The Last Remain - Characters

SPOILERS!!!

 These are the regular characters in this series of mysteries:

• Dr Ruth Galloway (51) is a forensic archaeologist who has worked with the police in Norfolk several times. Ruth had a complicated relationship with her parents because of their religion, but four years ago her mother died, and they managed to make their peace in the end. Now Ruth seems to have a closer relationship with her father, and she misses her mother. Ruth also has a peculiar relationship with Harry Nelson, the detective. In the first book they slept together, finding comfort in each other after very tragic events, and then she got pregnant and had her daughter, Kate.  Nelson’s wife eventually discovered that the baby was Nelson’s, and she forbid him from seeing Kate and Ruth again. However, when Nelson got sick, Michelle reconsidered her decision, and now he sees Kate regularly. Ruth had a short relationship with Max, another archaeologist, but Ruth broke up with him because she realised she wasn’t in love with him. Some time later she met Frank, a American historian who has a programme on TV, and Ruth had a fling with him, but when he asked her to move to America with him, she refused. Frank returned to England some time later, and two years ago he asked her to move in with him. So Ruth accepted a job in Cambridge and lived with him for two years. However, in the end we see Ruth was not really happy with Frank, and when Frank asked her to marry him, she refused and decided to return to Norfolk. Now she is the head of the archaeological department, replacing Phil Trent, who has retired. In the last book she discovered that her new neighbour, Zoe, was her half-sister. Her mother had a baby out of wedlock in 1963 and her parents forced her to give the baby away. In this book Nelson and Michelle are separated, but Ruth is unsure whether to live with him. Yet, when he tells her that he loves her, she finally agrees to share a home with him and Kate. 
• DCI Harry Nelson (53) is the head of the crime department in Norfolk, and he and Ruth first met when he asked for her professional advice in a case. He and Ruth have a complicated relationship because they have had sex on different occasions , after one of which she got pregnant.  Nelson loves his wife, but he also loves Ruth. When Michelle discovered the truth about Kate, she banned him from seeing Ruth or the child, but after he fell seriously sick, Michelle agreed to let him see Kate on a regular basis. Harry also has two teenage daughters. When in a previous book Nelson discovered that his wife had had a fling with Tim for a year, he felt hurt and betrayed, but he could not begrudge Michelle what he had already done with Ruth. Nelson considered leaving Michelle for Ruth, but then his wife announced she was pregnant, so he couldn’t leave her. Now Nelson has a son, who he is very proud of. In a previous book he told his mother about Kate, and she surprised him by her understanding. Michelle leaves Nelson and he wants to live with Ruth, but it is not until the end of this book when he tells her he loves her, and they decide to start a new life in a new village.
• Kate Galloway (12) is Ruth’s sweet daughter. Kate is really lovely, talkative and determined. Now Kate is aware of her family situation, but she doesn’t seem bothered. She is just happy to have two older half-sisters and her baby brother. She claims to want to be an actress when she grows up
• Flint is Ruth’s cat.
• Cathbad (Michael Malone) (53) is Ruth’s friend. He is a druid and usually wears colourful tunics and cloaks. He and Judy Johnson are now together and have two children. Their relationship started when Judy and Cathbad were looking after Kate when she was a baby. That night they slept together, which was just before she got married, and  after her wedding, Judy continued her affair with him. She had her first child while married, but Cathbad knew the boy was his. After a couple of years in her marriage, Judy realised that she was not happy and decided to leave Darren, her husband. Cathbad had to make some changes in his life for Judy. He used to live in a caravan, but now he and Judy have a house where they live with their two children, Michael and Miranda. Cathbad contracted covid and  almost died. In this book he experiences symptoms of long covid. He is involved in the case of the body found in this book, and when he tries to find out the truth, he is kidnapped and locked in a cave. At the end of the book Cathbad and Judy get married.
• DI Judy Johnson (41) is part of Nelson’s team. She is clever and Nelson trusts her more than any of his other officers. Judy is separated from her first husband and living with Cathbad and their two children. In the past, she had an affair with Cathbad, which started just before her wedding, and the child she had was his. After she realised that she didn’t love her husband the way she loved Cathbad, she decided to break up with her husband and start a new life with the man she really loves. Judy promoted to a DI, and she sometimes wonders if she should move from Norfolk where she has lived all her life. At the end of the book she and Cathbad get married. 
• Zoe (57) moves next door to Ruth. Zoe is a nurse, and Nelson discovers that some years ago she was accused of murdering some patients. Zoe/Dawn was acquitted but she had to live with the stigma even though the real murderer was found. Dawn changed her name to Zoe for that reason. Ruth discovers that Zoe is actually her sister because her mother had her out of wedlock in 1963.
• DS Tanya Fuller is also another police officer in Nelson’s team. Tanya is ambitious, and  she is also resourceful and clever. Tanya and Judy have a tense relationship because Tanya is envious of her, but she also admires her colleague.Tanya is gay, and her partner is Petra, a teacher.
• DC Tony Zhang (27) is a new addition to Nelson’s team. He is of Chinese origin, and he is very talkative, which annoys Nelson often.
• DC Bradley Linwood is a new addition to Nelson's team.
• Maddie Henderson (29) is Cathbad’s daughter by a previous relationship. Now Maddie is a journalist working for a local newspaper.
• Michelle Nelson (52) is Harry’s wife. She is very attractive and works as a hairdresser.  Michelle had an affair with Tim, who was part of her husband’s team, for several months. Michelle met Tim when her husband invited him to dinner, and then they saw each other regularly at their gym. Their affair finished when Michelle agreed to sleep with him but backed out at the last moment and realised that she couldn’t risk her marriage like that.  Nelson discovered her indiscretion, but she made  him see that he did much worse when he slept with Ruth and fathered her child. The affair with Tim eventually was consummated when he visited her several months ago. Michelle got pregnant, and during her pregnancy she was not sure if the baby was her husband’s or Tim’s, and in the end little George was Nelson’s. Now Michelle is separated from Nelson because she realised that their marriage was not real any longer.
• Laura Nelson (29) is Harry’s daughter. Laura trained to be a teacher, and now she works in a school.
• Rebecca Nelson (26) is Harry’s twenty–six-year-old daughter. She lives in Brighton with her boyfriend, Asif.
• Georgie Nelson is Harry’s five-year-old son
• David Brown is a lecturer, who replaced Ruth in her previous post. He teaches prehistory. He is too intense and cantankerous. David has a daughter who is Kate’s age.When the university wants to cancel the department of archaelogy, he starts a campaign. He gets an offer from the University and he asks Ruth to go with him because he loves her. Ruth is taken aback and refuses because she has never considered David her love interest. 
• Superintendent Jo Archer (42) is Nelson’s boss. Nelson thought she would be a nice change after Whitcliff, but she proved to be difficult at first. The woman seemed to just care about the station’s reputation and about rates. Nelson is sure that she would like him to take early retirement.
• DI Dave Clough (41) was part of Nelson’s team, but after he was promoted to DI, he was transferred to Cambridge, where he leads his own team. Clough is socially clumsy and narrow-minded.  Dave is now married to Cassandra Blackstock, and they have two children. Judy misses him.
• DC Lucy Vanstone/Downey (28) starts helping in Nelson's team when Tony has to isolate himself. Lucy confesses at the end of the book that she was the little girl Nelson and Ruth rescued in the first book of the series. 
• Leah (30) is Nelson’s PA. Nelson helps her when he discovers that her husband was abusing her.
• Sandly Macleod was Nelson's former colleague in Blackpool.
• Janet Meadows is a local historian. Janet is a transsexual who doesn’t hide her condition.
• Michael (11) is Judy and Cathbad’s son.
• Miranda is Judy and Cathbad’s eight-year-old daughter.
• Bruno is Nelson’s dog
• Arthur Galloway (83) is Ruth’s father. 
• Gloria Galloway (75) is Arthur’s new wife.
• Simon Galloway is Ruth’s brother. He is two years older than she is. Simon is not happy about his father remarrying.
• Jack and George Galloway are Ruth’s nephews. Jack is 18 and George 20.
• Cathy Galloway is Ruth’s sister-in-law, but Ruth doesn’t like her very much.
• Jean Galloway was Ruth’s mother. She died in the last book when she suffered two strokes. In the last book Ruth discovered that her mother had a daughter out of wedlock in 1963. Zoe, the daughter, contacted Jean, but she replied saying that they couldn’t meet just yet because her husband and children didn’t know about her. And then Jean died.
• Sienna is DC Brdley's girlfriend.
• Maureen Nelson (81) is Harry’s mother. She and Harry have a strange relationship. Maureen is high maintenance as she keeps nagging him about everything. In the last book she learned that Kate was her son’s love child, and she surprised Nelson when she told him that he should try to pursue love if he is sure of his feelings.
• Asif is Rebecca’s boyfriend.
• Thing is Cathbad’s dog.
• Derek is Zoe’s cat
• Shona MacLean is Ruth’s best friend. Very attractive and red-haired, she is the head of the English department at the university. Shona and Phil are a couple and have a son, Louis.
• Phil Trent is Shona’s partner and used to be Ruth’s boss. Ruth doesn’t like him very much. In a previous book he had a heart attack so he took early retirement
• Louis Trent (11) is Phil and Shona’s son. Kate doesn’t like him very much.
• Irish Ted Houllihan (Red Cross) is an archaeologist who Ruth often works with.
• Maura is Bruno’s walker.
• Frank Barker is the historian Ruth had a relationship with. When they first met, he wanted to have a proper relationship with her, but she refused because she admitted to herself that she was in love with Nelson. After Frank returned to England, he asked Ruth to move in with him, and she finally agreed. However, after two years Ruth felt crowded, and when Frank asked her to marry him, she refused
• Cassandra Blackstock – Clough is is married to  Clough and they have two children.
• Spencer Clough is Clough and Cassandra’s son.
• Amélie Clough is Dave and Cassandra’s daughter.
• Isla is Kate's new friend
• Megan is another new friend of Kate's
• Prisha is Ruth's PA.
• Darren Foster is Judy’s ex-husband.
• Tom Henty is the desk sergeant.
• Mike Halloran is the head of forensics.
• Maja Brown is David Brown’s daughter. She is Swedish.
• PC Rocky Taylor is an officer in Nelson’s team. Nelson thinks that he is clumsy and not very clever.
• Sandra is Kate’s childminder.
• Clara is Kate’s usual babysitter.
• Petra is Tanya’s wife
• Sue Trent is Phil’s ex-wife.
• Chris Stephenson is the police pathologist. Nelson hates him because the man is full of air and too arrogant.
• Madge Hudson is the criminal profiler. Nelson does not think much of her and her opinions.
• PC Jane Campion is an uniformed police officer.
• DS Tim Heathfield (32) was the sergeant who transferred from Blackpool after working with Nelson on a case. Then Tim transferred to Essex when Nelson discovered the affair he had with Michelle. Tim kept seeing Michelle every time he visited Norfolk, and this time they slept together. Tim died, trying to save Michelle who was being threatened by a criminal wanting to take his revenge on Nelson.
• Bob Woonunga is Ruth’s neighbour. He is from Australia and belongs to the elginists, a spiritual group.
• Erik Anderssen was Ruth’s professor, and she used to be his best pupil. Ruth admired Erik but things changed when she discovered that he had an affair with her friend Shona in a previous book. Now Erik is dead, but Ruth keeps remembering him fondly. In this book his son, Leif, goes to Norfolk.
• Magda Anderssen is Erik’s wife. In this book she reappears when Leif takes Cathbad and Ruth to the stone circle in somerset. Magda shows them a baby, a daughter of Erik, who was conceived through artificial insemination.
• Freya Anderssen is the baby that Magda presents to Cathbad and Ruth in the stone circle. She is Erik’s daughter. Magda used Erik’s frozen sperm and a surrogate mother.
• Peter used to be Ruth’s boyfriend, but they broke up ten years ago. Peter married someone else and they had a child. In the first book Peter returned after leaving his wife, intending to get back with Ruth, but she refused him. so he got back with his wife
• Maeve is Nelson’s sister. She is ten years older than he is, and already has a grandchild.
• Charlie is Maeve’s granddaughter.
• Louise is Michelle’s mother. Nelson describes her as attractive and agreeable.
• Delilah Henderson used to be Cathbad’s girlfriend when she was very young. Delilah appears in the first book as she is the mother of Scarlet, one of the girls that were kidnapped and the only one who was murdered.
• Chief Superintendent Gerry Whitcliffe was Nelson’s boss, but now he has a new job in the Met.
• Father Patrick Hennessey is the priest who ran an orphanage in a case Harry and Ruth worked on. Ruth  agreed to have Kate baptised by him. In the last  book he reappeared, and he confessed first to Nelson and then to Ruth that in his youth he had an affair and got someone pregnant. Instead of supporting the woman, he focused on his priesthood, but now he wanted to get to know his daughter, Fiona McCallister, who was the director of a rehab clinic.

Characters in this book:

• Emily Pickering is a young woman who disappeared 19 years ago after spending a weekend with some fellow students of her course and her tutor in Grim's Graves, an archaelogical site. Her body is found in 2021, and Nelson and his team investigate her death.
• Professor Leo Ballard is the tutor of Emily and the others. He did not kill Emily but was involved in her vanishment. When he realises his weak position when Cathbad and Ruth started to investigate, he kidnaps Cathbad first, and then he also locks Ruth and Kate in a cave. Thankfully, the three of them are rescued and Leo is arrested.
• Amber Fletcher is another student. She was the one who killed Emily. In the middle of the night she went out of her tent to find Emily and Leo kissing. She threw a stone at Emily and killed her. Leo then helped her to get rid of the body, and the next day she pretended to be Emily so that she could have an alibi. Amber confesses how Leo told everybody that she had left the camp, and then the others saw her in Emily's clothes and having a similar hairdo, but they only saw her from a distance. When Nelso arrests her, Amber confesses. 
• Thomas Westbourne was another student. He was in love with Emily. Then years later after he and Amber got reacquainted in law school, they got married. 
• Gaia Webster is the daughter of the owner of the café where the body was found. Gaia studied archaeology with Leo, and she and Leo had an affair. The strange masked figure who terrified the group the last night in Grim's Graves was her because she was jealous.
• Freya Webster is Gaia's sister. 
• Mark Oldbury was a junior lecturer who was part of the school field.
• Emad Hussein is one of the students who were part of the group in Grim's Graves.
• Gary Bright is the building who discovers Emily's body.
• Edward Spens runs the building firm which was refurbishing the café where Emily's body was found. 
• Gordon and Naomi Pickering are Emily's parents. When their daughter went missing, they suspected Leo, and the professor even sued them for slander.
• Sophie is Emily's sister. She studied to be a doctor and moved to Edinburgh, where she has her practice and her family. 
• Alice Ballard (68) is Leo's wife.
• Becky Smallwood is the branch officer of the university and college union.
• Colin Brand is the university vicechancellor.
• Jamie Shirland is the custdiam in Grimm's Grave.
• Árabella WEbster is Gaia and Freya's mother. She is in a nursing home because she has dementia. Yet, when Tanya goes to see her, she says that Emily was the girl behind the wall.