Meny

Literary figures

Sample of literary figures

  • Christer Wijk

    Male

    Inspector Wijk is one of the best-known criminal investigators in Swedish crime fiction. He was born and raised in the fictional town of Skoga (based on the town of Nora in author Maria Lang’s mystery stories); it is there and in Stockholm that he solves most of his cases. He is close to his mother, who still lives in Skoga, and he later marries the singer Camilla Martin – a marriage that is not without problems.

    Further reading

  • Martin Beck

    Male

    Few Swedes can have escaped Inspector Martin Beck of the Stockholm police department. A principal character in Maj Sjöwall’s and Per Wahlöö’s ten police novels, he is the typical meticulous, unhappily married, ulcer-suffering inspector in contemporary crime fiction. He has won international fame through the books and a string of adaptations for film and television.

    Further reading

  • Gideon Fell

    Male

    The enormous Dr Fell, whose physical traits are modelled on G.K. Chesterton, is one of crime fiction’s foremost problem-solvers when it comes to ‘locked-room’ mysteries and other ‘impossible’ crimes. He also works on an ever-growing doctoral thesis about English drinking habits from bygone days, he likes his beer and is married – although his wife is only mentioned in a few of John Dickson Carr’s books about him.

    Further reading

  • Dexter Morgan

    Male

    A handsome, friendly and always well-dressed forensic technician, born in 1971 and married to Rita Bennett whose two children he is very fond of. In secret, he is a serial murderer lacking in empathy, as is revealed by author Jeff Lindsay (pseudonym for Jeffry P. Freundlich). Dexter Morgan saw his mother being murdered and is encouraged by his stepfather, who is a police officer, to kill major criminals who have evaded justice.

    Further reading