Partners and Sidekicks: The Power of a Dynamic Duo

Batman and Robin or Lewis and Hathaway?

Although the appeal of a lone-wolf protagonist is undeniable (I’m looking at you, Jack Reacher and Easy Rawlins) partners and sidekicks offer possibilities that singletons can’t deliver. The best of them drive the narrative forward and enable multiple perspectives. It can be challenging, however, to find the right balance between two competing personalities. A weak sidekick can be a distraction instead of a foil, and partners that hog the spotlight make me impatient for the protagonist to retake center stage.

Sidekicks: Friends With Benefits

The difference between sidekicks and partners is often one of degree. Agatha Christie’s Tuppence and Tommy Beresford are partners. They’re equally capable of getting behind the wheel in a high-speed chase. Robin, however, is Batman’s sidekick. There’s never any doubt that when this dynamic duo heads toward the Batmobile, Robin will be riding shotgun.

In addition to partners Tommy and Tuppence, Christie also gave us the archetypal sidekick in her portrayal of Captain Hastings. He is Hercule Poirot’s faithful friend, who provides erroneous conclusions that the famous detective claims are essential to his understanding of a crime scene. Hastings tries mightily to keep up with Poirot’s “little gray cells” but he stands in for the reader, not the detective.

My favorite sidekicks may not be equal to the protagonists in terms of skills or authority, but they are integral to the investigation, often by providing subplots that drive the story, if not the car.

Partners: Equals in the Pursuit of Justice

Partners often have complementary skills that make them more powerful together than they would have been separately. Although their positions may not be equal, the relationship between them is. This interdependency can also be a source of suspense and tension. Will the partner come through in the end? Will a conflict between reason and emotion, or impulsivity and restraint, upend the investigation or provide a solution?

Colin Dexter’s Inspector Morse mysteries pair the melancholic, solitary, and opera-loving Morse with the working-class, married Lewis. In these books, the latter is a sidekick. But in the TV series Inspector Lewis, an older iteration of the title character finds a more equal partnership with the enigmatic and cerebral Hathaway. The detectives embody town-and-gown class divisions in Oxford, and their investigative successes are a function of their contrasting personalities and methods. Lewis and Hathaway bring rich backstories that color how they see the world, and their sometimes contentious relationship enables personal and professional growth that forms a deeply satisfying narrative arc.

Odd Couples: Breaking the Mold

Not all dynamic duos fit neatly into categories. In The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson pairs journalist Mikael Blomkvist with hacker Lisbeth Salander in a neo-noir thriller that stomps all over the usual boundaries between investigative collaborators. Independent, complex, and with backstories that blast off the page, this pair puts a unique stamp on the odd-couple trope.

Sherlock Holmes: You see but you do not observe

Sometimes, the obvious isn’t so obvious after all. I was all set to classify Dr. John Watson as an Everyman sidekick to the brilliant Sherlock Holmes, in a relationship that prefigures the one between Hastings and Poirot. Watson, however, provides medical expertise, a pragmatic perspective, and nuggets of observation that prove invaluable. He is a powerful, if self-effacing narrator. In an interesting twist, some very early on-screen portrayals (Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce) lean into Watson as a foolish sidekick, while later versions, like the pairing of Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, offer more nuance. This modern Watson is ferociously brave as well as loyal. He provides a vital connection to the real world that the self-described sociopathic Holmes acknowledges he cannot access alone. The best example of this occurs in “The Sign of Three.” It’s one of my favorite episodes, with a wedding, a murder, and enough foreshadowing to power no fewer than three subplots.

Finding the Right Balance

On occasion, I’ve had to draw back on a sidekick’s prominence when they threatened to hijack the story. So far, I’ve been able to rein in my most importunate character, but lately, I’ve been thinking more about her as an untapped resource. Spinoffs can inject fresh ideas into books as much as into TV series, which is how Morse and Lewis became Lewis and Hathaway and, in a prequel, Endeavor and Thursday. So maybe that over-eager sidekick is ready for a starring role.

Top Picks

Some favorite crime fiction pairings of mine include: Chester Himes’ Coffin Head Johnson and Grave Digger Jones; Faye Kellerman’s Rina Lazarus and Peter Decker; and Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin.

Who are your favorite detecting duos?

Lori Robbins

Lori Robbins is the Amazon bestselling author of the On Pointe and Master Class mystery series and a contributor to The Secret Ingredient: A Mystery Writers Cookbook. She won two Silver Falchions, the Indie Award for Best Mystery, and second place in the Daphne du Maurier Award for Mystery and Suspense. Her short stories include “Leading Ladies” which received an Honorable Mention in the 2022 Best American Mystery and Suspense anthology. A former dancer, Lori performed with Ballet Hispanico and the St. Louis Ballet, but it was her commercial work, for Pavlova Perfume and Macy’s, that paid the bills. After ten very lean years onstage she became an English teacher and now writes full-time. Lori is a co-president of the New York/ Tristate Sisters in Crime and an active member of MWA.
Her experiences as a dancer, teacher, writer, and mother of six have made her an expert in the homicidal tendencies everyday life inspires.

You can find her at lorirobbins.com

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