But the practice is based not on the brainchild of any university professor or crime expert, but in fiction - the character of Sherlock Holmes, created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
One character spoils the good work, though - Don Cheadle plays the excruciatingly grating "cockney" explosives expert Basher, who has the most over-egged English accent since Daphne on Frasier.