Meny

Sample of literary figures

  • Joe Ashworth

    Male

    He is a detective sergeant in Northumberland, married and with a daughter Jessie. He is also a faithful companion to the eccentric and unconventional Chief Inspector Vera Stanhope in a suite of police novels by Ann Cleeves. Ashworth is one of the few people in whom Vera trusts – she regards him more like a son. However, she is forever forgetting what his wife and daughter are called…

    Further reading

  • Svend Foyn

    Male

    Lawyer and a skilled amateur detective who lives in the Norwegian town of Tønsberg, like his creator Jan Mehlum. Svend Foyn is divorced and has a teenaged daughter, loves music and books and easily becomes sentimental. His appearance is not particularly noticeable, but he is quite tall – more than 190 cm – and struggles to hold his weight under 90 kilos. His best female friend is Hulda – a Saint Bernhard dog.

    Further reading

  • Lennart Kollberg

    Male

    Martin Beck’s second-in-command and good friend in the books by Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö is Lennart Kollberg, a bohemian, overweight (but in good physical trim) former paratrooper, conscientious objector and Marxist who finally tires of his job in the police and give his notice. Kollberg has two major interests in life: food and his family; his 14-year younger wife, Gun – with whom he often enjoys making love – and their two children.

    Further reading

  • Sidney Chambers

    Male

    James Runcie has written a suite of novels about Sidney Chambers, vicar in Grantchester near Cambridge, and describes that character’s activities as an Anglican priest and amateur detective. The good vicar is tall, slim, just over 30 years of age with a high forehead, a hook nose and brown eyes. He is married to the German widow Hildegarde Staunton, and they have a daughter called Anna. Detective Inspector Geordie Keating is a very good friend.

    Further reading