Sample of literary figures
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Gordianus
Female
He is called Gordianus the Finder, and is a private investigator in ancient Rome in the days of Julius Caesar. ‘Lawyers’ and orators like Cicero are some of the people who use his services in historical crime novels by Steven Saylor. Gordianus’ wife is the Egyptian Bethesda, previously his concubine whom he had bought as a slave. He lives in Rome until he inherits a farm in Etruria, but later moves back to the city.
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Michelle Maxwell
Female
She once gained an Olympic medal in rowing and later became a Secret Service agent, but lost her job when she had been careless with the protection of a presidential candidate who was murdered. David Baldacci describes Michelle Maxwell as 30 something years old, attractive,175 cm tall, with dark hair – and an expert at close combat. She works together with Sean King, and now and then they have an… uhmm, intimate relationship.
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Jakob Studer
Male
Perhaps the most famous problem solver in German-language crime fiction is Wachtmeister (approx: sergeant) Jakob Studer, a single elderly gentleman, overweight, with a pale, gaunt face and a heavy moustache. He was created by Swiss-Austrian Friedrich Glauser, is mainly active in the countryside and in small towns and solves his cases with the help of intuition and human knowledge.
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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.