(continued)

Another interesting observation made by Uta Frith is that concerning "the detached detectives of classic mysteries", such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot.

She writes, "They demonstrate a particular type of oddness that might be shared by highly gifted autistic individuals. The oddness conveys clear powers of observation and deduction, unclouded by the everyday emotions of ordinary people. Absent-mindedness in relation to other people but single-mindedness in relation to special ideas are part of this image."

Indeed, Sherlock Holmes’ peculiar and focused interest in "the ashes of 140 different varieties of pipe, cigar and cigarette tobacco" is suggestive of autistic characteristics. Another classic detective, Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe, was obsessed with orchids and a rigid daily routine. Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot, was a character who insisted on neatness and rectangularity in every aspect. For instance, he preferred square-shaped crumpets over ordinary round-shaped ones, and even in a murder, he shot the victim such that the bullet hole was symmetrically positioned.

On the other hand, another fictional detective created by Agatha Christie, Miss Marple, was completely opposite, and had no autistic-like traits at all: she solves crimes by intuition; whereas the classic detached detective which Uta Frith describes is "objective, incorruptible and often extremely literal".