Meet Forensic Pathology's Answer to Sherlock

Some call him Rosie, some call him Dr Beaumont Rosewood Jr. We call him forensic science's answer to Sherlock Holmes. Here’s why…

Rosewood

HE'S A PRIVATE PATHOLOGIST

Just like Sherlock Holmes is a "consulting detective" who goes around solving crimes without being shackled to officialdom... so too is Beaumont "Rosie" Rosewood a totally free agent. He is, in fact, a private pathologist, which means he isn't actually a part of the Miami police department, and regards solving murders as a straight-up business. There aren't any limits or constraints, and he doesn't clock on like the other working stiffs. And because he's independent, he even has billboards dotted across the city advertising his services - a far cry from every other forensic expert we've ever seen in a telly crime drama. Of course, it helps that he happens to be utterly brilliant. Which brings us to the next point...

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HE'S A DEDUCTIVE GENIUS

You know the way Sherlock Holmes can just stroll onto a crime scene, cast his eyes over a few seemingly inconsequential things, and come up with a frighteningly accurate assessment of what's happened? Well, Rosie is every bit Sherlock's equal. Which sounds like crazy talk, but it's true. Rosie has the exact same kind of whirring mental machinery as Mr Holmes, only with a focus on the forensic side of things. To give you an example of just how Sherlockian he is, one of the first things we see Rosie do is turn up at a grisly crime scene, check the corpse out, and come up with a solution to the scenario simply by glancing at the dead man's location and the colour of his eyes. The big cunning clever clogs.

HE'S COCKY AS ANYTHING

Sherlock's known for his intellect, yes. But he's almost as famous for his epic ego and aloof charm. Well, Rosie is the opposite of aloof - if anything, the man's a party animal who buddies up with passers-by at the drop of a hat - but he has even more swagger and self-confidence than Baker Street's finest. He doesn't walk so much as strut, and when he's at a crime scene he switches into pure showmanship, dropping fact-bombs with flamboyant flair, pirouetting and pivoting about like a stage performer, and generally acting in a way that would be punchably obnoxious if he wasn't so darn charming. Which he is, by the way. He's so charming, it's basically his superpower.

Morris Chestnut as Dr. Beaumont Rosewood, Jr.

Morris Chestnut as Dr. Beaumont Rosewood, Jr.

HE WINDS THE COPS UP

Sherlock Holmes, you'll remember, always has a strained relationship with the police. His independence, eccentricity and arrogance just rub the official lawmen up the wrong way. It's yet another similarity with Rosie, whose presence on the Miami scene is a source of forehead-clutching frustration for many coppers. His cocky charisma and irreverent disregard for proper etiquette is just too much for them to handle, and Rosie even has to bluff his way past cops to get to the corpses. Which is fine. He likes bluffing.

HE'S SECRETLY VULNERABLE

True Sherlock fans know their man has his weak spots. They're emotional and psychological - he's in some ways a freakish outcast from conventional society. Rosie certainly isn't that, but he has an even more fundamental weakness: his physical health. The doctor has congenital defects meaning he's suffered strokes and other serious medical issues over the years, and he predicts he has less than a decade left to live. That's the dark flipside to his beaming, energetic, everyday persona, and adds poignant depth to this fascinating forensic genius. Who knows how things might actually turn out? As Mr Holmes himself would say, the game's afoot...