Sample of literary figures
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Amos Decker
Male
A former professional footballer who has been a police officer but who had a breakdown when his wife and daughter were murdered. He is not handsome, but is athletically built and has dark hair. After the murders, Amos Decker stopped taking care of himself, became fat and shabby, and lost his job. He pulled himself together, however, became a private detective and later is employed by the FBI. He has hyperthemesia which means that he can remember in detail everything that happens to him.
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Cordelia Gray
Female
A young private detective in only two novels by P.D. James; many readers have complained that there weren’t any more. She grew up with her foster parents – her mother died an hour after the birth of her daughter – and as an adult became the secretary to the private detective Bernie G. Pryde. When he died of cancer, Cordelia Gray inherited his agency. She is attractive, but despite her successes she is – deep inside – unsure of herself.
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Emma Sköld
Female
A young, good-looking, ambitious and career-minded detective inspector, first in Nacka, then in the county CID. Her father, Evert, had been the head of the county police, author Sofie Sarenbrant tells us. Emma Sköld has a daughter, Ines, together with her partner, Kristoffer. When Emma is badly injured in an inexplicable riding accident, and is in a coma for several months, it turns out that somebody wants to take over her life.
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Carol Jordan
Female
Carol Jordan is a detective at the head of a special task force that investigates violent crime in the fictional town of Bradfield, England. She collaborates with the profiler Tony Hill in a series of novels by Val McDermid. They have a fraught personal relationship that ends when Jordan leaves the profession after a breakdown following the murder of her brother. She later makes a comeback and continues to work with Hill.