Meny

Sample of literary figures

  • Yashim Togalu

    Male

    He is tall, well-built, aged between 30 and 40, with curly black hair and a nice moustache. He is also a eunuch, and he investigates murders and other crimes in 19th century Istanbul on the orders of the sultan, whom he faithfully serves. Yashim Togalu is not uninterested in women, according to author Jason Goodwin, but he understandably prefers to devote his time to cooking, French novels and mysteries.

    Further reading

  • Harry Friberg

    Male

    Stieg Trenter based his protagonist Friberg on his friend, the photographer K. W. Gullers. Friberg too is a well-known photographer. He is a cheerful, alert man who loves good food and the company of women. It is not he, however, who solves crime, that is the job of Detective Inspector Vesper Johnson. When Trenter died, his wife Ulla continued the series, allowing Friberg to get married.

    Further reading

  • Kristina Vendel

    Female

    Female detective inspector with the police in Huddinge, Stockholm. Her father had fled from East Germany to Sweden; Kristina Vendel’s marriage to Johan is in trouble and eventually breaks up. She has light hair, grey-green eyes, and studied Philosophy before she started at Police College. She has a tough time at work, and is often abused in several ways, Theodor Kallifatides tells us.

    Further reading

  • Erast Fandorin

    Male

    A Russian police officer, secret agent and spy in Tsarist Russia in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Erast Petrovich Fandorin never knew his mother, and when his bankrupt father died when Erast was 19 years old, he is forced to break off his studies and start working in the police force. His brilliant career is described in a row of books by Boris Akunin (pseudonym for Grigory Chkhartishvili).

    Further reading