Meny

Sample of literary figures

  • Aurelio Zen

    Male

    Detective Inspector Zen is a loner based in Rome, but he solves crime all over Italy. He may seem clumsy, but his determination and laissez-faire attitude to police protocol means that he is both successful and unpopular with his superiors. Aurelio Zen featured in one book by the British author Michael Dibdin, but he became so popular that Dibdin wrote another ten about him.

    Further reading

  • Kay Scarpetta

    Female

    Patricia Cornwell’s protagonist is a forensic scientist based in Virginia, USA. She has been described as just over forty years old, blond with several love interests and a few female competitors who do not appreciate her confidence. She is a highly competent forensic investigator and crack shot, which is useful since she is often under threat. Scarpetta likes to cook in her spare time.

    Further reading

  • Eve Dallas

    Female

    A tall and slim police lieutenant in New York, the main character in a long suite of crime novels by J.D. Robb (pseudonym for Nora Roberts) set in the mid-21st century. Eve Dallas is of muscular build, has brown matted hair, whisky-coloured eyes and sharp facial features. She is tough and skilled in her job, and in her private life is married to businessman Roarke, who has a dubious background.

    Further reading

  • Cormoran Strike

    Male

    A one-legged British private detective and former Afghanistan veteran with an office in London. In the first novel about him by Robert Galbraith (pseudonym for J.K. Rowling), he is depressed with a messy private life and poor finances. The situation changes when he gets a new case and a new female assistant, Robin Ellacott. He is a large man with a high forehead, a broad nose, thick curly hair and thick eyebrows.

    Further reading