Meny

Sample of literary figures

  • Gunvald Larsson

    Male

    Born in the fancy district of Östermalm, Stockholm, in a military family that he despises, he is a Marxist, a snobby dresser, sarcastic and is quick to resort to violence. He is single, almost two metres tall, strong as a bull, has closely set eyes and has the habit of picking between his teeth with a paper knife. Apart from this, Gunvald Larsson is an important member in the police group around Martin Beck in most of the books by Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö.

    Further reading

  • John Bright

    Male

    He is a detective inspector in Kentish Town just outside London, where he gets to experience everything from a decomposing female corpse in a bathtub to gang-shootings. John Bright is small of stature, dark, likes to wear a shoddy leather jacket, and (according to author Maureen O’Brien) looks more like a criminal than a police officer. He can be very irritable, doesn’t like travelling and has a patient girlfriend called Jude.

    Further reading

  • Judy Hammer

    Female

    Superintendent Judy Hammer is head of a police department in North Carolina, Virginia, where she has to deal with both city crime and stubborn islanders in a short suite of novels by Patricia Cornwell. Hammer is a middle-aged, unhappily married but very fond of her young colleague Andy Brazil, who becomes her right hand. In the books about them, realistic police work is combined with some less realistic elements.

    Further reading

  • Harriet Blue

    Female

    She is a police detective in Australia, and has specialised in solving sex crimes. Harriet Blue, called Harry by her friends, was born in 1981, is short in stature (155 cm), has blue eyes and black hair, and is well-known for her stubbornness. The only person close to her is her brother Sam. How she solves her cases is described in books that the American author James Patterson and Australian Candice Fox write together.

    Further reading