Photo: Murray/Fairfax Media via Getty Images (1960)
Sample of authors
Marsh, Ngaio
The New Zealand author Dame Edith Ngaio Marsh was born in Merivale, Christchurch. Her father was an immigrant English bank manager and her mother was born in New Zealand, although her family too originally came from England. Ngaio is the Maori word for "reflection on water". A somewhat eccentric and confused man, Marsh's father did not report his daughter's birth to the authorities until 1900,...
Literary figures
Charlie Chan
Gender: Male
Charlie Chan is a Chinese police inspector who works in Honolulu where he lives with his large family. The friendly, polite and calm Chan solves tricky cases in six whodunits by the American author Earl Derr Biggers. Chan is also the protagonist in a couple of dozen films that together with the books have made him a classic character.