There are not two but three kinds of sleuths in mysteries, whether in print or in film and television: professional, amateur, and accidental.
Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, Nick Charles, and the officers with detective ranks in police procedurals, are professionals. They are in the business of solving mysteries; they earn their living by doing that, or at least, by enforcing the law.
Albert Campion, Lord Peter Wimsey, and Nancy Drew are amateurs. They call themselves detectives but they are not licensed. For them, sleuthing is like a "calling." They have considerable, even formidable skill in the craft, but they do not charge a fee, and are not compensated. They are perceived -- and put themselves forward -- as experienced solvers of mysteries, worthy of being consulted or taking
charge.
The sleuths in popular "cozy" mysteries, however, are neither professionals nor amateurs. They are otherwise ordinary people who do not consider or present themselves as detectives. Some are retired; but if they have a vocation or a small business, or a full-time hobby, it has no connection with crime--solving. But they find themselves drawn, somehow, into a mystery, and some aspect of their personality or their livelihood turns out to be useful in solving it. So it's fair to say that they become sleuths by accident.
Accidental detectives do generally have one thing in common with their amateur counterparts. They will have a friend or relative who is a professional, upon whose expertise they draw for guidance or assistance, and who is often brought in, at the denouement, to officially close the case.
It's common to conflate and confuse accidental detectives with amateurs. But I see significant differences, and I urge that, when discussing mystery fiction, our nomenclature distinguish between them.
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