Sample of literary figures
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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.
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Dexter Morgan
Male
A handsome, friendly and always well-dressed forensic technician, born in 1971 and married to Rita Bennett whose two children he is very fond of. In secret, he is a serial murderer lacking in empathy, as is revealed by author Jeff Lindsay (pseudonym for Jeffry P. Freundlich). Dexter Morgan saw his mother being murdered and is encouraged by his stepfather, who is a police officer, to kill major criminals who have evaded justice.
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George Smiley
Male
He is rather fat, has been said to liken a toad, and is married to the beautiful and forever unfaithful Lady Ann Sercombe. Besides which, George Smiley is a lethal agent with the British Secret Service in a suite of novels by John Le Carré. Before retiring, he also becomes the director of the secret service. In some of the early books, he is however more active as a detective.
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Jules-Joseph Maigret
Male
French detective inspector and something of an icon within the genre. Maigret was a farmer’s boy who became a cop by chance and quickly earned himself an office at the Paris police headquarters at Quai des Orfèvres. Georges Simenon’s books do not only follow the inspector’s investigations, but also his private life, including a happy, but childless, marriage.