"Whodunit", written by Keni St. Lewis and Freddie Perren, was a hit song for R&B/disco group Tavares

Tavares (band)

Tavares are a successful American R&B, funk and soul music group, composed of five Cape Verdean-American brothers from New Bedford, Massachusetts.-Band members:...

 in 1977. Released from their album, Love Storm

Love Storm

Love Storm is the fifth album by American soul/R&B group Tavares, and the second to be produced by Freddie Perren, released in 1977 on the Capitol label...

it spent one week at number one on the R&B singles chart in May 1977, and peaked at number twenty-two on the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 singles chart and in the UK peaked at number 5 the week ending 7 May 1977 where it stayed for 2 weeks [UK release Capitol CL 15914 Whodunit (St. Lewis / Perren) / Fool Of The Year (F Tavares / St. Lewis).]

The lyrical hook to the song was the repeated query "Whodunit? / Who stole my baby?" The singer then appealed to a series of famous fictional detective

Detective

A detective is an investigator, either a member of a police agency or a private person. The latter may be known as private investigators or "private eyes"...

s to help "solve" the case, including Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...

, Charlie Chan

Charlie Chan

Charlie Chan is a fictional Chinese-American detective created by Earl Derr Biggers in 1919. Loosely based on Honolulu detective Chang Apana, Biggers conceived of the benevolent and heroic Chan as an alternative to Yellow Peril stereotypes, such as villains like Fu Manchu...

, Ellery Queen

Ellery Queen

Ellery Queen is both a fictional character and a pseudonym used by two American cousins from Brooklyn, New York: Daniel Nathan, alias Frederic Dannay and Manford Lepofsky, alias Manfred Bennington Lee , to write, edit, and anthologize detective fiction.The fictional Ellery Queen created by...

, McCloud, Kojak

Kojak

Kojak is an American television series starring Telly Savalas as the title character, bald New York City Police Department Detective Lieutenant Theo Kojak. It aired from October 24, 1973, to March 18, 1978, on CBS. It took the time slot of the popular Cannon series, which was moved one hour earlier...

, Baretta

Baretta

Baretta is an American detective television series which ran on ABC from 1975 to 1978. The show was a milder version of a successful 1973–74 ABC series, Toma, starring Tony Musante as chameleon-like, real-life New Jersey police officer David Toma...

 and Dirty Harry

Dirty Harry

Dirty Harry is a 1971 American crime thriller produced and directed by Don Siegel, the first in the Dirty Harry series. Clint Eastwood plays the title role, in his first outing as San Francisco Police Department Inspector "Dirty" Harry Callahan....

. The gimmick was reminiscent of "Searchin'

Searchin'

"Searchin" is a song written by Leiber and Stoller specifically for The Coasters. It was released as a single on Atco Records in March 1957, and topped the Rhythm and Blues Chart for twelve weeks...

", a 1957 single by The Coasters

The Coasters

The Coasters are an American rhythm and blues/rock and roll vocal group that had a string of hits in the late 1950s. Beginning with "Searchin'" and "Young Blood", their most memorable songs were written by the songwriting and producing team of Leiber and Stoller...

which also invoked a series of lawmen to track down a missing love interest.