Sample of literary figures
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Derek Strange
Male
Former police officer who has made a career change and become a private detective in a suite of novels by George P. Pelecanos. He is well-built, with grey hair and beard, and loves music. He has a sporadic relationship with his assistant Janine Baker, and is a ‘reserve dad’ for her son, Lionel. Derek Strange lives alone with his dog, Greco, a boxer. He is sometimes greatly helped by another former police officer, Terry Quinn.
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Monika Pedersen
Female
There is a shortage of staff which means that the young, ambitious police constable Monika Pedersen gets a temporary position on the crime squad in Stockholm. She is single, likes her work, and eventually gets a permanent position. Later, she is overworked and seriously injured doing her job, and spends her free time investigating the circumstances around her mother’s death. Åsa Nilsonne has written five novels about her.
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Sean Dillon
Male
An IRA soldier, born 1952, who later changes sides and is a British agent in a long row of novels by Jack Higgins (pseudonym for Henry Patterson). As a young man, short, blond Sean Dillon has a brief acting career, and is an expert on disguise. He is also a skilled pilot and diver, as well as an expert marksman and linguist. As a British agent, he got Liam Devlin, another of Higgins’ heroes, as his mentor.
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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.