Meny

Literary figures

Sample of literary figures

  • Gunnar Barbarotti

    Male

    His father was Italian, his mother Swedish – and one of the few things they were successful with was their son’s name. Gunnar Barbarotti is a police detective in the fictive Swedish town of Kymlinge. He is a reflecting gentleman with an everyday appearance who is unlucky in his relationships: his first wife leaves him, his second wife dies in the books by Håkan Nesser. When alone, Barbarotti has long conversations with God.

    Further reading

  • Auguste Dupin

    Male

    One of the most famous literary figures of all times, and the model for a whole row of fictive problem-solvers – including Sherlock Holmes. This despite the fact that <i>chevalier</i> Auguste Dupin features in only three short stories by Edgar Allan Poe. During the daytime, he shuts himself up in his home, smokes and reads; at night, he often wanders along the streets in his home city, Paris.

    Further reading

  • Carl Hamilton

    Male

    The Swedish secret agent Carl Hamilton, code name Coq Rouge, was born in 1954 to an aristocratic family and later became a leftist activist. He trained as an attack diver and after being trained by the CIA he worked for the military intelligence organization OP5 and was later appointed director general of the Swedish Security Services. Hamilton is the protagonist in about a dozen bestselling thrillers by Jan Guillou.

    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