Sample of literary figures
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Peter Decker
Male
When he falls in love with the Jewish widow Rina Lazarus, the parents of the divorced single father and police inspector Peter Decker reveal that he is adopted, and that his biological parents were Jews. He changes religion, and can marry Rina. Together, they solve a row of criminal cases in Faye Kellerman’s books, where one of them – or sometimes both of them – plays the main role.
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Carl Mørk
Male
Inspector Carl Mørk lost interest in his job after two of his colleagues were shot – one of them fatally, the other was seriously injured. Nonetheless, he was put in charge of Department Q, the Danish police cold case group. He solves a series of crimes in collaboration with his closest co-workers, the secretary Rose Knutsen and Hafez el-Assad, in a string of books by Jussi Adler-Olsen.
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Myron Bolitar
Male
Promising, attractive basketball player, who damaged his knee and instead sports agent – and an amateur detective. Myran Bolitar solves a row of murder cases, which usually take place in sports circles, in books by Harlan Coben. He often has girlfriends (but only one at a time) as assistants. He also has a nephew, Mickey, who solves cases in a handful of detective stories for young adults in which his uncle features as a minor character.
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Jakob Studer
Male
Perhaps the most famous problem solver in German-language crime fiction is Wachtmeister (approx: sergeant) Jakob Studer, a single elderly gentleman, overweight, with a pale, gaunt face and a heavy moustache. He was created by Swiss-Austrian Friedrich Glauser, is mainly active in the countryside and in small towns and solves his cases with the help of intuition and human knowledge.