York, by Lawrence Treat

Weatherford, Biggie: grandmother in Job's Crossing, Texas by Nancy Bell

Weatherford, J.R.: grandson in Job's Crossing, Texas by Nancy Bell

Cape Weathers: reporter turned private investigator, in San Francisco, California, by Tim Maleeny

Weaver, Benjamin: a Jewish ex-pugilist hired by gentry to pursue debtor and thieves, in 18th Century London, England by David Liss

Webb, David: detective chief inspector in Wiltshire, England by Anthea Fraser

Webb, Marshall: Rebecca Davies's beau, a freelance reporter for Harper's Weekly who secretly pens dime novels by Troy Soos

Carl Webster: US Marshall in the 1930s and 1940s, by Elmore Leonard

Weggins, Bailey: a true crime author, Warren, Massachusetts by Kate White

Morris Weiss: “Yiddish detective” at Weiss and Weiss, in 1950s New York City, by Isidore Haiblum

Weiss, Scott: an ex-cop owner of Weiss Investigations in San Francisco, California by Andrew Klavan

Josie Welford: new owner of the White Hart Pub in Kings Duncombe, a West Country village, and Nick Thomas, a Food Standards Agency inspector, in England, by Judith Cutler

Wells, Heather: a 28 year-old former teen idol turned detective who has lost everything, in New York by Meg Cabot

John Wells: maverick CIA agent, by Alex Berenson

Squire Wendover and Sir Clinton Driffield, Chief Constable, in rural England, by J.J. Connington

Wentworth, Bea: a state senator in Connecticut by Richard Forrest

Wentworth, Lyon: a children's book author in Connecticut by Richard Forrest

Wescott, Sam: her ex-husband's ghost,  in Maryland by Helen Chappell

Sheridan Wesley: private investigator in New York City, by Hillary Waugh

West, Delilah: a private investigator in Orange County, California by Maxine O'Callaghan

West, Helen: Crown Prosecutor in London, England by Frances Fyfield

Anna Weston: veterinarian, and Tim LePage, a detective inspector, on the island of Guernsey, UK, by Eileen Dewhurst

Westphal, Connor: a newspaper publisher in Flat Skunk, California by Penny Warner

Justin Westwood: former Providence, RI, cop, retreating to the local police department in East End Harbor, Long Island, New York, by Russell Andrews (David Handler and Peter Gethers)

Wexford, Reginald: chief inspector in Sussex, England by Ruth Rendell

Wheatley, Chas.: a restaurant critic in Washington D.C. by Phyllis Richman

Wheel, Jane: was laid off from her advertising job and is working as an antique picker to make ends meet in Chicago, Illinois by Sharon Fiffer

Whelan, Murray: political aide in Australia by Shane Maloney

Al Wheeler: sheriff’s homicide investigator, in fictional Pine County, near Los Angeles, California, by Carter Brown

Whelan, Paul: a 40-something cop turned private investigator in Chicago, Illinois by Michael Raleigh

Whistler: sentimental private eye in Hollywood, California by Robert Campbell

White, Blanche: middle-aged black domestic in North Carolina by Barbara Neely

Whitefield, Jane: Native American guide in Deganawida, New York by Thomas Perry

Whitfield, Skylar: small-town good-ol'-boy in Tennessee by Gregory McDonald

Whitney, Mary: an heiress to an industrial empire in Seattle, Washington by Carl Brookins

Whittier, Amilou: landscapers and partners in Three Dirty Women Landscaping, Inc. in Pine Grove by Julie Wray Herman

Whitty, Edmond: a correspondent for a Victorian tabloid in London, England by John Gray

Jonathan Wide: divorced ex-policeman turned private detective, in Gothenburg, Sweden, by Åke Edwardson

Wilcox, Carl: Depression era sign-painter in South Dakota by Harold Adams

Wilcox, Serena: the pizza-loving detective by Natalie Buske Thomas

Jamaica Wild: resource-protection agent for the Bureau of Land Management, in northern New Mexico, by Sandi Ault

Callaway (Cally) Wilde: wealthy socialite, and LAPD detective Evan Paley, in Los Angeles, California, by Shari Shattuck

Wilde, Catherine “Cat”: an antique furniture restorer in Montreal, Quebec, Canada by Jean Ruryk

Oscar Wilde: poet, wit, and playwright, friend of Arthur Conan Doyle, and Robert Sherard, great-grandson of Wordsworth, investigate murders in Victorian England, Scotland, and France, by Gyles Brandreth

Wilder, Joe: a playwright and novelist in New York, New York by T. J. Phillips

Wilder, Jonathan: a bird artist in Connecticut by Ray Sipherd

Victoria and Jason Wilder: mother and son private investigator team, in River City, California, by Michael Siverling

Wiley, an unemployed poker player in Portland, Oregon by Lono Waiwailoe

Tom Wilkes: sergeant in the Australian Special Air Service, by David Rollins

Inspector Wilkins, in 1930s England, by James Anderson

Will, Elizabeth: a watercolorist-gallery owner in Dovekey, New Hampshire by Dorian Yeager

Williams, Catherine: a wealthy widow and midwife in 17th century New England by Stephen Lewis

Basil Willing: psychiatrist and sleuth, in New York, and later Boston, Massachusetts, by Helen McCloy

Charlie Willis: ex-cop turned studio security agent, in Los Angeles, California, by Lee Goldberg

Willmarth, Ruth: a farmer in Vermont by Nancy Means Wright

Willows, Jack: police detective in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada by Laurence Gough

Wilson, Fran: detective sergeant in Fowchester, England by Christine Green

Wilson, Francesca: civil servant turned housewife in London, England by Janet Neel

Wilsop, Robert, recovered Catholic and copywriter for feminine hygiene products in New York by David Stukas

Wimsey, Lord Peter: pianist, book collector, and criminologist in London, England by Dorothy L. Sayers

Winfield, Jane: a British journalist and music writer in London, England by Audrey Peterson 

Wingate, Caledonia: a 70-something admiral's widow in Southern California by Corinne Holt Sawyer

Winslow, Laura: a Hopi-born computer programmer and hacker in Arizona by David Cole

Winslow, Steve: a court room attorney in New York, New York by Parnell Hall

Winston, Alex: owner of the Hatteras West Inn and Lighthouse in the Blue Ridge Mountain foothills in North Carolina by Tim Myers

Mattie Winston: nurse and deputy coroner, in a small town in Wisconsin by Beth Amos

Charles Winter: chief of British Secret Service, by Clive Egleton

Winter, David: a rabbi in West LA (Los Angeles), California by Joseph Telushkin

Erik Winter: jazz-loving Chief Inspector of police, in Gothenburg, Sweden, by Åke Edwardson

Winter, Holly: a dog trainer and magazine columnist in Cambridge, Massachusetts by Susan Conant

Sergeant John Winters, and Molly Smith, a rookie constable, in the mountain town Trafalgar, British Columbia, Canada, by Vicki Delany

Winter, Sassafras: a retired Chicago Cubs baseball pitcher trying to start a new career as a private detective in Harlem, New York by Steven Philip Jones

Winter, Stuart: a private eye in San Francisco, California by Alan Russell

William Winter: police inspector, later superintendent, in south London, England, by Gwendoline Butler

Davis and Kitty Winthorpe: in Louisville, Kentucky, by Mike Bradford

Dave Wintino: brash new cop in New York City, by Ed Lacy

Witherall, Leonidas: retired academic and secret pulp fiction author in Boston, Massachusetts by Alice Tilton

Withers, Hildegarde: a schoolma'am in New York by Stuart Palmer

Witherspoon: police inspector in Victorian London, England by Emily Brightwell

Wolfe, Hannah: a private investigator in London, England by Sarah Dunant

Wolfe, Nero: private eye and gourmet in New York, New York by Robert Goldsborough

Wolfe, Nero: private eye and gourmet in New York, New York created by Rex Stout

Woo, April: police officer in New York, New York by Leslie Glass

Woodend, Chief Inspector Charlie: in London and later in Whitebridge, England by Sally Spencer

Woolson, Sarah: an attorney in 19th century San Francisco, California by Shirley Tallman

Carlotta Wren: rich girl now working in Neiman Marcus after her parents skip to avoid prosecution for white-collar crime, in Atlanta, Georgia, in the Body Movers series by Stephanie Bond

Wren, Susan: police chief in Hampstead, Kansas by Charlene Weir

Wright, Sam: a police officer in Seattle, Washington by Lowen Clausen

Wu, Artie, a soldier of fortune for the company, WuDu Ltd. by Ross Thomas

Wyatt, Jolie: radio station reporter and aspiring writer in Purple Sage, Texas by Barbara Burnett Smith

Wycliffe, Charles: the area CID superintendent in West Country, England by W. J. Burley

Glad Wycznewski: 40-something ex-cop from Chicago, and his new wife Ruby, on the NASCAR racing circuit, in the Stock Car Racing mysteries by Joyce and Jim Lavene

Wylie, Eva: wrestler and security guard in London, England by Liza Cody