Holy Island - Characters

SPOILERS!!!

 

These are the characters in the novel for further referenceO:

• DCI Maxwell Charles Finley-Ryan is the main character in the book. Everybody calls him Ryan. When Lucy's body was found, Ryan was living on Holy Island after taking leave from work. The reason was that months ago when he was investigating a serial killer called the Hacker, the murderer targeted his sister and killed her. Ryan felt guilty about it and took his leave. When the body was discovered, he called his boss to say that he wanted to lead the investigation. Through the investigation he meets Anna Taylor, who was sent as an independent consultant, and they start a relationship. At the end of the book he resolves the crime, and Anna rings his parents and Ryan finally talks to them after months of isolation, discovering that they don't blame him for Natalie's death. 
• Anna Taylor (28) is the second main character. Anna is a university professor in Durham University and her specility is history. She is called as an independent consultant for the case. Anna is originally from Holy Island, but left shortly after her parents died. She discovered that her sister and her boyfriend were together, and her father had left a heap of debts. Her father had been an abuser, and her mother was found dead at the foot of the stairs. Rumours circulated that her father had killed her, and then her father jumped from the cliff. Anna hasn't been to the island in years, and her relationship with Megan has always been difficult. In the book Anna starts a relationship with Ryan. She is almost murdered at the end of the book, but Ryan saves her. 
• DS Frank PHillips is Ryan's second-in-command. Phillips is divorced but he is attracted to his colleage, Denise MacKenzie, and at the end of the book it seems that she may be interested as well. Frank has a thing for colourful ties. 
• Tom Faulkner is the crime scene officer.
• DI Denise MacKenzie is the red-headed officer who works the case. She is determined and fiery, and Phillips is attracted to her. At the end of the book she seems to be partial to him as well. 
• DCS Arthur Gregson is Ryan's boss. At the end of the book we discover that he is part of the Circle, a group of satanic worship. Actually, he chose Ryan to lead the investigation because he thought he would be ineffective. The book ends without being found out. 
• DC Jack Lowerson is a young constable, eager and willing to work. Lowerson is attacked when he is having a look at the vicarage greenhouse. Lowerson is found by Ryan and Phillips, badly injured, so he is taken to hospital. At the end of the book he is still in a critical condition.
• Jeffrey PInter is the senior police pathologist.
• Alex Walker (29) is a local coast guard. Alex becomes a suspect and is even held in custody when Ryan discovers that he had an affair with Lucy, but his defence for not saying anything is that he didn't want his ex-wife to discover it as it would make their divorce more difficult. Years ago Alex and Anna were in a relationship, but Megan seduced him and Anna discovered them together. Shortly afterwards Anna left. The police arrest him when they find Lucy's mobile and some of her clothes in Alex's fishing hut. Besides, his alibis for the murders don't tally. Alex finally tells the truth. When Lucy and Megan were killed, he was with Rob, who he had a relationship with. He had been in a relationship with Rob for six years, but he didn't dare to come out for his parents' sake. 
• Megan Taylor (29) is Anna's sister. They have always had a complicated relationship. Megan has always refused her sister and always wanted what Anna had. That is why she went out of her way to steal her boyfriend years ago. Megan has been with most of the men on the island, and then blackmailed them. Megan was killed by the high priest (Dr Walker) when he tried to blackmail her. 
• Dr Steve Walker is the killer of Megan and Rob. He is the high priest of the circle, a satanic group. Dr Walker intended to kill Anna as well, but thankfully, Ryan stopped him. Dr Walker hinted that he also killed Anna's parents years ago, and now the police intend to investigate this claim. 
• Yvonne Walker is Dr Steve Walker's wife and Alex's mother. Yvonne was a good friend to Sara Taylor, and Anna has always seen her as a mother figure. 
• Daniel Mathieson (52) is Lucy's father, and he killed her. Daniel abused his daughter, and when she finally left the island and his control, Daniel hated it, especially when he discovered that she and Alex Walker were in a relationship. Daniel used to be a teacher but had to take early retirement when there were reports from their teanage students that his behaviour towards them was not appropriate. 
• Dr Mark Bowers is a part-time coast guard and historian. He was Anna's mentor and thanks to him, Anna studied at university. Anna regards him as a father figure, but Mark's intentions towards her are not so fatherly. At the end of the book we discover that Mark also belongs to the circle and Gregson names him the new high priest. We also find out that he has the vicar and his wife locked in his basement, and he intends to kill them as his offering to the devil.
• Bill Tilson is the local pub landlord. Years ago Bill was one of the waiters there, and when Anna's father died and the debts were discovered, Anna and Megan sold the pub to Bill. He is also one of the men Megan had seduced. Bill was part of the satanic group, and he is the one who drugs Anna and drives her to the castle to the high priest for her sacrifice. 
• Rob Fowler is another coastguard. He and Alex had a relationship for six years, and he wanted to go public but Alex refused to do it. Rob belonged to the circle and he saw Daniel Mathieson transport his dead daughter, and when he told the high priest, he killed him as he thought Rob was becoming a risk for the circle.
• Pete Rigby (21) is the deputy coast guard. He also works in the pub and helps his mother in the running of the local hotel. Pete and Lucy went to school together and knew each other since then. Pete admits to the police that Megan seduced him once, and he gave her some money to discover that she had played him for a fool. 
• Alison Rigby is Pete's mother and runs the local inn. She is part of the circle and helped Bill to drug Anna so that she could be taken to the high priest for her sacrifice. 
• Mike Ingles is the local vicar. He disappears and we discover that Mark Bowers has kidnapped him and his wife, and he intends to kill them. 
• Jennifer Ingles is the vicar's wife. She was the one to supply the circle with the seeds of morning glory to drug the victims. she and her husband are locked in the basement of Mark Bowlers at the end of the book
• Lucy Mathieson (21) is the girl who is killed and left in the priory. Lucy is studying art in Newcastle, and the police discover that she was having a relationship with Alex Walker, the coast guard. Ryan discovers that it was her father who killed him as he had an unhealthy relationship with his daughter, and when she became independent, he didn't like it.
• Helen Mathieson is Lucy's mother.
• Liz Morgan is the neighbour who discovers Lucy's body when she was walking her dog. She runs the gift shop in town. 
• Andy Taylor was Anna and Megan's father. He owned the local pub, and he illtreated his wife and daughters. Andy's body was found washed up on the beach, and for years it was thougth this showed his guilt over his wife's death, but after Dr Walker is arrested, the police are going to investigate if Andy may have been murdered by the circle. 
• Sara Taylor was Anna and Megan's mother. Her body was found at the foot of the stairs in her home, and there were many rumours about her husband pushing her down the stairs after finding her with another man. Some others think that it was an accident. It seems that Dr Walker killed her as part of the sacrificial offering in the satanic group.
• Kim Walker is Alex's ex-wife. 
• Eve Finlay-Ryan is Ryan's mother.
• Natalie Finlay-Ryan is Ryan's sister. When Ryan was investigating a serial killer, Natalie came to stay with him, and the killer targeted and killed her.
• The Hacker is the killer who murdered Ryan's sister.