The “P” Division of Glasgow, Scotland by Peter Turnbull

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

Padillo, Mike: spy in Bonn, Germany by Ross Thomas

Page, Gideon: defense attorney in Arkansas by Grif Stockley

Paget, Christopher: a lawyer for the Economic Crimes Committee in Washington D.C. by Richard North Patterson

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

Paget, Neil: a 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

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

Palfrey, Dr. Stanislaus: founder and leader of freelance spy group known as Z5 by John Creasey

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

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

Palmer, Julian: a police lieutenant in Troy, New York by Jonathan Stone

Palmer-Jones, George: retired civil servant and amateur bird watcher in Surrey, England by Ann Cleeves

Palmer-Jones, Molly: a retired social worker and George’s wife, in Surrey, England by Ann Cleeves

Pamplemousse, Monsieur: a gourmet restaurant inspector in Paris, France by Michael Bond

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

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 & homas Noguchi

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Parker, Claire: police detective in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada by Laurence Gough

Parker, Emmett Quanah: part Comanche and part white, a Bureau of Indian Affairs agent in New Mexico by Kirk Mitchell

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

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

Parry, DCI Merlin: a policeman in Cardiff, Wales by David Williams

Pascal, Lieutenant: by Hugh Pentecost

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

Pasco, Peter Sgt.: police inspector in Yorkshire, England by Reginald Hill

Pascual, a bar tender in Old Barcelona, Spain by Dominic Martell

Anthony Paterno: detective in California, by Lisa Jackson

Jock Patterson: constable in England, by Peter Walker

Patterson, Mimi: reporter, in Washington D.C. by Penny Mickelbury

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

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

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

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

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

Peace, Charlie: young black Scotland Yard detective in London, England by Robert Barnard

Peach, Detective Inspector: a policeman in Lancashire, England by J. M. Gregson

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

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

Pel, Chief Inspector Clovis: police detective in Burgundy, France, created by Mark Hebden and continued by his daughter,  Juliet Hebden, after his death

Pel, Chief Inspector Clovis: police detective in Burgundy, France by Mark Hebden

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

John Pellam: a location scout for a movie studio Jeffery Deaver

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

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: an FBI special agent by Lincoln Child and Douglas Preston

Pennington, Pliny: a deputy in Kickapoo Falls, Wisconsin during the 1960s presidential campaign (Kennedy vs Nixon) by Steve Thayer

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

Pennyworth, Melissa: a graduate student in Literature, in Indianapolis, Indiana by Michael Bowen

Pennyworth, Rep: a trademark and copyright lawyer in Indianapolis, Indiana by Michael Bowen

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Prescott, Jake: an ER resident by Kurt Popke

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pynchon, Whit by Dave Pedneau