Meny

Literary figures

Sample of literary figures

  • Lindsay Gordon

    Female

    Lindsay Gordon is a hardboiled, cynical, lesbian crime reporter and the protagonist of half a dozen novels by Val McDermid. She is a Socialist, feminist jazz lover who tries to cut down on her cigarette and whiskey consumption. Her unorthodox methods are not always appreciated, especially not by the police, but that does not stop her from continuing to harass them.

    Further reading

  • Victor Legris

    Male

    In the late 19th century, he runs a bookshop, Librairie Elzévir, in Paris together with his Japanese adoptive father Kenji Mori. In his free time, Victor Legris is an enthusiastic amateur detective and photographer. He is something of a clothes snob, is athletically built and has an appearance that interests women. Claude Izner (pseudonym for Liliane Korb and Laurence Lefèvre) has written a suite of novels about him.

    Further reading

  • Barbara Havers

    Female

    Contrary to many other female police officers in crime fiction Barbara Havers is not a good-looking woman. Her creator, Elizabeth George, claims she made her deliberately unattractive and unkempt. Havers has cooperation issues and she is moody, stubborn and temperamental. Yet she has a functional working relationship with her complete opposite, the well bred, neatly turned out Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley.

    Further reading

  • William of Baskerville

    Male

    The British Franciscan monk from Baskerville is the main character in just one novel – on the other hand, it is the classic <i>The Name of the Rose</i> by Umberto Eco. It is not just the name Baskerville which makes one think of Sherlock Holmes: William’s own ‘Watson’, Adso, describes him as tall, thin, strong, supple, with a crooked nose and sharp eyes, and aged around fifty. And who was a brilliant logician as early as the 14th century…

    Further reading