Sample of literary figures
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Kay Scarpetta
Female
Patricia Cornwell’s protagonist is a forensic scientist based in Virginia, USA. She has been described as just over forty years old, blond with several love interests and a few female competitors who do not appreciate her confidence. She is a highly competent forensic investigator and crack shot, which is useful since she is often under threat. Scarpetta likes to cook in her spare time.
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Ben Cooper
Male
Cooper’s father was a policeman and Benjamin, or Ben, followed in his footsteps. He works at the Derbyshire police. Cooper grew up in Derbyshire and many of his investigations take place in the Peak District. He usually works alongside his superior officer, Diane Fry. In Stephen Booth’s novels they are in love; a fact they both refuse to admit it even to themselves.
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Liz (Elizabeth) Carlyle
Female
The quick-thinking British secret agent Elizabeth ‘Liz’ Carlyle has worked since 1994 for MI5 and later MI6. She is – according to author Stella Remington – 34 years old in the first book about her, is 168 cm tall, has brown hair and greyish-blue eyes and is described as pretty. She lives in a simple little flat in London and is single, but she satisfies her sexual needs with a married man that she is not in love with.
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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.