Sample of literary figures
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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.
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Van Veeteren
Male
Despite his successful career as a detective chief inspector, he tires of his job, and starts afresh as an antiquarian bookseller. But he continues to play an important role in Håkans Nesser’s books about the police in Maardam. Van Veeteren is a well-built and heavy man, he has a bass voice, is divorced and has been operated for stomach cancer. He is very fond of classical music and dark beer, and likes to chew on a toothpick.
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Varg Veum
Male
With his books about the private detective Varg Veum, author Gunnar Staalesen transferred American hardboiled noir to a Scandinavian setting – Bergen in Norway. Veum is one of the best-known fictional characters in Norway; he features in several television productions as well as a comic strip. He operates in widely different social settings and is prone to commenting on current affairs.
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Lisbeth Salander
Female
A young punk rocker, computer hacker and cracker with a troubled past, including a spell at a psychiatric ward. She is one of Sweden’s best-known female characters internationally. Salander is the protagonist of Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy and the official sequel. She is a highly organized woman on the left of the political spectrum, and when she needs to she is an efficient action heroine.