Bill Bergson

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Bill Bergson (original Swedish name: Kalle Blomkvist) is a fictional boy detective created by Swedish writer Astrid Lindgren

Lindgren's detective story is of Bill Bergson, a more-or-less ordinary Swedish boy with an extraordinary fascination for detective work. He identifies clues, investigates enigmas, and solves the riddle surrounding a mysterious stranger while the police and other adults overlook or dismiss the whole matter. Astrid wrote shorthand for Harry Söderman, a doctor in Criminology and it was during this work that she learned the basics of criminology that she later used in her stories.

Bill and his friends also plays a game they call the wars of the roses. He, along with his two friends Anders and Eva-Lotta, are the White Rose, while three other kids, Sixten, Jonte and Benka, are the Red Rose. They "fight" over the possession of Stormumriken, an odly shaped stone. The group that don't have the stone must use all their wits and energy to obtain it. The group that have the stone must however give the other group clues on were to find it. Even though there is a "war" between the two roses all six of the youngsters are truly good friends and there is simply a playfull rivalry between them.

One thing the white rose has as an advantage over the red rose is their "secret language" called rövarspråket. A form of piglatin that they use both in their games and in order to fight crime.

Astrid wrote three books about Bill:

• Bill Bergson, Master Detective (1946)
• Bill Bergson Lives Dangerously (1951)
• Bill Bergson and the White Rose Rescue (1953)