A Sunless Sea - Characters

 

SPOILERS!!!

These are the regular characters in the series who have or have not appeared in this book: 

• Commander William Monk is the main character. In the first novel of the series he woke up in a hospital with no memory, so he had to learn who he was little by little. He discovered that he wasn’t a good person, had almost no friends and was cold and too ambitious. William Monk used to be a policeman, but he got fired after disobeying orders and rebelling against his boss, so he decided to become a private investigator, and did the job for a while. He also has a sister, Beth, who lives in Northurberland, where he is originally from, but he hardly ever writes to or visits her. Monk seems to come to terms with the loss of his memories. Some time ago he discovered that he had been in love with a woman called Hermione, but when he sought her out, he discovered that she had left him because she couldn’t match his passion. He also has memories of a mentor.  When he was young, he had aspirations to be a merchant banker, and his mentor was Arrol Dundas, who was ruined financially, blamed wrongly and died in prison. Monk also had dealings with people who benefited from slavery and might have hidden this from his mentor. Dundas accepted to go to prison for fraud as a way to force a railway manager he had dealings with to stop using some new brakes which caused the death of 200 children. Monk helped him to arrange this deal. Monk can be arrogant, and his relationship with Hester has been ambivalent most of the time. He values her drive and courage, but she used to exasperate him. Now they are married and he thinks the world of her, but there are some dark moments when he thinks he doesn’t deserve her. Now Monk works for the River Police after Inspector Dunbar died in a previous book. Now he and Hester have taken in Scuff and treat him as if he were their child.
• Hester Monk (nee Latterly)  is the second main character. Hester is a courageous woman, full of spunk and determination. Hester worked as a nurse in the Crimean War and after she returned to England, she discovered she had lost her parents and a brother. George (her brother) died in the Crimean War, and his father committed suicide out of shame and guilt when he encouraged his friends and acquaintances to take part in a business venture that was a total failure. Hester’s mother also died shortly afterwards as she couldn’t stand the pain of losing her son and husband. In London Hester found a position in a hospital thanks to Lady Callandra, but she was fired when she decided to help a patient with a treatment which she knew  worked but had not been tested. She then started working privately. Her job got her in trouble with justice, and in a previous book she was incarcerated, accused of killing her client, but thankfully, Monk and Rathbone helped to clear her name. In the series Hester has a close relationship with William Monk and Oliver Rathbone. The relationship with Monk has been more difficult as their characters clashed often, but he unexpectedly proposed to her and she accepted and now they are married. Hester now admits to herself that she loves William very much and is very happy. Hester runs a clinic to tend to prostitutes and low-class women. Now she and Monk has taken in Scuff as if he were their son. 
• Scuff is a twelve-year-old mudlark who befriends Monk. In a previous book he was shot when he was helping Monk, and Hester looked after him. Scuff has grown fond of Monk and Hester, and now he lives with them. 
• Sir Oliver Rathbone is the barrister who has worked with Monk in different cases. From the first moment Hester met him, she liked him, and he is not indifferent to her. In a previous book it was clear that he was going to propose to her, but Hester preempted his intentions by telling him that she valued his friendship and wanted to keep being friends forever. Then Hester married Monk. Oliver then married Margaret Ballinger, but when Oliver fails to get her father acquitted, she leaves Oliver. In this book Oliver tries to talk to her, but Margares is adamant. 
• Superintendent Samuel Runcorn is the chief of police and used to be Monk’s boss. He has always been hostile to Monk and expected his failure. He ended up firing Monk when the latter refused to arrest the main suspect in a case. In a previous book he and Monk had a truce, and there seems to be less hostility between them when they have to work together. Now Runcorn is married to Melisande Ewart, a widow he met in a case he worked with Monk
• Melisande Ewart is Runcorn's wife. 
• Margaret Rathbone (nee Ballinger) used to be a good friend of Hester’s, helping her in the clinic with fundraising. Margaret then married Oliver. Margaret's relationship with Hester cooled because Oliver defended a client who Hester and Monk testified against. The client was a man who abused children, and it was her father who asked Oliver to defend him at the trial. Then Monk arrested her father for the death of Mickey Parfitt, who also abused young boys. Margaret beame belligerent against Monk and Hester, saying that they had gone after her father as a personal vendetta. When Oliver failed to get him acquitted,and then Arthur was murdered in prison, she blamed Oliver and left him and moved in with her mother. 
• Sergeant Orme is now Monk’s closest colleague.
• Claudine Burroughs is a lady who Margaret recruited to help in the clinic. Claudine first came across as judgemental and scornful of the women. When the plague hit the clinic and women started dying, she mellowed. Hester discovered that she was not very happy in her marriage. Claudine has changed a great deal, and in a previous she discovered that one of the men that sold pornographic photos of children was Arthur Ballinger, Margaret’s father. Her husband doesn’t want her to help in the clinic, but Claudine is ready to abandon him  if he demands she leave the clinic.
• Squeaky Robinson is the man who used to run the brothel which was then turned into a clinic for prostitutes. Hester used her clever tricks to make Robinson agree to let her use the premises of the brothel for the clinic free of rent. Now Squeaky helps in the clinic but he is always complaining. 
• Ardmore is Oliver's butler.
• Mrs Wilson is Oliver's cook.
• Mrs Ballinger is Margaret's mother. After her husband was incarcerated and murdered, she lost her position and money, and she had to move to a smaller house. Mrs Ballinger is sorry for the way her daughter treats Oliver, but she can't do much.
• Commander Birkenshaw is Monk's new boss. The man seemingly doesn't like Monk.
• Mr Sutton is the rat-catcher who helps in Hester’s clinic. 
• Soot is Sutton’s dog.
• Henry Rathbone is Oliver Rathbone’s father. Henry is very fond of Hester
• Bessie is another woman who helps Hester in the clinic. Bessie used to be a prostitute and doesn’t like having the police around.
• Ruby works in the clinic.
• Superintendent Franham is Monk’s ex-boss in the River Police.
• Commander Durban belonged to the river police, and he and Monk worked together. When they discovered the truth, Durban and Monk took the ship upriver to sink it, and Durban decided to go down with the ship because he had contracted the plague. In this book his honour is put into question, and Jericho Phillips spread rumours that the man used small children to supply him. Hester and Monk discover that Durban tried to find a woman named Mary Webber. Mary was his sister. Durban and Mary’s mother died, and Mary was adopted but her adopted mother and father couldn’t take in the boy as well. Mary and Durban kept in touch for a while, and then Durban fell with a bad lot, but when his friends got involved in a robbery, he decided to join the police. Mary, who had changed her name after her marriage, hadn’t kept in touch, and that is why Durban wanted to find her.
• Wallace Burroughs is Claudine’s husband. He doesn’t want her to work in the clinic and forbids her to return.
• Flo is a prostitute who helps in the clinic. She has an explosive personality and she has some run-ins with Ruth Clark.
• Lady Callandra Daviot was a  mentor/protector for Hester and Monk.  Callandra is honest to a fault and a very determined woman. When Monk was fired from the police, she agreed to finance his private venture on the condition he told her about his most interesting cases. Callandra was also a governor in the Royal Free Hospital, and she fell in love with Dr Kristian Beck, a doctor in the hospital , who used to be married, but his wife was murdered in a previous book. In a previous book Callandra announced that she was marrying Dr Beck and they were going to live in Austria, where Beck is originally from.
• Dr Kristian Beck is the man Lady Callandra is in love with. He used to be married, but his marriage was not a happy one. In a previous book Beck’s wife was murdered and he was charged with her murder. Thankfully, in the end Hester and Monk discovered who the real killer was. When Monk investigated, he discovered that Dr Beck is of Jewish origin, but his great grandparents changed their family name and converted to protect the family. Now Beck and Callandra are married and they have decided to move to Austria.
• Mr Taunton has a shipping company in the West Indian Docks, and investigating a case Monk discovered that he knew Taunton from his past, and in the conversation they had, Monk found out that he and Taunton had dealings with people involved in slavery.
• Arroll Dundas used to be Monk’s mentor. In previous books Monk started remembering. Dundas was ruined financially in some scheme he was blamed for, so he was sent to prison where he died. Monk discovered that Dundas didn’t fight because he reached an agreement with Nolan Baltimore, a railway manager, so he would accept the blame and Nolan would stop using the brakes which had killed many innocent children. Dundas loved Monk like a son.
• Simms is Oliver Rathbone’s chief clerk
• Coleridge is Oliver’s assistant.
• Mrs Imogen Latterly is Hester’s sister-in-law. She is married to Charles, Hester’s brother. Imogen first came into contact with Monk because she wanted him to investigate the death of her father-in-law. Imogen is a beautiful woman, and Monk initially felt haunted by her beauty and charm. In a previous book Hester discovered that Imogen gambled. Imogen almost died when the killer attacked her after he realised that Imogen saw him the day of the murders.
• Charles Latterly is Imogen’s husband. He is not a very nice character as he appears to be overbearing, pushy and unkind. He cares about his reputation and money more than his sister.
• Hermione Ward is the woman whose memory haunted Monk for months. Monk discovered that she was accused of killing her husband, and Monk worked hard to get her acquitted.  Monk remembered loving Hermione, and when he went to see her, she told him that their story ended because she couldn’t match his passion..
• Arthur Ballinger was Margaret’s father and Oliver’s father-in-law. In a previous book he asked Oliver to take the defence of Jericho Phillips because a good client of his had asked him. He turned out to be one of the men who were regular clients of Phillips’. Claudine discovered this about him, and then he stood trial for murdering another man working for him, and he was found guilty. Arthur not only murdered Parfitt but also a prostitute, Hattie, to protect himself. When he confessed to Oliver, he said that he killed Parfitt to get Monk off his back. He thought that if Monk failed to crack his case, he would be demoted at the River Police. He also said to Oliver that he blackmailed the men because that way he could ask them political favours. Arthur was murdered in prison but we did not get to know who his murderer was. 

These are the characters who appear in this novel:

• Dr Joel Lambourn is a physician who investigated opium and its effects for the new law limiting ist use, but the government turned the report down. Monk discovers that Joel Lambourn died two months before Zenia, but he was the man who visited her once a month. At first, everything seems to indicate that Joe killed himself, but then Monk and Rancour discover that he was murdered, and there is a link to Zenia's murder. What they and Oliver prove is that Joel and Zenia were killed by Joe's sister, Herne. 
• Dinah Lambourn is Dr Joel Lambourn's wife, but as the novel progresses, it is discovered that Dinah and Joe were not married as he was married to Zenia. Dinah is arrested by Monk for Zenia's murder, and Oliver gets to defend her. In the end, Dinah is acquitted when Oliver proves that she did not kill Zenia. 
• Zenia Gadney is the murdered woman. Monk and Oliver discover that she was married to Dr Joel Lambourn, but she became addicted to opium, and Joel left her. HOwever, he still looked after her even if he was in love and had a family with Dinah. Zenia was murdered by Joel's sister because she wanted to get her sister-in-law accused of the crime, which would stop her saying that Joel had been murdered.
• Amity Herne was Joel Lambourn's sister, and she turns out to be the murderer. She killed her husband because with her report about opium he could spoil things for her lover, Bawtry, and then she killed Zenia to frame Dinah. 
• Sinden Bawtry is a junior government minister who turned down Lambourn's report about opium. He turns out to be Amity's lover, and his wealth comes from his business in producing needles for opium.
• Barclay Herne is Amity's husband, who works for Bawtry.
• Dr Gustav Winfarthing is a doctor who Hester knows, and he helps in the investigation to save Dinah.
• Grover Pendock is the judge at the trial. He is hostile towards Oliver as he seems intent in hiding the truth. When Oliver discovers that his son was part of the abusive ring of Arthur Ballinger, he uses the photographs to push the judge to let him free rein.
• Henry Pendock is Grover Pendock's son, who was one of the abusive men belonging in the same circle as Arthur Ballinger.
• Sorley Coniston is the prosecutor.
• Gladys Middleton is a woman who has a free clinic for poor men, and she testifies at the trial about the terrible consequences of opium addiction.
• Dr Alvar Doulting did a similar work to Lambourn's and helped him in his research. Dr Doulting testifies to show how serious opium addiction is, and he is an addict himself as he had to take the drug after he was injure in an accident.
• Edgar Petherton found Lambourn's wife when he was walking his dog. 
• Ruby Jones is the woman who found the body of Zenia Gadney.