Sample of literary figures
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Siv Dahlin
Female
After her divorce, assistant nurse Siv Dahlin leaves Gothenburg and works in lowly-paid jobs in rural areas in Sweden, including Dalarna. She is middle-aged and struggling with a tendency to put on weight. But she is also wise and observant, and when sudden deaths occur in the books by Aino Trosell, Siv Dahlin fortunately doesn’t always rely on the conclusions drawn by the authorities, but always carries out her own investigations.
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Mma Ramotswe
Female
In Botswana’s capital, Gaborone, Mma Precious Ramotswe runs The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency. The cases she works with, don’t usually concern major crimes, but are more about solving everyday problems for the clients. Mma Ratmotswe loves tea and her husband, the kind J.L.B. Matekoni, as well as their two adoptive children: all tenderly described by the Scottish author Alexander McCall Smith.
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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.
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Jane Tennison
Female
A British police detective, originally the main character in a TV-series scripted by Lynda La Plante who wrote a handful of novels about her. On TV she was portrayed by Helen Mirren, and is thus described like her in the books: a middle-aged, well-groomed woman, who is also a tough and realistically portrayed police officer. Later, La Plante has written a series of novels that describe Tennison’s first years in the police force.