Meny

Sample of literary figures

  • Harry Hole

    Male

    Harry Hole is Jo Nesbø’s creation. Hole is immensely popular among readers even outside Nesbø’s native Norway. He is a police officer with a serious drinking problem and countless scars acquired in the line of duty. His methods are unconventional, he is headstrong and he is unpopular with both his superiors and his colleagues. The stories about him are more like hardboiled American thrillers than traditional detective stories.

    Further reading

  • Kouplan

    Male

    He calls himself Kouplan, but his real name is Nesrine Amipour, born in 1968, and he is a transsexual guy in a woman’s body. He has trained as a journalist, but is now a refugee without papers in Sweden, homeless and unemployed. He supports himself by collecting drink-cans (and thus being able to cash in on the deposit) and works as a ‘private investigator’ in four novels by Sara Lövestam, while at the same time trying to ascertain what has happened to his Iranian family.

    Further reading

  • Enzo Macleod

    Male

    British, famous forensic technician of Scottish-Italian heritage. After a trying divorce, he moves to France and is employed as a university teacher. He re-marries, but becomes a widower. Enzo Macleod is middle-aged, heavily built and (according to his creator Peter May) has a complex personality as well as a boorish temperament – which affects his two daughters, one from each marriage.

    Further reading

  • Reginald Wexford

    Male

    Inspector Reginald “Reg” Wexford, who operates in the fictional town of Kingsmarkham in Sussex, was a traditional detective when Ruth Rendell first introduced him. He is overweight and has a foul temper, which leads to conflicts with his superiors, but he has a pleasant and understanding family. Wexford has become more tolerant over the years and has developed into a major authority on human character.

    Further reading