Meny

Sample of literary figures

  • 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

  • Father Brown

    Male

    The Catholic priest Father Brown (he has no first name) is active in England. He has a round, non-descript face and an umbrella which he is always losing; in addition, he usually carries a paper-wrapped package which he finds difficult to keep in order. But he is also one of the best amateur detectives in fiction, the main character in five classic collections of short stories (but no novel) by G.K. Chesterton.

    Further reading

  • Erast Fandorin

    Male

    A Russian police officer, secret agent and spy in Tsarist Russia in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Erast Petrovich Fandorin never knew his mother, and when his bankrupt father died when Erast was 19 years old, he is forced to break off his studies and start working in the police force. His brilliant career is described in a row of books by Boris Akunin (pseudonym for Grigory Chkhartishvili).

    Further reading

  • Münster

    Male

    Whether the middle-aged detective superintendent in the fictive Maadam has a first name, is unknown – his creator, Håkan Nesser, keeps quiet about that. But Münster’s wife is called Synn, and they live in a happy marriage with two children – which doesn’t prevent him from silently admiring other women. He plays badminton for the exercise, and he succeeds his boss Van Veeteren when the latter leaves the police force.

    Further reading