Sample of literary figures
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Hercule Poirot
Male
The Belgian private detective Hercule Poirot worked for the Belgian police until Agatha Christie transferred him to England. Poirot is characterised by his vanity, his strong French accent, his egg-shaped head and his impressive moustache, and he solves crime in a string of classic whodunits. Poirot eventually became so famous that <i>The Times</i> published an obituary when Christie killed him off in one of her books.
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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.
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Maureen O’Donnell
Female
She is the protagonist in the prize-winning Garnethill trilogy by the Scottish crime writer Denise Mina. Young Maureen is a human wreck: sexually abused by her father, her mother an alcoholic, her brother a drug dealer. She has spent time in a mental hospital, and started a relationship with her psychiatrist. But she is stubborn and determined, and struggles to solve the problems and crimes she comes across.
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Logan McRae
Male
Author Stuart MacBride paints a picture of a dark and gloomy Aberdeen, where police detective Logan McRae investigates cases which include a lot of violence – sometimes against children. He, himself, has a background which is not entirely without blemishes, and sometimes he is wounded on duty or is transferred after breaking various rules. He is tired, often unshaven and a bit shabby-looking, but nevertheless has a permanent, if somewhat shaky, relationship with Samantha.