| SAM | Dashiell Hammett's fictional detective in The Maltese Falcon, ___ Spade |
| SPADE | Dashiell Hammett's detective in The Maltese Falcon, Sam ... |
| SAMSPADE | Private detective in The Maltese Falcon |
| SHERLOCK | First name of a fictional detective in novels including A Study in Scarlet and The Hound of the Baskervilles (8) |
| PROP | The Maltese Falcon in "The Maltese Falcon," e.g. |
| ASTA | The schnauzer bitch in Dashiell Hammett's detective story 'The Thin Man' (4) |
| POIROT | Fictional detective in Agatha Christie's stories including Murder on the Orient Express (6) |
| DREW | Nancy _, fictional detective in a series of mystery books written under the pen name Carolyn Keene (4) |
| HAMMER | Fictional detective in horror film (6) |
| LORDPETERWIMSEY | Fictional detective in mews I reportedly upset (4,5,6) |
| IDRISELBA | Actor who returned as the titular detective in the 2023 film Luther: The Fallen Sun (5,4) |
| BRUCEDERN | Actor whose film roles include The Detective in The Driver (5,4) |
| EVE | Trevor _, Eddie the eponymous detective in the series Shoestring (3) |
| SERGEANTCUFF | The detective in The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins |
| DAMIEN | Actor who is playing the titular detective in the revival of Bergerac, _ Molony (6) |
| SAMANTHA | Poppy Montgomery played ___ Spade in the series Without A Trace. |
| HOMICIDE | One gets the detectives in the house for the killing (8) |
| MALTESEFALCON | Dashiell Hammett's 1930 detective novel (with "The") |
| MALTESE | Type of falcon at the heart of Dashiell Hammett's novel? (7) |
| CREST | What completes the title Falcon ___, the 1980s soap that starred Jane Wyman? (5) |
