Meny

Sample of literary figures

  • Reginald Wexford

    Male

    Inspector Reginald “Reg” Wexford, who operates in the fictional town of Kingsmarkham in Sussex, was a traditional detective when Ruth Rendell first introduced him. He is overweight and has a foul temper, which leads to conflicts with his superiors, but he has a pleasant and understanding family. Wexford has become more tolerant over the years and has developed into a major authority on human character.

    Further reading

  • Magdalena Hansson

    Female

    After a messy divorce, journalist Magdalena Hansson, together with her adoptive son Nils, moves from Stockholm to Hagfors, where she has got a job with the local paper, Värmlandsbladet, which is struggling to survive with falling sales. She shacks up with her teenage love Petter, and also solves several murder cases together with her police friends Petra Wilander and Christer Berglund in books by Ninni Schulman.

    Further reading

  • Lisbeth Salander

    Female

    A young punk rocker, computer hacker and cracker with a troubled past, including a spell at a psychiatric ward. She is one of Sweden’s best-known female characters internationally. Salander is the protagonist of Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy and the official sequel. She is a highly organized woman on the left of the political spectrum, and when she needs to she is an efficient action heroine.

    Further reading

  • Kristina Vendel

    Female

    Female detective inspector with the police in Huddinge, Stockholm. Her father had fled from East Germany to Sweden; Kristina Vendel’s marriage to Johan is in trouble and eventually breaks up. She has light hair, grey-green eyes, and studied Philosophy before she started at Police College. She has a tough time at work, and is often abused in several ways, Theodor Kallifatides tells us.

    Further reading