The Guardian

Top 10 criminal duos in fiction | Peter Swanson

There is a long and robust literary tradition of the crime-solving duo. Holmes and Watson. Nick and Nora Charles. Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin. Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane. As a writer it’s nice to have two protagonists, if for no other reason than to have them discuss the plot together. It works particularly well if one is smarter than their sidekick and gets to explain how all the pieces fit together.

But what about the criminal duo? Where’s Moriarty is partner? The truth is, villainous pairs, although not unheard of, are comparatively rare. I was fairly young and very impressionable when I saw on television, a film that opens with two young men murdering an acquaintance together,

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