“P” Division, a fictional division of the police, in Glasgow, Scotland, by Peter Turnbull

James Packard: British spy, by Robert Conington Galway (Philip McCutchan)

Sam Packer: British Secret Service (MI-6) agent, by Geoffrey Archer

Mike Padillo, a spy, and “Mac” McCorkle, a saloon owner, in Bonn, Germany, by Ross Thomas

Gideon Page: defense attorney in Arkansas, by Grif Stockley

Christopher Paget: lawyer in the Special Investigations Section of the Washington Economic Crimes Committee, by Richard North Patterson

Lena Paget: private investigator, in Lexington, Kentucky, by Lynn S. Hightower

Neil Paget: crotchety DCI in Shropshire, England, by Frank A. Smith

Dr. Siri Paiboun: 70-something national coroner, Nurse Dtui, and Geung, a developmentally challenged morgue assistant, in 1970s Laos, by Colin Cotterill

Patrick Paige: police detective in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by Eric Sauter

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

Dr. Stanislaus Palfrey, by John Creasey

Carly Paladino: private investigator formerly with a large security firm, and Noah Lang, a streetwise PI, in San Francisco, California, by Ronald Tierney

Belle Palmer: 40-something realtor in northern Ontario, Canada, by Lou Allin

Frank Palmer: ex-military policeman and private investigator, and Riley Gavin, a freelance journalist, in London, England, by Adrian Magson

Harry Palmer: lazy, cynical British agent, in London, England, by Len Deighton

Julian Palmer: a police lieutenant, and Winston Edwards, a former cop, in Troy, New York, by Jonathan Stone

George Palmer-Jones: a retired civil servant and amateur bird watcher, and his wife Molly, a retired social worker, in Surrey, England, by Ann Cleeves

Po Paltrow: writer and quilter, and the Queen Bees quilting group, in the fictitious college town of Crestwood, Kansas, by Sally Goldenbaum

Aristide Pamplemousse: gourmet restaurant guide inspector, and his bloodhound Pommes Frites, in Paris, France, by Michael Bond

Kitty Pangborn: secretary to private eye Dexter J. Theroux, in 1930s Los Angeles, California, by Linda L. Richards

Monika Paniatowski: detective chief inspector, Charlie Woodend’s protégé and successor, in a village in England, by Sally Spencer (Alan Rustage)

Olivia (Ollie) Paras: White House assistant chef in Washington DC, in the White House Chef mysteries by Julie Hyzy

Dr. Eric Parker: chief coroner for Los Angeles County, in California, by Arthur Lyons and Thomas Noguchi

Melita Pargeter: widow of a thief, in England, by Simon Brett

Charles Paris: charming alcoholic actor, in England, by Simon Brett

John Paris: homicide detective in Cleveland, Ohio, by Richard Montanari

Rona Parish: biographer and amateur sleuth, in England, by Anthea Fraser

Jimmy Parisi: lieutenant in the Police Department Homicide Division, in Chicago, Illinois, by Thomas Laird

Quinn Parke: phobia therapist and wealthy amateur sleuth, in San Francisco, California, by Bruce Zimmerman

Parker: cold-blooded professional thief in New York City, by Richard Stark

Charlie “Bird” Parker: ex-NYPD detective turned private investigator in cases taking him to locations in North America, by John Connolly

Charlie (Charlotte) Parker: Certified Public Accountant in Albuquerque, New Mexico, by Connie Shelton

Claire Parker and Jack Willows, police detectives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, by Laurence Gough

Elizabeth Parker: newspaper fact-checker and die-hard Jane Austen fan, in the Washington, DC area, by Tracy Kiely

Emmett Quanah Parker: part-Comanche, part-white Bureau of Indian Affairs agent, and Anna Turnipseed, a part-Modoc, part-Japanese FBI special agent, in New Mexico and elsewhere, by Kirk Mitchell

Henry Parker: 20-something freshman journalist with the New York Gazette, in New York City, by Jason Pinter

Horatio T. Parker: crime reporter for the weekly Explorer, in Hampstead, England, by Lew Matthews

Ned Parker: hansom cab driver in 1870s London, England, by Peter King

Toby Parkman: quietly heroic cop in San Francisco, California, by Stan Washburn

Jack Parlabane: journalist in Edinburgh, Scotland, by Christopher Brookmyre

Calamine “Callie” Parrish: mortuary cosmetologist, in South Carolina, by Fran Rizer

DCI Merlin Parry and DS Gomer Lloyd, policemen in Cardiff, Wales, by David Williams

Peter Parsons: chief inspector, in England, by Jack S. Scott

Jenny T. Partridge: founder of the premier dance academies in Ogden, Utah, in the Dance mysteries, by Natalie M. Roberts (Natalie R. Collins)

Lieutenant Pascal: in New York City, by Hugh Pentecost

Lily Pascale: ex-teacher, ex-bartender, and ex-actress, now a professor of creative writing in Devon, England, by Scarlett Thomas

Peter Pascoe, Sergeant, and Superintendent Andrew Dalziel, in Yorkshire, England, by Reginald Hill

Kamil Pasha: magistrate in the new secular courts in the late 19th century Ottoman Empire, in Istanbul, Turkey, by Jenny White

Anthony Paterno: detective in California, by Lisa Jackson

Stephanie Patrick: druggie and prostitute turned government assassin, in Europe and elsewhere, by Mark Burnell

Charles Patterson: determined but impoverished musician in 18th century Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, by Roz Southey

Jock Patterson: constable in England, by Peter Walker

Mimi Patterson: reporter, and Gianna Maglione, a lesbian police lieutenant, in Washington, DC, by Penny Mickelbury

Richard Patton: retired Detective Inspector in England, by Roger Omerod

Andi Pauling: veterinarian in Palm Springs, California, by Lillian M. Roberts

Frank Pavlicek: ex-NYPD cop, now a private investigator and falconer, in Charlottesville, Virginia, by Andy Straka 

Robert Payne: psychological profile investigator in New Hope, Iowa, by Ed Gorman

Iago “Jimmy” Paz: Cuban-American cop, in Miami, Florida, and elsewhere, by Michael Gruber

Amelia Peabody: Victorian feminist Egyptologist from Kent, England, by Elizabeth Peters

Charlie Peace: young black Scotland Yard detective first in London and then in Leeds, England, by Robert Barnard

Detective Inspector Peach and Detective Sergeant Lucy Blake, in Lancashire, England, by J.M. Gregson

Ephraim Peck: judge in Sac Prairie, Wisconsin, by August Derleth

Henry Peckover: police inspector and the Scotland Yard Cockney poet, in London, England, by Michael Kenyon

Carl Pedersen: police detective in fictional Bay Cove, California, by Jeanne Hart

Gun Pedersen: ex-major-league ballplayer and recluse, mostly in the north woods of Minnesota, by L.L. Enger

Evariste Clovis Désiré Pel: Chief Inspector of the Brigade Criminelle of the Police Judiciaire, in Burgundy, France, by Mark Hebden and continued by his daughter, Juliet, after his death

Sister Pelagia: nun in a province beyond the Volga, in 19th century Russia, by Boris Akunin

John Pellam: location scout for a movie studio, by William Jefferies (Jeffery Deaver)

Karen Pelletier: English professor in Enfield, Massachusetts, by Joanne Dobson

Dewey Pellicano, who inherits her mother’s quilt shop Quilter Paradiso, in San Jose, California, in the Quilting mysteries by Terri Thayer

Mark Pemberton: Detective Superintendent in North Yorkshire, England, by Nicholas Rhea (Peter Walker)

E.L. Pender: retirement-aged FBI Special Agent in Oregon, California, and the Virgin Islands, by Jonathan Nasaw

Agent Pendergast: FBI special agent, by Lincoln Child and Douglas Preston

Pliny Pennington: deputy in 1960s Kickapoo Falls, Wisconsin, by Steve Thayer

Catherine Penny: 60-something divorced librarian, who leaves New York City to join her daughter in Far Wychwood, England, by Patricia Harwin

Rep Pennyworth: trademark and copyright lawyer, and Melissa Pennyworth, a graduate student in Literature, in Indianapolis, Indiana, by Michael Bowen

Amanda Pepper: high school teacher in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by Gillian Roberts

Pepper, Ian: a Canadian police superintendent in Toronto, Ontario by Frank (A.) Smith

Jimmy Perez: police detective inspector in the Shetland Islands, north of Scotland, in the Shetland Island Quartet by Ann Cleeves

Perkins, Andrea: an art historian and restorer in Boston, Massachusetts by Carolyn Coker

Perkins, Ben: an ex-union strike-buster turned private investigator, in Detroit, Michigan, by Rob Kantner

Perkins, Douglas: in public relations in London, England by Marian Babson

Achille Peroni: (“the Rudolph Valentino of Italian police”), a Neopolitan police commissario who once spent some months at Scotland Yard, on assignment in northern Italy, by Timothy Holme

Polly Pepper: an aging, legendary TV actress from the golden age, in Hollywood, California, by R.T. Jordan

Elizabeth “Pepper” Pepperhawk: army nurse captain returning from Vietnam, and Avivah Rosen, a military police captain, in the early 1970s at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, by Sharon Wildwind

Benjamin Perkins: working in his family’s specialty soap store Where There’s Soap, in the Soapmaking Mysteries, by Tim Myers

Gianni Peroni and Nic Costa, police detectives in Rome, Italy, by David Hewson

Perry, Lincoln: private investigator in Cleveland, Ohio by Michael Koryta

Perry-Mondori, Karen: a criminal defense attorney in Tampa, Florida by Catherine Arnold

Regan Pescoli and Selena Alvarez, police detectives in Pinewood County, Montana, by Lisa Jackson

Peters, Anna: reformed blackmailer and oil company researcher turned security expert in Connecticut by Janice Law

Peters, Toby: 1940s Hollywood PI in Los Angeles, California by Stuart Kaminsky

Alexis Peterson: soap opera actress for 20 years, in the Soap Opera mysteries by Eileen Davidson

Peterson, Wesley: detective sergeant in South Devon, England by Kate Ellis

Petrella, Patrick: a Metropolitan Police Inspector in London, England by Michael Gilbert  

Petric, Vlado: a police investigator in war-torn Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina by Dan Fesperman

Petros, Mikael political thrillers set in a fictitious European country by James Anderson

Pettigrew, Francis: a down-and-out barrister in England by Cyril Hare

Bessy Petty and Beulah Pond, spinsters in New England, and Mark East, a private investigator from New York City, by Hilda Lawrence

Phelps, Jose: a veteran Washington, DC cop by Robert Andrews

Philis: a Brazilian smuggler turned British intelligence agent in Brazil by Ritchie Perry

Phillips, Alex: technical writer in Michigan by R.D. Zimmerman

Phillips, Maddy: blind forensic psychiatrist in Michigan by R.D. Zimmerman

Primavera Phillips: Oz Blackstone’s ex-wife, in Spain, by Quintin Jardine

Phoenix, Ansel: 1/2 Blackfoot and 1/2 Anglo, draws dinosaurs for magazines, books, and museum displays in Big Toe, Montana by Christine Gentry

Pickett, Joe: a game warden in the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming by C. J. Box

Pickett, Mel: 60-something retired Toronto cop in Larch River, Canada by Eric Wright

Pibble, Superintendent James: Scotland Yard Superintendent, later a private investigator, in London, England by Peter Dickinson

Lucinda Pierce: homicide detective lieutenant back on the job after losing an eye in a domestic violence case, in Virginia, by Diane Fanning

Piercy, Joanna: a detective inspector (D.I.) in Staffordshire, England by Priscilla Masters 

Pigeon, Anna: US Park Ranger by Nevada Barr

Pigeon, Josie: owner of an all-woman construction firm in the Northeast U.S.A. by Valerie Wolzien

Pike, Joe: one of a pair of Hollywood private eyes in Los Angeles, California by Robert Crais

Pine, Leonard: gay and black in east Texas by Joe R. Lansdale

Paul Pine: former DA’s investigator, now a private investigator, in Chicago, Illinois, by Howard Browne

Pinero, Stella: Inspector John Coffin's wife and actress in London, England by Gwendoline Butler

Molly Pink: 40-something widow coordinating events in a bookstore, including the Tarzana Hookers, a crochet group in California, in the Crochet mysteries by Betty Hechtman

Pink, Norman: an ex-Detective Sergeant by Mark McShane

Pinkerton, Evan: a Welshman in England by David Frome

Piper, John: an insurance assessor by Harry Carmichael

Jim Piron: private investigator at the Detective Agency run by the Old Man, in New York City, by Edmund McGirr (Kenneth Giles)

Pitt, Charlotte: wife of police inspector in Victorian London, England by Anne Perry

Pitt, Dirk: a marine engineer in the United States by Clive Cussler

Joe Pitt: rogue private investigator and vampire, in Manhattan, New York City, by Charlie Huston

Pitt, Thomas Victorian police inspector in London, England by Anne Perry

Plain, Jimi: a recently-divorced mother of two teen-aged daughters in Denver, Colorado by Victoria Pade

Joe Plantagenet: detective inspector in Eborby, North Yorkshire, England, by Kate Ellis

Plato, Charlie: a country-western tavern owner in San Francisco, California by Margaret Chittenden

Pliny the Younger, a wealthy young aristocrat in 1st Century Rome by Albert Bell

Plotkin, Sylvia: an author-teacher in New York by George Baxt

Montague Pluke: Detective Inspector in North Yorkshire, England, by Nicholas Rhea (Peter Walker)

Plum, Marvia: a black Berkeley Homicide Detective in California by Richard A. Lupoff

Plum, Stephanie: bounty hunter in Trenton, New Jersey by Janet Evanovich

Plumtree, Alex: a publisher in London, England, in the Booklover Series by Julie Kaewert

Edgar Allan Poe: in the 1830s-1840s, in Baltimore, Maryland, New York City, and Massachusetts, by Harold Schechter

Poe, Edgar Allan: an author in 1800s New York, New York by Randall Silvis

Poirot, Hercule: private detective in London, England by Agatha Christie

Poisson, Charly: chef and co-owner of La Fermette, the best (and only) French restaurant in Van Buren County, upstate New York by Cecile Lamalle

Charles Pol: Marxist bandit and lingerie shop owner, in Paris, France, by Alan Williams

Dr. Nick Polchak, the Bug Man, a forensic entomologist Tim Downs

Pollard, Tom: a Scotland Yard detective in London, England by Elizabeth Lemarchand

Pollifax, Mrs.: grandmother & CIA agent in New Jersey by Dorothy Gilman

Polo, Nick: private eye in San Francisco, California by Jerry Kennealy

Polycrates, Rosco: a private eye in Newcastle, Massachusetts by Nero Blanc

Beulah Pond and Bessy Petty, spinsters in New England, and Mark East, a private investigator from New York City, by Hilda Lawrence

Pons, Solar:  an acknowledged imitation of Sherlock Holmes by Basil Copper

Pons, Solar: an acknowledged imitation of Sherlock Holmes by August Derleth

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

Poole, Maxi: a reporter for a large television station in Los Angeles, California by Kelly Lange

Popper, Jessica: a veterinarian in Long Island, New York by Cynthia Baxter

Daniel Port, a gangster who leaves a midwest syndicate and travels the country helping others go straight, by Peter Rabe

Portal, Ellis: a former lawyer and judge convicted of a crime in Toronto, Ontario, Canada by Rosemary Aubert

Judith Hayes: divorced freelance journalist with two teenagers, and her friend, Manhattan editor Marsha Hillier, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, by Anna Porter

Porter, Appleton “Apple”: a spy by Mark Lovell

Porter, Jinx: a constable in Ft. Worth, Tarrant County, Texas by Laurie Moore

Porter, Rachel: U.S. Fish & Wildlife agent in New Orleans, Louisiana by Jessica Speart

Portugal, Joe: an actor and plant lover in Los Angeles, California by Nathan Walpow

Poteet, Jordan: a small-town librarian in Mirabeau, Texas by Jeff Abbott

Beatrix Potter: author and illustrator in the Lake District in 1900s England, by Susan Wittig Albert

Brock Potter: Wall Street securities analyst, by Arthur Maling

Potter, Eugenia: widowed chef in Maine and Arizona by Nancy Pickard

Potter, Eugenia: widowed chef in Maine and Arizona by Virginia Rich

Hiram Potter: wealthy young man in New York City and New England, by Rae Foley

Billy Povich: obituary writer for a newspaper in Providence, Rhode Island, by Mark Arsenault

Powder, Lt. Leroy: a cop friend of Albert Samson's in Indianapolis, Indiana by Michael Z. Lewin

Alex (Alexa) Powell: African-American newspaper columnist in Los Angeles, California, by Karen Grigsby Bates

Powell, Erskine: Detective-Chief Superintendent of New Scotland Yard, in Great Britain by Graham Thomas

Griffin Powell, and the Powell (detective) Agency, romantic suspense by Beverly Barton

Power, Narcissa: a young widow at the time of the Civil War in Virginia by Ann McMillan

William Power: would-be private detective leading a troupe of incompetent Shakespearean actors during World War II, in Australia, by Robert Gott

Lord Francis Powerscourt: ex-Indian army intelligence officer and Irish peer, working as an investigator in the late Victorian period, in England and elsewhere, by David Dickinson

Powers, Viv: a small town reporter in the Ozarks of northeastern Oklahoma by Letha Albright

The Praed Street Irregulars by August Derleth

Prager, Moe: an ex-cop in New York, New York by Reed Farrel Coleman

Preacher: poker player and mystic, in the American Southwest (Nevada, New Mexico, California), by Ted Thackrey, Jr.

Prescott, Dr. Amy: a forensic scientist in Seattle, Washington by Louise Hendricksen

Josie Prescott: antiques dealer in a small town in coastal New Hampshire, in the Antiques mysteries by Jane K. Cleland

Roxanne Prescott: in Williamsburg, Virginia, and then San Diego, California, by Taffy Cannon

Presley, Elvis: back from his tour of duty in Germany, singing and sleuthing in Tennessee by Daniel M. Klein

Elvis Presley: reincarnated as a basset hound, Callie Valentine Jones, a hairdresser at her Uncle Charlie’s mortuary, and Lovie, a caterer, near Tupelo, Mississippi, in the Southern Cousins mysteries by Peggy Webb

Johnny Preston: private investigator, by Peter Chester (Peter Chambers)

Mark Preston: private investigator in Monkton City, California, by Peter Chambers

Ginevra Prettifield: art museum assistant director, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, by Cecil Dawkins

Priam, Lady Margaret: in New York, New York by Joyce Christmas

Pribek, Sarah: a missing persons detective in Minneapolis, Minnesota by Jodi Compton

Price, Natalie: superintendent of a Boston halfway house for prison inmates in Massachusetts by Elise Title

Priest, Charlie: an art school graduate turned police detective in Yorkshire, England by Stuart Pawson

Dr. Lancelot Priestley: former professor of mathematics, in England, by John Rhode

Primrose, Col John: a career soldier in Washington D. C. by Leslie Ford

Principal, Laura: an academic turned private investigator in London, England by Michelle Spring

Pringle, Mr. G. D. H.: a retired tax inspector in England by Nancy Livingston

Matthew Prior: Canadian playwright, by Anthony Quogan

Pritchard,  Joe: private investigator in Cleveland, Ohio by Michael Koryta

Prye, Dr. Paul: a psychiatrist detective by Margaret Millar

Pugh, E. J.: housewife-mom romance writer in Black Cat Ridge, Texas by Susan Rogers Cooper

Susan Pulaski: police profiler who struggles with alcoholism, in Las Vegas, Nevada, by William Bernhardt

Joe Puma: big, tough private investigator, in Los Angeles, California, by William Campbell Gault

Purbright, Inspector Walter: police detective in England by Colin Watson

Purdue, Dr. Thomas: a neurologist and antique music box collector-restorer, in New York, New York by Larry Karp

Chastity “Chass” Pureheart: teenager on the run with her mother Allison for as long as she can remember, in the Hunted series by Walter Sorrells

Colin Panton: working in television in England, by Philip Purser

Puttock, Simon: medieval West County bailiff in Devon, England by Michael Jecks

Pyke: beginning as a Bow Street Runner in 1829-1940s London, England, by Andrew Pepper

Pym, Henry: a zoologist cum amateur detective at Huntley-May Grammar School by W. J. Burley

Pynchon, Whit by Dave Pedneau