In Praise of Quirky Detectives

Uzo Aduba’s delightful character, who hunts a killer on The Residence, is the latest in a long line of anti–cookie cutter crimesolvers

• Who wants by-the-book detectives as beige as their proverbial trenchcoat? We’re here to champion the sleuths who stand out: the bickering, bantering, odd-triple neighbors (Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez) of Only Murders in the Building, Monk’s obsessive-compulsive police consultant in need of a hand wipe (Tony Shalhoub) and the author (Angela Lansbury) who encounters far more than her share of corpses on Murder, She Wrote. The latest standout is Cordelia Cupp, a consulting Metro PD detective played by Uzo Aduba in the Shondaland series The Residence (Netflix, March 20). She’s a calm presence at the screwball scene of the crime — the White House! — with zero qualms about putting the investigation of a dead body on hold or five minutes so she can scout for warblers. (Her…

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Us Weekly (Digital) - 1 Issue, March 31, 2025

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