Abby Abagnarro: television news director, in New York City, by Polly Whitney

Bea Abbot: recently widowed and trying to retire from the Abbot Agency, which specialized in cases where clients wanted to avoid police involvement, in London, England, by Veronica Heley

Ben Abbott: ex-Wall Street financier turned realtor in Newbury, Connecticut, by Justin Scott

Luke Abbott: cop in England, by Paula Gosling

Ray Abreu: gay vampire writer in New York City, by Michael Karol

Johnny Ace: DJ with a controversial phone-in radio show and who runs “Ace Investigations” in his spare time in Liverpool, England by Ron Ellis

Laura Ackroyd: reporter in Yorkshire, England, by Patricia Hall

Sam Acquillo: 50-something, retired engineer, in Southampton, Long Island, New York, by Chris Knopf

Nathan Active: Inupiak Alaska State Trooper assigned to his village of birth after being raised by a white couple in Anchorage, Alaska, by Stan Jones

Charlie “Doc” Adams: dental surgeon in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, by Rick Boyer

Charlotte Adams: 5-foot tall professional organizer, in upstate Woodbridge, New York, by Mary Jane Maffini

Gillian Adams: college history department chair in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, by Nora Kelly

Hilda Adams: nurse known to the police as Miss Pinkerton, by Mary Roberts Rinehart

Samantha Adams: crime reporter in Atlanta, Georgia, by Sarah Shankman

Max Addams: fly-fisherman and owner of Whitefork Lodge, a bed and breakfast in Vermont, by David Leitz

Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg: commissioner of police (chief inspector), in Paris, France, by Fred Vargas

Adelia (Vesuvia Adelia Rachel Ortese Aguilar of Salerno), a “doctor for the dead” working for King Henry II in 12th century England, by Ariana Franklin

Irene Adler: opera star and sleuth in 19th century France, by Carole Nelson Douglas

“Mustang” Sally Adler: hard-drinking singer who comes home after 17 years as a scholar of women’s studies at the University of Wyoming, by Virginia Swift

Martin Ainsworth: in England, by Michael Underwood

Sugawara no Akitada: sleuth in 11th century Japan by I.J. Parker

Jack Albany: small-time actor mistaken for a Mafia hit-man, in New York City, by John Godey

Karl Alberg: staff sergeant in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Sechelt, British Columbia, Canada, by L.R. Wright

Louisa May Alcott: amateur sleuth before becoming a famous author, in pre-Civil War Boston, Massachusetts, by Anna Maclean

Rev. Claire Aldington: psychologist and Episcopal priest at St. Anselm’s, in Manhattan, New York, by Isabelle Holland

Brandy Alexander: reporter returning home after four years in L.A, to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by Shelly Fredman

Rachel Alexander: private investigator and dog trainer, and Dashiell, her pit bull, in New York City, by Carol Lea Benjamin

Khalid Ali: Detective Sergeant, and John Handford, Detective Inspector, in Bradford, Yorkshire, England, by Lesley Horton

Steve Allen and Jayne Meadows, celebrity crime-solvers in Los Angeles, California, by Steve Allen

Roderick Alleyn: second son of a baronet and police inspector in London, England, by Ngaio Marsh

Owen Allison: US Department of Transportation investigator in West Virginia, by John Billheimer

Gabriel Allon: art restorer and Israeli secret agent, by Daniel Silva

Carlos Tejada Alonso y Leon: sergeant in Guardia Civil in 1930s and 1940s Madrid, Spain, by Rebecca Pawel

Vinnie Altobelli: ex-cop coronary survivor and private investigator, in San Bernadino, California, by Milton Bass

David Alvarez: police detective in El Paso, Texas, by Aileen Schumacher

Angelina Amalfi: food columnist and restaurant reviewer, in San Francisco, California, by Joanne Pence

Tito Amato: sold as a child to be a castrato opera singer, in 18th century Italy, in the Baroque Mystery series by Beverle Graves Myers

Amerotke: Chief Judge in Thebes, Egypt, by P.C. Doherty

Otto “Big Red” Amlingmeyer and his brother Gustav “Old Red” in 1890s Montana, cowboys who got interested in being detectives after reading a Sherlock Holmes story, in the Holmes on the Range series, by Steve Hockensmith

Anders: one-legged police inspector, specializing in anti-terrorism, in Italy, by Marshall Browne

Tad Anders: Polish-British agent in England, by Ted Allbeury

Mali Anderson: black female ex-NYPD cop, turned sleuth in Harlem, New York, by Grace F. Edwards

Shifty Lou Anderson: professional magician and horseplayer, in southern California, by William Murray

Margit Andersson: freelance Danish translator in Seattle, Washington, by Tiina Nunnally

Avery Andrews: 30-something lawyer, in South Carolina, by Cathy Pickens

Emily Andrew: tour guide based in Iowa, in the Passport to Peril mysteries by Maddy Hunter

Elise Andrioli: left blind mute and quadriplegic after a terrorist bomb explosion that killed her fiancé, in Northern Ireland, by Brigitte Aubert

Fitzroy Maclean Angel: trumpet-playing taxi driver in London, England, by Mike Ripley

Mici Anhalt: Crime Victims’ Compensation Board in New York City, by Lillian O’Donnell

Father Anselm: lawyer turned monk, in Larkwood Priory, England, by William Brodrick

Callie Anson: newly ordained Anglican cleric, her boyfriend Mark Lombardi, a police officer, and DI Neville Stewart, in London, England, by Kate Charles

Joseph Antonelli: criminal lawyer in Portland, Oregon, by D.W. Buffa

Wang Anzhuang: Public Security Bureau inspector, in Beijing, China, by Christopher West

Juliet Applebaum: public defender turned stay-at-home mom, in Los Angeles, California, in the Mommy Track mysteries, by Ayelet Waldman

John Appleby: inspector at Scotland Yard in London, England, by Michael Innes

Molly Appleby: writer for Collector's Weekly magazine, in North Carolina and Virginia, in the Collectible mysteries, by J.B. Stanley

Belle Appleman: Jewish immigrant and garment worker during the Great Depression, in Boston, Massachusetts, by Dorothy and Sidney Rosen

Lady Susanna Appleton: herbalist in Elizabethan England, by Kathy Lynn Emerson

Mas Arai: Japanese-American Hiroshima survivor, gardener in Los Angeles, California, and sleuth, by Naomi Hirahara

Annabelle Archer: wedding planner in Washington, DC, by Laura Durham

Lew Archer: ex-cop and private investigator, in Los Angeles, California, by Ross MacDonald

Owen Archer: medieval spy for the Archbishop, in Wales, by Candace M. Robb

Kathryn Ardleigh: American author who moves to Victorian Dedham, England, by Robin Paige

Tom Aragon: Hispanic lawyer, by Margaret Millar

Jonathan Argyll: English art dealer, and Flavia di Stefano, of the Art Theft Squad, in Rome, Italy, by Iain Pears

Simon Ark: 2000 year old Coptic priest, in New York City, by Edward D. Hoch

Allie Armington: lawyer in Texas by Louise Gaylord

Israel Armstrong: Jewish vegetarian from London, in charge of a mobile library in the village of Tumdrum, Northern Ireland, in the Mobile Library mysteries, by Ian Sansom

Henry Arnold: Scotland Yard inspector, and Desmond Merrion, a military intelligence officer who becomes a private detective, in England, by Miles Burton (John Rhode)

Sister Jane Arnold: 70-year-old Master of the Fox Hunt in Virginia, by Rita Mae Brown

Jessie Arnold: dog sled racer, and Sergeant Alex Jensen, a state trooper, in Anchorage, Alaska, by Sue Henry

Spencer Arrowood: Appalachian sheriff, by Sharyn McCrumb

Jacob Asch: Jewish-Episcopal ex-reporter private investigator in Los Angeles, California, by Arthur Lyons

Benny Ashe: retired Mob boss, in Coral Sands, Florida, in the Old Gang of Mine series, by Richard F. West

Kristin Ashe: amateur sleuth in Denver, Colorado, by Jennifer Jordan

James Asher: professor and one-time spy, in London, England, by Barbara Hambly

Steve Asher: middle-school teacher, in Massachusetts, by Al Blanchard

Aaron Asherfield: cynical investigator with three ex-wives, in San Francisco, California, by David Berlinski

Carol Ashton: lesbian detective inspector in Sydney, Australia, by Claire McNab

Peter Ashton: secret agent in the British SIS, by Clive Egleton

Getorius Asterlus: surgeon, and Arcadia Asterlus, his wife, in 5th century Italy, by Albert Noyer

Brother Athelstan: Dominican monk in 14th century London, England, by Paul Harding

Ray Attla: Inupiat police officer, returns to his native home after growing up in Anchorage, Alaska, by Christopher Lane

Nick Atwell: police sergeant at Scotland Yard, and detective constable Clare Reynolds, in London, England, by Michael Underwood

Dr. David Audley: historian and spy in England, by Anthony Price

Cat Austen: single-mom reporter, and Victor Cardenas, a police detective, in Atlantic City, New Jersey, by Jane Rubino

Jane Austen: famous author in England, by Stephanie Barron

Kate Austen: single mother in Walnut Hills, California, by Jonnie Jacobs

Beth Austin: English professor at Midwestern University in 1940s Illinois, by Edith Skom

Jack Austin: golf player on the PGA circuit by John Corrigan

Jaine Austin: freelance writer in Los Angeles, California, by Laura Levine

Kurt Austin: in the underwater exploration series, NUMA Files, by Clive Cussler and Paul Kemprecos

Max Austin: ex-FBI agent, now private investigator also interested in astronomy and things cosmic, in Kansas, by Mark Bouton