A detective story was a genre of mystery fiction where a detective character featured prominently. The Dixon Hill series was one example.
In 2371, when Odo told the Female Changeling posing as Kira Nerys that they had "been in worse situations before" in regards to their predicament of Kira supposedly being trapped in crystal in a cave that was about to collapse, the Changeling asked him to name three and when he hesitated commented that she couldn't think of any either. He said that it wasn't the response he expected, explaining that in the detective novels given to him by Miles O'Brien, when the hero said "We've been in tougher situations than this one," his friends always agreed. The Changeling stated that she had never read any of those books. (DS9: "Heart of Stone")
In 2373, following the successful completion of the Insurrection Alpha holonovel, B'Elanna Torres suggested that Tuvok and Tom Paris's next collaboration could be a detective story. (VOY: "Worst Case Scenario")