Meny

Sample of literary figures

  • 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

  • John Rebus

    Male

    Rebus is a Scottish detective who usually works in Edinburgh where most of Ian Rankin’s novels about him are set. Rebus is a loner with cooperation issues and he is not always popular with his superiors. He has a drinking problem, he was born in Cardenden, Fife, in 1947 and he has no interest in politics. Rebus eventually retires from his job, but returns to join a cold case team.

    Further reading

  • Maureen O’Donnell

    Female

    She is the protagonist in the prize-winning Garnethill trilogy by the Scottish crime writer Denise Mina. Young Maureen is a human wreck: sexually abused by her father, her mother an alcoholic, her brother a drug dealer. She has spent time in a mental hospital, and started a relationship with her psychiatrist. But she is stubborn and determined, and struggles to solve the problems and crimes she comes across.

    Further reading

  • Patrick Kenzie

    Male

    Patrick Kenzie is a private detective from Boston. He works with his childhood friend Angela ”Angie” Gennaro. He is tough and quick-witted, he has a black sense of humour and a weak spot for his married partner, which makes their relationship complicated. Dennis Lehane has written a string of much acclaimed hardboiled, urban, violent police novels about the pair.

    Further reading