History Main / AmateurSleuth

* ''Series/{{Hightown}}'': Jackie, an agent of the US Marine Fisheries Service, gets determined to solve a murder after she stumbles over a young woman's body on the beach. She's got no training in this but does a good job even so.

* Creator/DorothyLSSayers also wrote a number of short stories featuring a traveling salesman with the unlikely name of ''Literature/MontagueEgg''; when he's not acting in his capacity as a broker for a London firm of wine merchants, he finds himself [[TheCorpseStopsHere occasionally stumbling across crime scenes]] and offering his common-sense expertise.

* The Winchesters on ''Series/{{Supernatural}}''. Their only connection to the law consists of constantly being on the run from it, though occasionally they stumble onto a sympathetic detective who at least doesn't turn them in right away. As a result, they are forced to investigate the supernatural threats they are hunting using fake IDs identifying them as everything from priests to agents of Homeland Security, but have reached a point where they can pass as detectives even when not deliberately trying so long as nobody has reason to suspect they're fakes.

* Shinichi Kudo from ''Manga/DetectiveConan'' (''Case Closed'' in the US), before he is turned into a schoolboy KidDetective through a fictional [[FountainOfYouth drug]].
** The series actually has several of those, starting with Shinichi's father Yusaku who used to be sleuth and then became a mystery novelist. The one we see the most is Shinichi/Conan's friend Heiji Hattori, the son of a high-ranked policeman who often helps his dad as well as Conan himself. And in fact, there's a short arc named ''Detectives Koshien'' which gathers Conan, Heiji, and other ''three'' school-aged sleuths (Saguru Hakuba, Junya Tokitsu, and Natsuki Koshimizu) for a TV competition between them. [[spoiler:Which actually was a trap, since one of the detectives had greatly wronged another... and ended up dead for his trouble.]]
** And the aforementioned Saguru Hakuba is ''the'' Amateur Sleuth in another series by Gosho Aoyama, ''Manga/MagicKaito''. Saguru Hakuba is a famous high school detective based out of Japan and one of Kaito's rivals.

* Peter R. De Vries (not to be confused with the similarly named character from ''Franchise/{{Dune}}''), [[IntrepidReporter crime reporter]]. Cracked more cases than Manga/DetectiveConan (and he's a cartoon character). Though in real life this means tracking down petty swindlers in most cases. But his big cases include tracking down the big bad of the beer-brewing billionaire kidnappers, getting two innocent people accused of murder out of jail and catching the real killer, foiled a prince and princess any rights to the throne as the princess had a prior relationship with the biggest drug lord in Dutch history and tricked a sociopath, whom he also caught trafficking Thai prostitutes a few months earlier, into confessing to a hidden camera to the murder of a missing girl in Aruba.

* ''Series/TheAdventuresOfShirleyHolmes'': The great-great-niece of Franchise/SherlockHolmes, Shirley is the daughter of British diplomat Robert Holmes and virologist Dr. Joanna Holmes. She carries on her famous ancestor's legacy of solving crimes through deductive reasoning while attending the prestigious Sussex Academy.

** The murder of a bartender in Diamond City.
** Kidnapping of a caravaner in the closed off town of Covenant.

** Investigating the disappearance of a cattle baron’s so inside an upscale casino.

%%* Kate Appleton from Janet Evanovich's ''Literature/LoveInANutshell''
%%* Fisk and Michael in the ''Literature/KnightAndRogueSeries''.

* Lori Shepherd in the ''Literature/AuntDimity'' series, and in some respects, Dimity herself. Lori has some knowledge of old books and manuscripts (which does come in handy from time to time), but she inherited a fortune from Dimity and so favors and help each other with their cases.
* Professor Augustus S. F. X. Van Dusen, Ph.D., LL.D., F.R.S., M.D., M.D.S., etc., a.k.a. Literature/TheThinkingMachine, is a university professor who solves 'impossible' crimes that are brought to him by his journalist friend Hutchinson Hatch.
* Father Saenz and Father Lucero of ''Literature/SmallerAndSmallerCircles'' are consulted by the government in murder cases due to their academic experience in forensics and the government's sore lack of in-house manpower, and despite being Jesuit priests.
* ''Literature/FamilySkeletonMysteries'': College professor Georgia Thackery and her ambulatory skeleton friend Sid find themselves in this role in the first book, and keep it up.
* Mr.[[note]]Jerry[[/note]] and Mrs.[[note]]Pam[[/note]] are, respectively, a publisher/editor and his homemaker wife in a mystery series created by Frances and Richard Lockridge in 1940. While he's the breadwinner, in line with the social mores of the time, she actually seems sharper the deductive reasoner.
* For a professional thief, Literature/NickVelvet solves an awful lot of crimes, often because he needs to [[ClearMyName prove he wasn't responsible]].

* The titular character of ''Series/{{Castle}}'' is world-famous mystery writer, who initially only joins the NYPD's homicide detectives to do research for his new novel series, and only gets allowed because he's a friend of the mayor. In reality, he only initially is motivated by research, and is really there for the thrill of solving crimes and - eventually - because he's fallen in love with Detective Kate Beckett. Despite lacking any formal training, he brings a unique perspective to their cases, and a number of connections in everything from government agencies to the criminal underworld from previous "research projects" that give him advantages the police lack.

* The Winchesters on ''Series/{{Supernatural}}''. Their only connection to the law consists of constantly being on the run from it, though occasionally they stumble onto a sympathetic detective who at least doesn't turn them in right away. As a result, they are forced to investigate the supernatural threats they are hunting using fake IDs identifying them as everything from priests to agents of Homeland Security, but have reached a point where they can pass as detectives even when not deliberately trying so long as nobody has reason to suspect they're fakes.

* The ''Paul Temple'' detective series, broadcast on Creator/{{BBC}} radio between 1938 and 1968, features a GentlemanDetective who solves crimes too baffling even for Scotland Yard, assisted by his wife "Steve" and his [[BattleButler manservant]]. Being a man of independent means, he doesn't even claim expenses and solves crimes as a hobby. Thought to be too anachronistic and old-fashioned when it ended in 1968, it has been periodically revived in updated one-off specials and short runs between 2006 - 2013.

* Pennington of ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'' certainly ''acts'' the part, but he may be one of the ''worst'' amateur sleuths on the face of the planet. He spends the entire sixth chapter of the game trying to solve one mystery after another with Mario's "help", and gets every single possible thing wrong, even when the answer is right in front of his face. He even mis-guesses the identity of his "deputy" (admittedly, he wasn't ''too'' far off on that last one. He guesses Luigi).
* Robert Cath, protagonist and player character of the adventure game ''VideoGame/TheLastExpress'', boards a train to find his friend murdered, and proceeds to investigate both the murder and various pieces of international intrigue aboard.
%%* In a more obscure example, The Learning Company's ''VideoGame/SuperSolvers'' edutainment games.
%%* Jake and Jennifer Eagle of the ''VideoGame/EagleEyeMysteries'' series.

* The main cast of ''VideoGame/Persona4'', except for Naoto, who is a KidDetective.
* Nancy Drew from the [[VideoGame/NancyDrew eponymous game series]] is a teenager detective.
* Creator/HumongousEntertainment gives us VideoGame/FreddiFish and her friend Luther. A 4-year-old yellow fish with orange fins and blue eyes. She volunteers to investigate any mystery or crime that has recently affected her friends. She often counters the crooks she catches with morals of wrongdoings, and has a desire to be a police officer when she reaches adulthood.
* Herschel Layton from the ''VideoGame/ProfessorLayton'' games is a professor of archaeology, but he tends to get roped into solving mysteries wherever he goes, thanks to his puzzle-solving skills.
* The [[NonindicativeName Photography club]] from ''VideoGame/YandereSimulator'' becomes a ''group'' of this if the school atmosphere drops low enough. Fitting for a large-scale ShoutOut to ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo''.

* The SoleSurvivor of ''VideoGame/Fallout4'' also has to do some sleuthing to find their kidnapped baby boy. Played straight for a male survivor who was previously a soldier, but possibly subverted for a female survivor, who may have been a criminal lawyer. Other cases they get drawn to investigate are
** The murder of a bartender in Diamond City.
** Kidnapping of a caravaner in the closed off town of Covenant.
** Investigating a young woman’s disappearance, as the main quest of the Far Harbor DLC.
** Investigating a cyborg’s murder in Vault 118.
** Investigating the theft of food in a Brotherhood of Steel base.
** If a certain faction was ignored, the investigation of synth escapes in the Institute.

* In ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'', Furudo Erika is one, even getting a power called the "Detective Authority". In the first four games, Battler (or rather his "piece" in the game) has the ''role'' of the detective but isn't aware of it.
* The main character in the {{murder mystery}} {{visual novel}} ''VisualNovel/{{Jisei}}'', [[TheCorpseStopsHere who is accused of committing murder]], helps question [[EveryoneIsASuspect possible suspects in the vicinity of the crime]] so that he may [[ClearMyName clear his name]] and assist the detective on the scene in finding the real killer.

* The main character in ''VisualNovel/VeilOfSecrets'' is forced to become one once he discovers that in this town, the PoliceAreUseless. (Except for one TokenGoodTeammate cop who, unlike her boss, is willing to help out.)

* The Whitman Literary Girls, in the ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse''. Some of them also write (bad) detective stories for the others to read.

* In one of the 1950's ''WesternAnimation/FelixTheCat'' cartoons, "Detective Thinking Hat", Felix becomes a junior G-Man and ends up tracking down and bringing in Rock Bottom.

* Margery Allingham's Literature/AlbertCampion, a mysterious aristocrat driven by his love of adventure. Specialist in fairy stories.

* Creator/AgathaChristie's Ariadne Oliver is a bit of a parody of this trope: she's a mystery writer who occasionally ends up helping Literature/HerculePoirot on real murders. She frankly admits that her writing experience gives her very little practical investigating skills and always guesses the wrong person (or, alternatively, guesses every possible suspect in turn before declaring that she always suspected the real killer).
* Literature/JackReacher, the character Lee Child's Reacher novels are based around. A freelancing drifter who solves murders, and various other mysteries, living off a payout received at the end of his military days, and money obtained from bad guys or in gratitude for solving cases.
* Literature/LordPeterWimsey, an independently wealthy aristocrat whose hobby is detection; except for once moonlighting as an advertising copywriter, he has never held a job -- he's too rich to actually ''need'' one.
* Literature/MissMarple usually just happens to be somewhere around where murders happen. Then she solves them by ObfuscatingStupidity and asking the right questions from the right people.
* Creator/DorothyLSSayers also wrote a number of short stories featuring a traveling salesman with the unlikely name of Literature/MontagueEgg; when he's not acting in his capacity as a broker for a London firm of wine merchants, he finds himself [[TheCorpseStopsHere occasionally stumbling across crime scenes]] and offering his common-sense expertise.
* ''Literature/NancyDrew'', a schoolgirl. Her father is attorney Carson Drew. As a teenager, she spends her time solving mysteries, some of which she stumbles upon and some of which begin as cases of her father's.
* Flavia Gemina and her friends in the ''Literature/TheRomanMysteries'' are {{Kid Detective}}s and amateur sleuths in UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire.
* The basis of the plot of ''Literature/TheseSavageBones''. Alejandro has been bounty hunting for years now, but Esperanza has never solved a murder case before, nor has she ever done any sort of police work.
* In ''Literature/ThreeActMurder'', the murder investigation was initiated by Sir Charles Cartwright, a retired actor, Miss Hermione "Egg" Lytton Gore, his much younger LoveInterest, and Mr. Satterwhite, an art critic of sorts. They were eventually joined by Hercule Poirot.
* The final solution to the crime in ''Literature/TowardsZero'' was exposed by Andrew [=MacWhirter=], a random passer-by who unwittingly got involved in the investigation through a chance encounter with one of the suspects, whom he believes to be innocent.








* ''Literature/TheHardyBoys'', schoolboys. (Subverted in the 3rd season of the 1970s tv series in which the Boys so impressed a Justice Department official that they are recruited as professional agents for the organization).
** In two recent SpinOff series they're not so amateur anymore. In the ''Hardy Boys Casefiles,'' they're recruited into an Interpol-like organization called the Network by an agent known only as the Gray Man who realized they're out for vengeance after Joe's girlfriend Iola is killed by a car bomb. In ''The Hardy Boys: Undercover Brothers,'' they're recruited into another organization called ATAC (American Teens Against Crime,) with the in-series justification that teenagers can go places and ask questions that would otherwise made adults looks suspicious.
* ''Literature/TheThreeInvestigators'': In a similar spirit to Literature/TheHardyBoys, the title characters are a group of school kids who solve mysteries they encountered. While they would all help each other and work together, Jupiter was responsible for solving most of the cases.
* The priest ''Literature/FatherBrown'', in the Father Brown stories of G.K. Chesterton. He says that the understanding of human nature gained by a priest is all of the training one needs to be a detective.

* ''Literature/SammyKeyes'', teen girl detective in Santa Martina, California.
* Lawrence Block's Bernie Rhodenbarr is a professional burglar who has a habit of running across murders during his "jobs" - and usually ends up the prime suspect, forcing him to solve the cases in order to exonerate himself.
* Creator/ElleryQueen, created by Frederic Dannay and Manfred B. Lee under the pseudonym "Ellery Queen," is a mystery writer who assists his police chief father on tough cases.

* Although the TropeCodifier Literature/SherlockHolmes has no formal connection to law enforcement and is occasionally referred to as an "amateur" in the stories, he doesn't quite fit this trope since crime-solving is still his primary line of work. ''And he gets paid for it''. He is professionally termed as a "Consulting Detective" and charges fees for his services. He would appear to be what we'd commonly call now a private investigator. Holmes describes himself as an "amateur of crime", using the term in the then-current usage to mean an enthusiast or "lover" of crime, from the latin "amo". He does refer to "remitting his fees entirely" at his discretion, and does so on at least one occasion; there are also occasions where he does not actually solve the crime -- the murder of Charles Augustus Milverton, for example, where [[LetOffByTheDetective he colludes in covering the matter up]] -- or there IS no crime, such as "The Man with the Twisted Lip".
* Literature/AmeliaPeabody and her husband Radcliffe Emerson are both amateur sleuths who are both Victorian Egyptologists, so that they qualify for AdventurerArchaeologist, not to mention BattleCouple.
* Creator/EllisPeters' Literature/BrotherCadfael, a monk and herbalist. Abbots call upon him as a medical examiner, detective, doctor, and diplomat. Of course, in the 12th century, there weren't any ''professional'' detectives, so anyone qualified to do the job would be an amateur.
* The [[Literature/FelseInvestigates Felse novels]], Ellis Peters' other main detective series, feature police detective George Felse, but many of the novels include his son Dominic helping out in an amateur capacity after independently stumbling over a part of the mystery, and there are three novels in the series (''The Piper on the Mountain'', ''Mourning Raga'', and ''Death to the Landlords!'') in which Dominic solves a mystery on his own while traveling in foreign parts. There's also one novel in the series, ''The Grass Widow's Tale'', which is a solo outing for George's wife Bunty, who unravels a criminal conspiracy after accidentally discovering a corpse in a car boot.
* Charles Paris, a perennially semi-employed British actor, in a series of books by Simon Brett. He's usually a suspect at some point.

* ''Groucho Marx, Master Detective'', by Ron Goulart. Needing a project to occupy him between movie stints, [[Creator/TheMarxBrothers Groucho Marx]] agrees to act in a radio serial. But when a beautiful starlet is found dead before production even begins, Groucho is determined to find out who killed her.
* Sujata Massey's ''Literature/ReiShimura'' is a Japanese-American antique dealer/amateur sleuth. In later books of the series, however, she becomes an official agent for a CIA-wannabe.
* ''Literature/TheBoxcarChildren'', although being a series aimed at young children, the "crimes" they solve are rarely very serious.
* ''Literature/HalfMoonInvestigations'', written by Eoin Colfer, involves Fletcher Moon who is a 12-year-old detective. Somewhat of a subversion in that Fletcher is a certified Private Eye, but he is certified in the US and lives in Ireland. (He took an online course.)
* Creator/JohnDicksonCarr's portly master detective Literature/DrGideonFell, and (under the pseudonym Carter Dickson) Literature/SirHenryMerrivale, the masters of the locked room murder.
* John Putnam Thatcher, written by Emma Lathen (pseudonym for the writing partnership of Mary Jane Latsis and Martha Henissart), is a Wall Street banker. Supposedly the two chose a banker as their detective because "there is nothing on God's earth a banker ''can't'' get into". (Though, if they'd been writing after the banking crisis/recession instead of before .... )
* Irwin Maurice "Fletch" Fletcher, from Gregory [=McDonald's=] series of Literature/{{Fletch}} novels. As far as is known, he was only ever suspected in ''Confess, Fletch'', and even then not seriously; for five of the books he's an IntrepidReporter but about halfway through the series goes into semiretirement and is just the guy who happens to be there.
* Brother William of Baskerville from ''Literature/TheNameOfTheRose''. Brother William is a Franciscan friar who arrives at a Benedictine monastery in Northern Italy to attend a theological disputation. This abbey is being used as neutral ground in a dispute between Pope John XXII and the Franciscans, who are suspected of heresy. When a series of mysterious deaths occur in the abbey, Brother William is forced to turn detective.

* Simon Rattray (a pseudonym for Creator/EllestonTrevor) wrote a series of mysteries with [[ChessMotifs chess-themed]] titles about Hugo Bishop. The back covers of the 1980s editions all carried the words, "He's not a cop, nor a private eye. He just shows up to help." He's noted as writing books collectively titled ''Personality Under Stress'', which suggests some sort of psychologist, but he's accustomed to things like finding a bomb in his airplane. He's on a FirstNameBasis with a UsefulNotes/ScotlandYard inspector (they're old school chums), and a number of other policemen recognize him with a respectful, "Oh, it's ''you'', Mr. Bishop," and take his orders without much question.
* The main character of Sarah Caudwell's ''Literature/HilaryTamar'' books is an Oxford professor, who is assisted in solving crimes by a quartet of barristers.

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[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/MickeyMouseComicUniverse https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/amateur_sleuth_8.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"It's elementary, my dear Goofy. From this piece of evidence, I can safely deduce that... I'm really bad at this cleaning job."]]

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* Yagami Light in ''Manga/DeathNote'' used to be an amateur sleuth, but now he is now a very clever serial killer.
%%** This trope would also apply to the kids from [[SchoolForScheming Wammy's House]].

* Kyuu Renjou and his friends in ''Manga/DetectiveSchoolQ'' attend an ''academy'' for those. Class Q is for the Qualified students (i.e. the specially chosen few) who are viewed as the most potential candidates for the successor of school founder Morihiko Dan in the future.

%%* ''ComicBook/AlbanyAndSturgess'': Francis Albany and Olivia Sturgess.

* Harry Vanderspeigle, the protagonist of ''ComicBook/ResidentAlien'', solves mysteries with his great observational and interpersonal skills, but has no formal training or license as a detective.
%%* [[ComicBook/SandmanMysteryTheatre The Sandman]]; that is, the Golden Age Sandman, not the guy with the dark hair and pale skin.
* Aside from John Hartigan, every hero in ''ComicBook/SinCity'' fits this description since they are not normally professional detectives. Dwight used to be a PI, however.
* Mickey Mouse in ''ComicBook/MickeyMouseComicUniverse''. Building on traditions from the newspaper strip by Creator/FloydGottfredson, and the later Mickey/Goofy adventure comics by Paul Murry, he is depicted him as one in comics and in some stories even being presented as a licensed private eye. Often overlaps with GreatDetective.
* The gang on ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo'' were amateur sleuths, even in the comics. But sometime during the Gold Key run (around issue #14), they lost their amateur status when they became ghost busters for hire.
* In ''ComicBook/TheMazeAgency'', Jennifer Mays is a professional PrivateEye. However, her boyfriend Gabe Webb is a [[MysteryWriterDetective true crime writer]]. Gabe has turned down multiple offers to join her agency because he does not want to mix a personal and a professional relationship with. However, Gabe often tags along to assist of Jen's cases, and while Jen is great at doing the legwork, Gabe is a [[GreatDetective deductive genius]] and it is invariably his insights that solve the case.

* Discussed in ''[[http://archiveofourown.org/series/8386 Story of Three Boys]]''. [[Series/{{Glee}} Kurt and Puck]] (with the help of Finn) go to great lengths to keep [[SlashFic their relationship]] a secret, since Puck isn't [[ComingOutStory out]]. However, Rachel starts to suspect that something is up with them, and they pretty soon realize that they have to tell her what's going on so that they can ask her to keep quiet about it, before she decides to discuss her suspicions with other people. At this point, Puck starts [[AffectionateNickname affectionately]] calling her Super-Sleuth.
* In the fanfic ''FanFic/GraduateMeetingOfMutualKilling'', main character Akane Ogata has absolutely no experience in detective work, to the point she needs to be taught some of the most basic stuff. However, she's the main investigative force in the story, and her investigations and deductions greatly contribute to the development of the trials. This may be justified, as [[Franchise/{{Danganronpa}} the franchise it's based off]] does include amateur sleuths as the protagonists.

%%* Brendan Frye, the teenaged protagonist of ''Film/{{Brick}}''.

* Melsa Manton from the film, ''Film/TheMadMissManton''. A fun loving socialite, Melsa and her debutante friends hunt for a murderer while eating bonbons, flirting with Ames, and otherwise behaving like silly young women.

* In ''Film/ThePhantomOfCrestwood'', Dan Curtis is a criminal hired to retrieve some incriminating letters Jenny has in her possession. However, when Jenny turns up in dead in his arms, he decides he had better solve the case before the police arrive and pin the crime on him.

* The basis of the plot of ''Literature/TheseSavageBones''. Alejandro has been bounty hunting for years now, but Esperanza has never solved a murder case before, nor has she ever done any sort of police work.
* Flavia Gemina and her friends in the ''Literature/TheRomanMysteries'' are {{Kid Detective}}s and amateur sleuths in UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire.
* Creator/AgathaChristie has several:
** Christie's Ariadne Oliver is a bit of a parody of this trope: she's a mystery writer who occasionally ends up helping Literature/HerculePoirot on real murders. She frankly admits that her writing experience gives her very little practical investigating skills and always guesses the wrong person (or, alternatively, guesses every possible suspect in turn before declaring that she always suspected the real killer).
** The final solution to the crime in ''Literature/TowardsZero'' was exposed by Andrew [=MacWhirter=], a random passer-by who unwittingly got involved in the investigation through a chance encounter with one of the suspects, whom he believes to be innocent.
** In ''Literature/ThreeActMurder'', the murder investigation was initiated by Sir Charles Cartwright, a retired actor, Miss Hermione "Egg" Lytton Gore, his much younger LoveInterest, and Mr. Satterwhite, an art critic of sorts. They were eventually joined by Hercule Poirot.
** Miss Marple usually just happens to be somewhere around where murders happen. Then she solves them by ObfuscatingStupidity and asking the right questions from the right people.

* Creator/DorothyLSayers:
** Literature/LordPeterWimsey, an independently wealthy aristocrat whose hobby is detection; except for once moonlighting as an advertising copywriter, he has never held a job -- he's too rich to actually ''need'' one.
** Sayers also wrote a number of short stories featuring a traveling salesman with the unlikely name of Literature/MontagueEgg; when he's not acting in his capacity as a broker for a London firm of wine merchants, he finds himself [[TheCorpseStopsHere occasionally stumbling across crime scenes]] and offering his common-sense expertise.

* ''{{Series/Banacek}}'' was about an insurance investigator who solved thefts that appeared to have been impossible.

* ''Series/ShaunMicallefsMadAsHell'' parodies this in a commercial in which Father Brown, Series/{{Grantchester}} vicar Sidney Chambers, Miss Marple, Jonathan Creek and [[Series/HettyWainthroppInvestigates Hetty Wainthropp]] all show up at the same crime scene wanting to ask a few questions. RealityEnsues when the DCI tells them all to fuck off and get back behind the police tape. Cue the title, ''Actual Detective''. And then Scooby-Doo appears and is likewise told to get lost.

* Creator/EllisPeters' Literature/BrotherCadfael, a monk and herbalist. Abbots call upon him as a medical examiner, detective, doctor, and diplomat.

* The Winchesters on ''Series/{{Supernatural}}''. Their only connection to the law consists of constantly being on the run from it, though occasionally they stumble onto a sympathetic detective who at least doesn't turn them in right away.

* The [[NonindicativeName Photography club]] from ''VideoGame/YandereSimulator'' becomes a ''group'' of this if the school atmosphere drops low enough.

* In the fanfic ''FanFic/GraduateMeetingOfMutualKilling'', main character Akane Ogata has absolutely no experience in detective work, to the point she needs to be taught some of the most basic stuff. However, she's the main investigative force in the story, and her investigations and deductions greatly contribute to the development of the trials. This may be justified, as [[Franchise/{{Danganronpa}} the franchise it's based off]] does include Amateur Sleuths as the protagonists.

* Flavia Gemina and her friends in the ''Literature/TheRomanMysteries'' are {{Kid Detective}}s and Amateur Sleuths in UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire.