Meny

Sample of literary figures

  • Carl Mørk

    Male

    Inspector Carl Mørk lost interest in his job after two of his colleagues were shot – one of them fatally, the other was seriously injured. Nonetheless, he was put in charge of Department Q, the Danish police cold case group. He solves a series of crimes in collaboration with his closest co-workers, the secretary Rose Knutsen and Hafez el-Assad, in a string of books by Jussi Adler-Olsen.

    Further reading

  • Kathy Mallory

    Female

    Kathleen ‘Kathy’ Mallory is a tall, green-eyed, beautiful blonde. She is also – according to her creator Carol O’Connell – a sociopath who can be both callous and ruthless. At the age of six, after witnessing the murder of her mother Kathy Mallory, she lived on the streets until she was adopted by a police officer. Encouraged by him, she becomes a police detective. She doesn’t lack admirers, but lives on her own.

    Further reading

  • Brother Cadfael

    Male

    Brother Cadfael is a former crusader who joined the Benedictines on his return to England. He is a herbalist at a monastery in Shrewsbury in Shropshire where he solves crime. These whodunits by Ellis Peters (a pen name used by Edith Pargeter) are set in England during the turbulent first half of the twelfth century. They have caused a major surge in popular interest in historical crime novels.

    Further reading

  • Gordianus

    Female

    He is called Gordianus the Finder, and is a private investigator in ancient Rome in the days of Julius Caesar. ‘Lawyers’ and orators like Cicero are some of the people who use his services in historical crime novels by Steven Saylor. Gordianus’ wife is the Egyptian Bethesda, previously his concubine whom he had bought as a slave. He lives in Rome until he inherits a farm in Etruria, but later moves back to the city.

    Further reading