How important is the Enneagram in a story like A Good Girl's Guide to Murder? Which is to say, how important is personality in a purely inquiry-based plot?
Let's look at an example of each type – but out of any order because I'm a chaos monkey Enneagram Nine wing Eight, so I thrive on the unpredictable.
In general, the importance of the investigator's character type is this: personality shows us how the mystery is solved.
1. For a good Type One example, ridiculously pompous Hercule Poirot is very concerned with how he is perceived (making him seem Three-ish). More than that, he is concerned with the facts lining up in the correct order. His shoes, tie, and waistcoat are perfect, and, like his attire, the facts must all fit into the right slots. He will keep asking the one question until it's answered, because not all the facts are in their correct place. He's the quintessential curator type – aka Enneagram Type One. In The Murder of Mr. Ackroyd, his driving question is, "Why make the phone call from the station?"
Another good Enneagram One is Pippa, from A Good Girl's Guide to Murder. She can't help pulling threads, because things are out of order. She must solve the problem because the truth (and, as internal motivation, being a good person) is non-negotiable. She literally can't stop trying to get the right answer. A demonstration of her character is in the scenes where she believes her dad has had an affair. Even though it was five years ago, and both he and her mother say it wasn't what Pippa thinks, she can't be around him until she believes him to be innocent. As with Poirot, a One plot might start and end with exactly the same question. For Pippa, it's, "Who killed Andi Bell?”
A shortcut to detecting a One is in how they dress: have you seen the remarkably consistent patterns of Pippa's wardrobe? If you have any Ones in your life, just look at her watch.
4. Enneagram Type Four. This one is hard. To find this type, I have to point to one of the most contradictory types in the Enneagram: The Counterphobic Sexual Four. They often come off as the angriest type in the Enneagram. As such, I nominate Marvel's Jessica Jones from the Netflix series. She fears loss of identity above all, and has a core wound that makes her believe she's unlovable, unsavable. Shame drives all of her destructive behaviors, most of which are directed inwards – anger is just a product. And, like Eleanor from The Haunting of Hill House (book original), the worst things happen to her when she's lost her sense of self and has to care for the needs and desires of an insidious other.
9. So. Many. Nines.
So many.
Inspector Gamache is a scholarly, empathetic, professorial type who solves by questioning his beliefs, paying attention to others, and generally being sensitive. But what he really wants is peace.
If you know the French series by Simenon, Inspector Maigret, you might recognize another Enneagram Nine. He slides rather too easily into dampening addictions.
Columbo is an innocuous seeming mess who never misses anything. He retains every bit of info about everyone, and senses the gaps between them. He's a perfect Enneagram Nine, the Peacemaker.
Another excellent Nine sleuth is the accidental detective on maternity leave in Kat Ailes' cozy mysteries. Alice is underestimated, a bit chaotic. People drop clues around her like they're nails and she's a magnet, because suspects don't realize how much information she's actually assembling.
Miss Marple has an endless curiosity about others and a boundless capacity for storing their personal information. She's always surprised that others don't know what she knows, and shares information freely when needed. She values connection more than recognition.
5. Sherlock. His knowledge is his security. He shares it only when doing so can create the biggest splash. He hates being incompetent, and only admits he needs others when he's at his most vulnerable. He disintegrates into hedonism (Seven).
Lisbeth Salander of Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is afraid of being incompetent, of losing autonomy, having earlier become a ward of the state. She is motivated by fear. A hacker, she holds her cards very close to her chest.
8. Looking for a good Eight detective? We find them in spades! My current favorite is Kathy Valence in A Grim Reaper's Guide to Catching a Killer. It's just so hard for Kathy to give in and let others help her, because it's her job to save everyone else, don't you know? This means her most significant obstacle to solving the mystery and her biggest personal obstacle is to admit she needs help, and that she's worthy even when she can't be the knight in a Grim Reaper robe.
Wednesday Addams. No, she's not a Five, or a Four. I can write a separate post about her another time.
Many cops who feel their purpose on this planet is to serve and protect, and who have a desperate crisis of faith when they can't, are Eights. Even the corrupt Eights who choose to protect the wrong people from a false threat.
2. Special Agent Seeley Booth from Bones is a quintessential Enneagram Two, the caretaker. He protects Bones (probably Enneagram One, because of her relationship to information and her moral drive) while she does her sleuthing.
Another classic Two is Dr. John Watson in the original Sherlock stories, and Lord Ingram Ashburton in the Lady Sherlock series.
These are the characters who love and protect their fellow investigators, while putting themselves on the line to help solve the crime. Are they ever at the head of the investigation? Learning to be a leader, to express themselves without only supporting, is the most challenging growth arc for an Enneagram Two, so most of their genius plays out in someone else's shadow.
What they long for is a little acknowledgement, sometimes a lot. If they don't get that, things can go really sour, and you might end up with a fellow agent who becomes an angry rival, as Inspector Beauvoir did for a while in the Louise Penny series. And as Thing does sometimes in the Netflix Wednesday series.
6. I love a Six, who mistrusts everyone. Sixes know how corrupt the system is, and they aren't afraid to look at the top of the pile. The real challenge is knowing who to trust. Veronica Mars suspects everyone, and, as the series shows, she has cause. Like any good Six, she doesn't need to be told twice that this place is rotten to its core. An Enneagram Six detective is ideal for a noir mystery.
3. Enneagram Three, the Achiever, needs to win all the medals, to be decorated. Miss Scarlet, from the Masterpiece Theater series originally titled Scarlet and the Duke, is a perfect example of a Three. She's cutthroat when it comes to her career, and she won't admit to what degree her emotions motivate her. Emotions? What emotions? This means she jumps at every red herring if it might win her recognition, and walks foolishly into situations that are far too dangerous if she might finally get ahead. Her growth always comes from showing people she loves them, that she has feelings.
7. Finally, we are looking for an Enneagram Seven, the Epicure. We see the Seven in Halle Berry's Roxanne in The Union. She only gets dissatisfied with the Union when it turns out she can't appreciate all the beautiful locations she visits like she’d hoped. Her growth happens when she returns back to the place she first thought was too boring to stay in: home.
This type likes the party, is the one who broadcasts joy, but has a dark side that very few (especially not them) can see. When things go south, the Seven can say unnecessarily hurtful things that reflect much more about them than about the recipient of their ire. Sometimes the villain will point back at the Seven, saying, "You say I'm the monster, but you're just too afraid to look in the mirror." After a victory, the Seven will go off for another game of pool, go to another city, another partner.
Another perfect Seven example is Matt Smith's first season of Doctor Who – always off to a new place, never around to see them age. His growth happens when he returns to all the people he’s left behind, and (as played by Jodie Whittaker - more Two than Seven for once) embraces the ruthless people she has been.
Who are your favorite detectives? What type do you think they are?