Sample of literary figures
-
Joseph Zimmertür
Male
Psychoanalyst who primarily works in Amsterdam, and who has what one can only call a parodically Jewish appearance. But he is described in positive terms by author Frank Heller (pseudonym for Gunnar Serner): Dr Zimmertür is said to be friendly, diplomatic, well-read and with a good general education – and he is a clever detective and a good judge of character. In his private life, he is a bachelor and has no children, and he has friends in the very best circles.
-
Flavia de Luce
Female
In the 1950s, the motherless Flavia de Luce was not highly regarded by her father and sisters. She was indeed a rather ordinary and everyday 11-12-year-old (with dental braces), but mature for her age, and determined too, with a mind of her own and smart, and she busied herself with nasty-smelling chemistry experiments. Besides, she solved murders – for which the police resented her – in the books that Alan Bradley has written about her.
-
Tommy Beresford
Male
The red-headed Thomas ‘Tommy’ Beresford is something of an unimaginative but stubborn Englishman, who took part in the First World War and was wounded twice. He subsequently married his childhood friend Prudence ‘Tuppence’ Cowley, and they have two children and adopt a third. Together, the couple solve a number of cases with good humour and entertaining dialogues in four novels and a collection of short stories by Agatha Christie.
-
Arsène Lupin
Male
The name of this gentleman thief and amateur detective is Raoul d’Andrèsy, but he is better known to readers of the French author Maurice Leblanc’s stories as Arsène Lupin. The classic, fiendishly cunning thief is a classic character in mystery fiction, he even dupes Sherlock Holmes (alias Herlock Sholmes). After Leblanc’s death his character has been taken over by other authors.