The Brewsual Suspects! Why fictional detectives and booze got hand-in-hand

We’re all familiar with the stereotypes of crime fiction: the hard-bitten, increasingly world-weary detective searching for the bottle of something strong in the bottom drawer of their desk; or the haggard, haunted street cop sitting at the bar, staring at the bottom of an empty beer glass at the end of another exhausting shift. Drinking to remember the ones they lost. Drinking to forget the things they’ve seen.

Given what writers put their creations through – death, murder and general mayhem – it’s no surprise some of them need a drink. From Inspector Maigret’s frequent cafe stops for a beer or calvados in Georges Simenon’s Paris-set series, to Philip Marlowe’s gin gimlets (lime juice and gin) in The Long Goodbye, and John Connolly’s PI Charlie Parker reaching for a bottle of Brooklyn Lager after another demonically difficult case.

In my new book, The Castle, retired Met officer Tom Jamieson raises a glass of Ballindalloch Speyside Single Malt to his serving colleagues, describing it to them as “the finest damn whisky in the world”. It’s an affectionate nod to the real place that inspired my fictional setting – and to the real whisky distilled on the Ballindalloch Castle Estate.

Here are some of the other great fictional detectives, and their tipples of choice…

Roy Grace

When he isn’t cracking major investigations in Brighton and beyond, Detective Super-intendent Roy Grace – the leading man in 20 books and soon-to-be five TV adaptations starring John Simm in the title role – likes
to relax with a vodka martini. It’s a taste
he very much shares with his creator,
Peter James.

And the preparation, described in detail by James, is meticulous: a proper martini glass with a stem and a V-shaped bowl, kept in the fridge for an hour before using; the juice of a squeezed lemon surrounding the rim, inside and out; two large measures of Grey Goose and a cap-full of Martini Extra Dry; shaken for 60 seconds and allowed to rest; poured and enjoyed with four green Nocellara olives on a stick.

Endeavour Morse

Inspector Morse – the much-loved hero of 13 of the late Colin Dexter’s novels and played on screen by the peerless John Thaw – is the classic car-driving, Wagner-listening, cryptic crossword-solving, Oxford-based detective who likes nothing more than to wind down with a beer in hand. As in so many of the tales included here, it is a love he shares with his author.

Dexter was born in the same Lincolnshire street as Melbourn’s Brewery and developed his lifelong love of pubs and pints in his early teenage years. As an author, he did some of his best writing with a beer close to hand.

“If I’ve got to think, I’ve got to drink,” Dexter once observed. And the same might well be said of Morse – just so long as Lewis, his endlessly long-suffering sidekick, is picking up the tab.

John Rebus

No respectable rundown of hard-drinking cops would be complete without Ian Rankin’s legendary Edinburgh-based detective, John Rebus. Described by Rankin himself as “a flawed, pessimistic, multi-layered character”, Rebus is “happiest when propping up the bar of his favourite pub, The Oxford Bar”.

And the drink in his hand? That would be a pint of Deuchars IPA, possibly with a glass of malt whisky on the side. But, in Midnight and Blue (Orion, 2024) – the 25th book in the Rebus canon – the beer and whisky are a little harder to come by.

Rebus has dedicated his whole adult life to putting Edinburgh’s worst criminals behind bars – not the kind with booze. Now, convicted of homicide, he has been forced to join them.

Vera Stanhope

The creation of acclaimed novelist Anne Cleeves, the rumpled-of-appearance but remarkably sharp-of-mind Vera Stanhope made her literary debut in The Crow Trap (Pan Macmillan, 1999). One of crime fiction’s most memorable characters – inspired by a real-life neighbour of Cleeves’s maternal grandmother – Vera has returned in 10 subsequent novels (the eleventh in the series, The Dark Wives, appeared in paperback in March this year) and has been immortalised on screen by Brenda Blethyn.

A DCI in the fictionalised Northumberland & City Police, Vera has a particular taste for whisky, and Highland Park would be her malt of choice.

Wyndham & Bannerjee

Speaking of whisky drinkers, Abir Mukherjee first introduced readers to Captain Sam Wyndham and Sergeant Surendranath Banerjee in A Rising Man (Vintage, 2016).

Set in Raj-era India, the story follows the former Scotland Yard detective and his quick-witted Indian partner through Calcutta as they attempt to solve the murder of a senior British official. When he’s not pursuing killers, Wyndham – like Mukherjee himself – is a whisky man, with a preference for single malts that he can’t actually pronounce. Bunnahabhain from the island of Islay is a particular favourite.

Sergeant Banerjee is less certain of his tastes. Indeed, he is not entirely sure that he even likes alcohol. If pushed, he would most likely settle for a simple glass of brandy. The crime-fighting duo will return in The Burning Grounds, published in November.

Frankie Oliver

Back in the North East, fearless Frankie Oliver is one half of Mari Hannah’s Stone and Oliver detective duo, now on their fifth outing in the excellent My Sister’s Killer (Orion, 2025). Frankie’s sister was murdered more than 25 years earlier and DCI David Stone will not rest until he has identified the person responsible. In the meantime,
Frankie will stop at nothing in her efforts to
bring down an international human-
trafficking gang.

And, when work is finally done, she likes nothing more than to sit down with a large glass (or two) of Malbec. Which happens to be Mari’s favourite tipple, too.

Harry Bosch

Across the pond, Hieronymus “Harry” Bosch is the relentless LA detective, driven by a strong moral code, who will stop at nothing to catch a killer. The subject of 24 Michael Connelly novels – most recently The Waiting (Orion, 2024) – and played on screen by Titus Welliver, Bosch is a Vietnam vet turned Los Angeles investigator with a fondness for craft beers. Anchor Steam and Fat Tire are particular favourites, but he’s known to enjoy a glass of bourbon, too.

Karen Pirie

What is it about Scotland and award-winning crime writing? When you’ve finally run out of Rankins to read, you’ll find Val McDermid waiting. Silent Bones (Harper Collins, 2025) will be the eighth book in her series featuring Karen Pirie, the Fife-based cold case investigator with a fondness for a G&T.

Famously, McDermid has confessed that she made a “tactical error” in making Pirie a gin drinker. Over the years, fans of the books have often gifted her bottles of the spirit, assuming that she shares Pirie’s affection for it. But the real-life misadventures of her student days mean that even the smell of it leaves her feeling “faintly queasy”.

Given the choice, Val would much rather share a single malt with Abir Mukherjee.

Anjelica Henley

The Kill List (HQ, 2024) is the third book in Nadine Matheson’s Anjelica Henley series. Henley is a DI on the Serial Crimes Unit, based in south-east London. Struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder following a near-fatal encounter with a serial killer, she is a wife and mother facing the relentless challenge of somehow finding a way to balance her personal and professional lives.

When it comes to her favoured choice of drink, Henley wouldn’t say no to a glass of chilled Chablis, but her preference is for a double vodka and tonic. Much like Nadine herself. But not any old vodka, mixed with any old tonic. Anjelica (and Nadine) would always opt for Belvedere vodka and Fever Tree tonic.

Max Craigie

When Shadows Fall (HarperCollins, 2025) is the sixth book in retired police officer Neil Lancaster’s bestselling Max Craigie series. And Max is the exception to prove the rule: evidence of the fact that not every fictional copper needs to be a hardened drinker.

Max was in the military before he joined the police and is another fictional detective with PTSD. Over the years, he has learned that alcohol only makes the condition worse, which means that his drink of choice is actually a glass of cranberry juice. And, in his abstinence, he finds perfect company with that other legendary Agatha Christie creation Miss Marple, who enjoys nothing more than a good, old-fashioned cup of tea.

• The Castle by John Sutherland (Orion, £10.99) is out now. To celebrate its launch, the Ballindalloch Distillery has produced a limited edition of The Castle Speyside Single Malt, available to purchase from Ballinoch Distillery