Meny

Sample of literary figures

  • Father Brown

    Male

    The Catholic priest Father Brown (he has no first name) is active in England. He has a round, non-descript face and an umbrella which he is always losing; in addition, he usually carries a paper-wrapped package which he finds difficult to keep in order. But he is also one of the best amateur detectives in fiction, the main character in five classic collections of short stories (but no novel) by G.K. Chesterton.

    Further reading

  • John H. Watson

    Male

    Sherlock Holmes’ chronicler and permanent companion in the stories by A. Conan Doyle has given his name to a particular type of character in crime fiction: a detective’s right hand, conversational partner and admiring friend is called ‘a Watson figure’. In books by other authors, Dr Watson has solved cases by himself. The ‘H’ in his name (according to Sherlockian research) stands for Hamish, the Scottish for James.

    Further reading

  • Kate Brannigan

    Female

    Kate Brannigan is a private detective at Mortensen & Brannigan in Manchester. According to the author, Val McDermid, she dropped out of law school. Brannigan is a tough, quick-witted, independent woman with a great deal of integrity. She refuses to move in with her music journalist partner who lives next-door. She never gives up a case, not even when all the odds are against her.

    Further reading

  • John Madden

    Male

    Scotland Yard detective John Madden suffered from an explosion during the First World War, but nevertheless in 1921 still solves the murder of four persons in the Surrey countryside. After that, he and his wife, Dr Helen Blackwell, settle as farmers in Surrey, but for various reasons Madden nevertheless takes part in investigations of several brutal murders in England during the Thirties and Forties in a suite of novels by Rennie Airth.

    Further reading