Dear Pinaki,
Thanks for your comprehensive analysis on the topic.
I would like to add a few words to expande the subject further.
We all love an ideal world trying to strive for the unattainable. I
think the literary device made by detective writers of making the
detective single is to tap into this yearning. A single man devoted to
his profession , forsakes the pleasures of married life to pursue his
interest. He is made to be above the need to book tickets for his wife
or worry about what gift should he buy his wife for her birthday.
Culturally too , we Indians admire asceticism in men . Bhishmapitamah
in the Mahabharatha invokes awe and reverence precisely because of his
dedication to his vow to remain celibate.
The popular image of a writer/ painter is that he lock himself in a
garret in pursuit of creativity, being above the need for marital life
like mere mortals. We tend to admire what we are not .So I think this
is why Succesful detectives are created deliberately single.
This is my opinion. If you feel my ideas are far
fetched/Nonsensical , you are free to say so in as many words.
Sumalsn