Meny

Literary figures

Sample of literary figures

  • Hercule Poirot

    Male

    The Belgian private detective Hercule Poirot worked for the Belgian police until Agatha Christie transferred him to England. Poirot is characterised by his vanity, his strong French accent, his egg-shaped head and his impressive moustache, and he solves crime in a string of classic whodunits. Poirot eventually became so famous that <i>The Times</i> published an obituary when Christie killed him off in one of her books.

    Further reading

  • William of Baskerville

    Male

    The British Franciscan monk from Baskerville is the main character in just one novel – on the other hand, it is the classic <i>The Name of the Rose</i> by Umberto Eco. It is not just the name Baskerville which makes one think of Sherlock Holmes: William’s own ‘Watson’, Adso, describes him as tall, thin, strong, supple, with a crooked nose and sharp eyes, and aged around fifty. And who was a brilliant logician as early as the 14th century…

    Further reading

  • Ruth Galloway

    Female

    Her age is 40+ and she lives with her daughter Kate and her cat close to the sea in Norfolk. But forensic archaeologist Ruth Galloway has a lot of friends, including the married detective chief inspector, Harry Nelson, the father of her daughter. She is independent, humorous, attractive with a nice figure – she weighs around 80 kg. Elly Griffiths (pseudonym for Domenica Maxted) has written a suite of detective stories about her.

    Further reading

  • Tommy Beresford

    Male

    The red-headed Thomas ‘Tommy’ Beresford is something of an unimaginative but stubborn Englishman, who took part in the First World War and was wounded twice. He subsequently married his childhood friend Prudence ‘Tuppence’ Cowley, and they have two children and adopt a third. Together, the couple solve a number of cases with good humour and entertaining dialogues in four novels and a collection of short stories by Agatha Christie.

    Further reading