What might be even more fundamental is that the detective genre is
about the
establishment (the detective, professional or freelance) taking on
the
forces of chaos and disorder (crime, social disruption), whereas
in fanfic
the focus is normally on those forces of chaos, ie; outside the establishment.
I read once that, starting in the 30's, British mysteries were dominated by the intellectual, civilized sleuth (Poirot and Miss Marple types). American mysteries in that era were dominated by the gumshoe, a tough guy who understands the criminal mind because he has one and who solves cases partly through brute force and partly because he has a paranoid disposition that might make Avon a bit uncomfortable (Sam Spade, in The Maltese Falcon, has no trouble imagining the woman he's fallen for might have killed his partner in cold blood, her husband, or anyone else. He also doesn't see that as necessarily a barrier to seeing her in 20 years when she gets out of prison - but he's still going to make sure she serves the sentence, not him [RoD would be rather different with him]).
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