Meny

Sample of literary figures

  • Jackson Brodie

    Male

    He is a middle-aged divorced detective, former soldier and police officer, born in Yorkshire but living in London despite the fact that he has never liked southern England. So he is happy to travel north, and some of Kate Atkinson’s novels about him are set in Scotland. Jackson Brodie’s strength as a detective does not lie in logical reasoning, but in his empathy with the afflicted: the victims of crime and their loved ones.

    Further reading

  • Gordianus

    Female

    He is called Gordianus the Finder, and is a private investigator in ancient Rome in the days of Julius Caesar. ‘Lawyers’ and orators like Cicero are some of the people who use his services in historical crime novels by Steven Saylor. Gordianus’ wife is the Egyptian Bethesda, previously his concubine whom he had bought as a slave. He lives in Rome until he inherits a farm in Etruria, but later moves back to the city.

    Further reading

  • Philip Dryden

    Male

    He left his job as a star reporter when his wife, Laura, ends up in a coma after an accident. Instead, Philip Dryden becomes as an investigative crime reporter on the little local newspaper <i>The Crow</i> in the country town of Ely. Laura slowly wakes up from her coma, and they have a son Eden. Jim Kelly describes his problem-solver as almost 190 cm tall, with green eyes and black hair. His best friend is the taxi driver Humphrey Holt.

    Further reading

  • Lord Peter Wimsey

    Male

    The English aristocrat (he is the second son of a duke), bibliophile and amateur sleuth Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey is one of the great men of crime fiction and principal character in a long line of classical stories by Dorothy L. Sayers. Witty and erudite, he solves crime with the help of logic, his butler, Bunter, and his friend (later brother-in-law) Inspector Charles Parker.

    Further reading