Meny

Sample of literary figures

  • Maria Wern

    Female

    Maria Wern is a young sergeant who balances crime investigations with family life, including an insufferable husband. She later moves to the island of Gotland where she continues to solve crime. The author, Anna Jansson, has also written a number of young adult detective novels that feature Wern’s son, Emil.

    Further reading

  • Maisie Dobbs

    Female

    Young, brave and intelligent private detective who started to work as a domestic when she was only 13 years old. Maisie Dobbs had a benevolent female employer, and got to study nursing and psychology. She fell in love with a doctor who was killed in the First World War, and in 1929 she started her own detective agency. Jacqueline Winspear has written more than a dozen books about her.

    Further reading

  • Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg

    Male

    Adamsberg is a Paris detective inspector. His pace is slow, he is contemplative, he is well acquainted with the human character, he relies on his intuition, and he solves every case he is confronted with. These are generally full of mysteries, but Adamsberg’s unorthodox methods and competent colleagues are a great help to him. Adamsberg is the creation of Fred Vargas, pseudonym for the French author Frédérique Audoin-Rouzeau.

    Further reading

  • Andy (Andrew) Dalziel

    Male

    Andy (Andrew) Dalziel is uncouth, vulgar and loud at the same time as he is understanding and easily moved, which he does his best to hide from others. He is an experienced, effective Yorkshire inspector who solves a string of complex murders together with his colleague Peter Pascoe despite some health issues in later years. The books are by Reginald Hill.

    Further reading