Sample of literary figures
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Erlendur
Male
A detective inspector in Reykjavík, and the main character in a row of police novels by Arnaldur Indriðason. Erlendur – his surname, Sveinsson, is rarely named as is customary in Iceland – is a skilful and empathetic police officer, but rather tired and sometimes anxiety-ridden. One reason is that he left his family when the children were small, for reasons that he can’t himself remember. His ex-wife still hates him for this, and both his son and his daughter ended up abusing drugs.
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Barry Duckworth
Male
Middle-aged Detective who has everything from a main role to small bit parts in Linwood Barclay’s books about the town Promise Falls. Barry Duckworth tries unsuccessfully to lose weight, and to hide his receding hairline by combing his hair over the bald part. He is happily married, doesn’t have a shady past, and has such an everyday appearance that nobody really notices him. But he is stubborn and he solves his cases!
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Dave Gurney
Male
A well-built police detective in New York who commands respect, renowned for having caught several serial murderers, who retires already when he is about 50 years old. He moves to the countryside with his wife Madeleine and their son, but can’t resist from privately investigating murders. He admits that this affects his family life, and thus always has a bad conscience, according to his creator John Verdon.
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Ted (Edward) Conkaffey
Male
Edward Conkaffey, better known as Ted, lost both his job and family after having been accused of molesting a young girl sexually. He was exonerated of all charges, but as persistent rumours didn't fade away, he's now living on his own with a dog and seven geese. He's tall and muscular, with black hair and blue eyes. He sometimes teams up with a young female detective, Amanda Pharrell, in books by Candice Fox.