Sample of literary figures
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Guido Brunetti
Male
Commissario (Detective Superintendent) Brunetti in the Italian state police, stationed in Venice, solves murder cases in a number of books by American author Donna Leon, herself resident in the city. Brunetti is married to Paola, daughter in an aristocratic family and a university lecturer, and has a lively family life which includes children and his own as well as his wife’s relatives. He also battles against the Italian bureaucracy which doesn’t exactly facilitate his work.
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Kafa Iqbal
Female
She was born in Jordan, which her skin hints at: she always seems to have a suntan, according to author Ingar Johnsrud. But Kafa Iqbal works for the Norwegian security service as an expert on religious terrorists when she is introduced to the readers – however, she soon switches to the Criminal Investigation Department of the Oslo Police. She is beautiful, slim, with dark, shoulder-length hair with a parting in the middle. She is also good at karate – and single.
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Robbie (Robert) Lewis
Male
A jolly, patient and methodical detective sergeant in Oxford, who is the right hand and faithful companion of the somewhat gruffy Chief Inspector Morse in the crime novels by Colin Dexter. Lewis’ first name is rarely mentioned in the books, and in the TV series he is called Robbie. In the novels, he is happily married to Valerie and they have two children; in the later TV series, in which he is the main character, he is an older widower.
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Francis Hancock
Male
His father was an Englishman, his mother from India. Francis Hancock himself is a funeral director in London during the Second World War, when the Germans bombed the city. His experiences during the First World War, when he was a soldier, have given him mental problems. He is very withdrawn, which doesn’t, however, prevent him from being a clever – albeit reluctant – amateur detective in a suite of books by Barbara Nadel.