Meny

Sample of literary figures

  • Camille Verhœven

    Male

    Author Pierre Lemaitre doesn’t make life easy for his middle-aged detective chief inspector, Camille Verhœven, in Paris. His pregnant wife is tortured to death in the first book: in the fourth book, his girlfriend Anne Forestier is almost killed in connection with a robbery. The short and entirely bald police officer, who isn’t always particularly sympathetic, solves the cases; then he resigns.

    Further reading

  • Ruth Galloway

    Female

    Her age is 40+ and she lives with her daughter Kate and her cat close to the sea in Norfolk. But forensic archaeologist Ruth Galloway has a lot of friends, including the married detective chief inspector, Harry Nelson, the father of her daughter. She is independent, humorous, attractive with a nice figure – she weighs around 80 kg. Elly Griffiths (pseudonym for Domenica Maxted) has written a suite of detective stories about her.

    Further reading

  • Gereon Rath

    Male

    A police detective and war veteran in Köln, who after a fatal mistake in his work in 1929 is transferred to Berlin. According to author Volker Kutscher, Gereon Rath is between 30 and 40 years old, slim, skilled, stubborn and a morphine addict on account of traumatic war experiences. In Berlin he meets police stenographer Charlotte ‘Charly’ Ritter; they start a relationship, get married and build a family.

    Further reading

  • Steve Carella

    Male

    A central figure in Ed McBain’s (pseudonym for Evan Hunter) books about the 87th police district in Isola is Stephen ‘Steve’ Carella. He is of Italian extraction, and in one of the early books he marries the beautiful and deaf-mute Theodora ‘Teddy’ Franklin, with whom he has twin sons. Detective Carella is tall, dark and muscular without being athletic; he gives an impression of strength and energy.

    Further reading