Meny

Sample of literary figures

  • Embla Nystrom

    Female

    Former Nordic champion boxer (light welterweight), now a county police officer in the west of Sweden. She is about 30 years old and muscular, with curly reddish-brown hair and blue-green eyes in a somewhat round face: cute but not pretty, according to her creator Helene Tursten. Having grown up with three brothers, Embla Nystrom knows how to put lads in their place. The man in her life is little Elliot, the son of her ex-husband Jason.

    Further reading

  • Svend Foyn

    Male

    Lawyer and a skilled amateur detective who lives in the Norwegian town of Tønsberg, like his creator Jan Mehlum. Svend Foyn is divorced and has a teenaged daughter, loves music and books and easily becomes sentimental. His appearance is not particularly noticeable, but he is quite tall – more than 190 cm – and struggles to hold his weight under 90 kilos. His best female friend is Hulda – a Saint Bernhard dog.

    Further reading

  • Dudley Smith

    Male

    Police officer in Los Angeles in four of James Ellroy’s novels. Dudley Smith was born in Ireland, he is tall and broad shouldered, and goes all in brown, one could say: he has brown hair cut very short, brown eyes and he usually wears a shabby, brown suit. Few police officers in crime fiction have been described as so unsympathetic: he is an egoistic and violent bully and, it turns out, a murderer. And he is happy with that!

    Further reading

  • Henrik Pettersson

    Male

    A 30-year-old small-time crook, slim, medium blond, unmarried and without empathy. He lives in Stockholm where he neglects several jobs and relaxes with drugs and sex until he gets into very serious trouble in a trilogy of crime novels by Anders de la Motte and is hunted and not only by the police. Henrik ‘HP’ Pettersson’s big sister Rebecca Normén is, however, a police officer and can help him when he has got into trouble.

    Further reading