Meny

Sample of literary figures

  • Eva Ström

    Female

    An energetic young detective inspector, born in Vietnam and adopted in Sweden. Eva Ström had a difficult childhood, but trained to become a police officer, and started to work in Ystad. She is later transferred to Malmö. She works in tandem with Jonny Lilja in the books by Olle Lönnaeus. She lifts weights at the gym, has a compact body, a wide face with slanting eyes, and lives together with her girlfriend Britt in a house in the countryside.

    Further reading

  • Tom Thorne

    Male

    Tom Thorne is a middle-aged, somewhat worse for wear detective inspector in London. In the early books he is dull and conventional. However, his creator, Mark Billingham, has subsequently turned him into a multi-faceted character with bad as well as good qualities. He is persistent and conscientious, but he can also be short-tempered, grumpy and prone to making disastrous mistakes. Well into the series he becomes involved with Seargeant Helen Weeks.

    Further reading

  • Jackson Lamb

    Male

    Misanthropic boss of Slough House, a department for discharged spies and agents in the British MI5. Jackson Lamb, a central figure in a suite of novels by Mick Herron, is a former spy who has gone to seed. He is tall, has an ‘offensive’ face, is cynical and sarcastic, a chain smoker and is careless about his personal hygiene. This doesn’t prevent him and his department from managing to solve several sensitive spy cases.

    Further reading

  • Varg Veum

    Male

    With his books about the private detective Varg Veum, author Gunnar Staalesen transferred American hardboiled noir to a Scandinavian setting – Bergen in Norway. Veum is one of the best-known fictional characters in Norway; he features in several television productions as well as a comic strip. He operates in widely different social settings and is prone to commenting on current affairs.

    Further reading