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Portrait image of Ross Macdonald Photo: Bettmann / Getty Images

Sample of authors

Macdonald, Ross

Ross Macdonald is a pseudonym for the American-Canadian crime writer Kenneth Millar. He was born in Los Gatos, California, but he grew up in his parents’ native Canada. His parents divorced shortly after the family moved there, and during childhood Macdonald constantly changed homes, living with his mother who was in poor health. He later wrote that he had figured out that he, up until the age o...

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Literary figures

Kommissarie Modeste Laviolette

Gender: Male

The somewhat misanthropic and contemplative Inspector Modeste Laviolette is working in Provence. He is overweight and he loves food and champagne. He has followed in his grandfather’s footsteps; his grandfather was chief of police. Laviolette is a bachelor and animal lover who lives with his housekeeper Chabassut and her 14 cats – he takes care of them after her death – in a string of novels by Pi...

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