Sample of literary figures
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Sherlock Holmes
Male
Sherlock Holmes is one of the best-known characters in the history of crime fiction, including adaptations for film and television. His chronicler, Dr. Watson, and his address at 221B Baker Street in London are almost as famous. Arthur Conan Doyle wrote four novels and five short story collections about the detective. Holmes has since featured in thousands of stories by other authors, both as Sherlock Holmes and under a number of aliases.
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Anna Pigeon
Female
Anna Pigeon is a US national park ranger, which is also the profession of her creator, the author Nevada Barr. Pigeon has a complex background that includes periods of substance abuse, and she has a complicated love life. She used to live in New York, but because of her profession she moves around a great deal. She loves animals and she is an active environmentalist.
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John H. Watson
Male
Sherlock Holmes’ chronicler and permanent companion in the stories by A. Conan Doyle has given his name to a particular type of character in crime fiction: a detective’s right hand, conversational partner and admiring friend is called ‘a Watson figure’. In books by other authors, Dr Watson has solved cases by himself. The ‘H’ in his name (according to Sherlockian research) stands for Hamish, the Scottish for James.
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Lindsay Gordon
Female
Lindsay Gordon is a hardboiled, cynical, lesbian crime reporter and the protagonist of half a dozen novels by Val McDermid. She is a Socialist, feminist jazz lover who tries to cut down on her cigarette and whiskey consumption. Her unorthodox methods are not always appreciated, especially not by the police, but that does not stop her from continuing to harass them.