Sample of literary figures
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Maria Kallio
Female
She was only 23 when she got her first job with the police, but she has worked her way up to a senior post in the criminal investigation department in the Finnish town of Esbo. She has also grown older in Leena Lehtolainen’s books about her, got married to Antti Johannes Sarkela and had children. With her red hair and in good physical condition, Mario Kallio is a tough (and if necessary even harsh) feminist who appreciates a good whisky – in reasonable measures.
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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.
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Gideon Fell
Male
The enormous Dr Fell, whose physical traits are modelled on G.K. Chesterton, is one of crime fiction’s foremost problem-solvers when it comes to ‘locked-room’ mysteries and other ‘impossible’ crimes. He also works on an ever-growing doctoral thesis about English drinking habits from bygone days, he likes his beer and is married – although his wife is only mentioned in a few of John Dickson Carr’s books about him.
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Patrik Hedstrom
Male
He is employed as a detective inspector in Tanumshede, western Sweden, but spends most of his time in Fjällbacka, where he lives and – together with his wife, author Erica Falck – solves a row of murder cases in the books by Camilla Läckberg. Patrik Hedstrom is partly based on Läckberg’s first husband, and is described as a ‘completely ordinary guy’, but he is a skilled crime investigator with quite a lot of charm.