Meny

Sample of literary figures

  • 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.

    Further reading

  • Tom Thorne

    Male

    Tom Thorne is a middle-aged, somewhat worse for wear detective inspector in London. In the early books he is dull and conventional. However, his creator, Mark Billingham, has subsequently turned him into a multi-faceted character with bad as well as good qualities. He is persistent and conscientious, but he can also be short-tempered, grumpy and prone to making disastrous mistakes. Well into the series he becomes involved with Seargeant Helen Weeks.

    Further reading

  • Meyer Meyer

    Male

    Max Meyer, of Polish-Jewish extraction, had a curious sense of humour: he named his son Meyer Meyer. The name contributed to the boy becoming the victim of bullies in school. As an adult, he turned completely bald, became a police detective, patient, and is married to the motherly Sarah with whom he has three children. He works in the 87th police district in Isola in police novels by Ed McBain (pseudonym for Evan Hunter).

    Further reading

  • Miss Jane Marple

    Female

    Miss Jane Marple is a kind, but stern, elderly lady detective created by Agatha Christie. She lives in the village of St. Mary Mead where the good and bad habits of her fellow villagers have made her a good judge of human character. She often able to solve the most complicated case just by listening to an account of the events. She occasionally travels at home and abroad.

    Further reading