Sample of literary figures
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Patrik Hedstrom
Male
He is employed as a detective inspector in Tanumshede, western Sweden, but spends most of his time in Fjällbacka, where he lives and – together with his wife, author Erica Falck – solves a row of murder cases in the books by Camilla Läckberg. Patrik Hedstrom is partly based on Läckberg’s first husband, and is described as a ‘completely ordinary guy’, but he is a skilled crime investigator with quite a lot of charm.
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Maria Wern
Female
Maria Wern is a young sergeant who balances crime investigations with family life, including an insufferable husband. She later moves to the island of Gotland where she continues to solve crime. The author, Anna Jansson, has also written a number of young adult detective novels that feature Wern’s son, Emil.
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Nero Wolfe
Male
Nero Wolfe is one of the largest detectives in crime fiction – he weighs almost 150 kilos. Wolfe loves food, orchids and books. Created by Rex Stout, he is a classic crime fiction detective that lives in a New York brownstone. Rumour has it that he is Sherlock Holmes’s son. He has roots in Montenegro and at his side is his trusted secretary, Archie Goodwin, who makes sure that he stays on the job.
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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.