Meny

Sample of literary figures

  • Tom Ripley

    Male

    He is charming, handsome and cultivated as well as being a ruthless serial killer and psychopath totally lacking in empathy, the main character in five classic thrillers by Patricia Highsmith. Thomas ‘Tom’ Ripley became an orphan when he was five years old, and was brought up by a callous female relative. He later marries the wealthy Héloïse Plisson, but nevertheless has successfully continued his criminal career.

    Further reading

  • 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!

    Further reading

  • Anna Pigeon

    Female

    Anna Pigeon is a US national park ranger, which is also the profession of her creator, the author Nevada Barr. Pigeon has a complex background that includes periods of substance abuse, and she has a complicated love life. She used to live in New York, but because of her profession she moves around a great deal. She loves animals and she is an active environmentalist.

    Further reading

  • Dave Robicheaux

    Male

    After having been a soldier in Vietnam and a detective in New Orleans, he struggled for many years with his addiction to alcohol. He managed it, and became a boat renter and a private detective in Louisiana. Time after time, he is caught up in murder cases, described in a long row of novels by James Lee Burke. The middle-aged Dave Robicheaux has married three times: his first wife was murdered, the second died from tuberculosis.

    Further reading