Sample of literary figures
-
Nestor Burma
Male
Private eye Nestor Burma is a famous character in French 20th century crime fiction. He runs his own detective agency, Fiat Lux, in Paris with his secretary Hélène Chatelain, who is hopelessly in love with him. They feature in a string of hardboiled, humorous books by Léo Malet. Burma also features in films, television dramas and a cartoon.
-
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!
-
Paddy Meehan
Female
When Patricia ‘Paddy’ Meehan gets a job with a newspaper in Glasgow, she is overjoyed. The job isn’t as much fun as she had hoped, but after having solved a murder case she is promoted to crime reporter – and can solve some more cases. Her family are poor, but she nevertheless manages to live a fairly pleasant private life, writes Denise Mina in her dark detective stories about Paddy.
-
Lisa Mattei
Female
In 2005, Leif G.W. Persson wrote about the young detective inspector Lisa Mattei; ten years later, she is a middle-aged operations manager for the Swedish security services. She made a rapid career, but has a bad conscience because she rarely has time to be with her family, her husband Johan and her daughter Ella. She has private means, and is something of a connoisseur when it comes to clothes, for example. But she is also a gifted and skilful police officer.