Meny

Sample of literary figures

  • Flavia de Luce

    Female

    In the 1950s, the motherless Flavia de Luce was not highly regarded by her father and sisters. She was indeed a rather ordinary and everyday 11-12-year-old (with dental braces), but mature for her age, and determined too, with a mind of her own and smart, and she busied herself with nasty-smelling chemistry experiments. Besides, she solved murders – for which the police resented her – in the books that Alan Bradley has written about her.

    Further reading

  • Brother Cadfael

    Male

    Brother Cadfael is a former crusader who joined the Benedictines on his return to England. He is a herbalist at a monastery in Shrewsbury in Shropshire where he solves crime. These whodunits by Ellis Peters (a pen name used by Edith Pargeter) are set in England during the turbulent first half of the twelfth century. They have caused a major surge in popular interest in historical crime novels.

    Further reading

  • Philip Dryden

    Male

    He left his job as a star reporter when his wife, Laura, ends up in a coma after an accident. Instead, Philip Dryden becomes as an investigative crime reporter on the little local newspaper <i>The Crow</i> in the country town of Ely. Laura slowly wakes up from her coma, and they have a son Eden. Jim Kelly describes his problem-solver as almost 190 cm tall, with green eyes and black hair. His best friend is the taxi driver Humphrey Holt.

    Further reading

  • Amanda Pharrell

    Female

    One night as a college student, Amanda Pharrell had a nightmare in which she was being raped. In the darkness of her room she defended herself, and ended up stabbing someone to death – a young woman. Having spent seven years in prison, Amanda Pharrell has now reinvented herself as a private detective in a sparsely populated corner of Australia. Her Author Candice Fox describes her as being petite with blue eyes and orange hair.

    Further reading