Meny

Sample of literary figures

  • Ewert Grens

    Male

    Middle-aged detective chief inspector in Stockholm, ordinary-looking, with thinning hair and a wrinkled face. He suffers from a severe trauma: his wife Anni suffered severe brain damage in an accident that he caused. Now Ewert Grens visits her every day in the care home. His only consolation is the songs sung by Siw Malmkvist, and he is always listening to them in the novels by Anders Roslund – the early novels were written together with Börge Hellström.

    Further reading

  • Asbjørn Krag

    Male

    Norwegian police officer, who also works as a private detective, created by Stein Riverton (pseudonym for Sven Elvestad). Asbjørn Krag works in Kristiania/Oslo, but solves cases in various parts of Norway. He is athletically built, with an angular face, and works as much with his head as with his muscles. He is unmarried, or rather, married to his work. His literary colleague Knut Gribb is based on Krag.

    Further reading

  • Barlach

    Male

    Although he only features in two (short) novels by Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Inspector Barlach – no first name is ever mentioned – is one of the most famous policemen in literature. He is old, worn out and unmarried, works in the police force in Bern and has stomach cancer, which he knows will lead to his death within a year. With his great knowledge of human nature and his intuition, he works on his investigations.

    Further reading

  • Erik Winter

    Male

    Winter is a detective inspector in Gothenburg, Sweden. Contrary to most other literary detectives he comes from a wealthy family and is well off. He marries a physician, Angela, and they have a child together in Åke Edwardson’s string of books about him. After a period of hard work, the family moves to Spain, but a couple of years later Winter returns to Gothenburg, without his family, and returns to his former job.

    Further reading