May 22nd marks the 153rd birthday of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of the world’s most famous fictional private detective - Sherlock Holmes. In honor of his brainy brainchild, and any others who may be struggling with various riddles and clues, we’ve compiled a list of movies and TV shows featuring some of our recent favorite mystery solvers.

Sherlock / Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Although dealing with the same crime fighting partners, these two titles take somewhat different approaches. While the Victorian blockbuster focuses more on Robert Downey Jr. being a hotshot hero in periodical clothing, the British TV show, set in 21st century London, deals more with Sherlock as a patronizing prodigy (not unlike a certain doctor, famously inspired by him. Yes, we’re looking at you, House M.D.).

Monk

This San Franciscan anti-hero is very confident when it comes to helping out police investigations, but much less so when confronting the outside world. This extremely eccentric character didn’t only deal with weird agricultural products, but also won Tony Shalhoub three Emmy awards.

Psych

Geared towards teens and boys’ nights, This talky crime fighting hit TV series often places the “who done it?” question in the backseat, and focuses more on the relationships between its odd couple of protagonists.

Cold Weather

This slow and atmospheric indie mystery, referred to by one reviewer as “Sherlock Holmes goes hipster”, inventively mixes between a college graduate’s homecoming and an intense story of an amateur detective searching for a missing person.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Offering a much bleaker spin on the amateur detective searching for a missing person, this Swedish investigation brings not only a disturbing assortment of human depravities, but also features Rooney Mara in one of the most memorable strong female roles of recent years.

The Killing

Adapting gloomy Scandinavian murder mysteries isn’t limited to cinema, as evident by this critically acclaimed TV series, which transferred the police investigation from Denmark to rainy Seattle, a city full of people haunted by the past.

Bored to Death

Jason Schwartzman leads a boring writer’s life and is seeking a career change, so he declares himself to be a private detective. The only problem is that he’s not very good at at, and his marijuana loving buddies aren’t really helpful on surveillance missions, either.

I Heart Huckabees

Another Schwartzman-starring offbeat title, which follows an obsessive quest of self-discovery, aided by a couple of existential detectives who specialize in mysteries related to human existence. Their findings are, not surprisingly, quite surreal.

Castle

While starting as reluctant partners, a no-nonsense homicide detective and a hotshot crime novelist prove themselves to be not only partners against crime, but also the suppliers of witty dialogue and humorous sexual tension.

Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang

Since we started this list with Robert Downey Jr. it seems appropriate that we should end it with him and his brilliant role as a petty criminal teaming with a private detective (the equally brilliant Val Kilmer) in Shane Black’s clever neo noir.

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