Treacherous Strand - Characters

 

SPOILERS!!!

These are the characters in the novel for further reference:

REGULAR CHARACTERS

• Ben (Benedicta) O'Keefe is the main character. She is a solicitor and deals with many legal matters in the area. Ben's real name is Sarah, but she changed it to her second name (Benedicta) and her mother's maiden name when she moved here. Ben left Dublin after her sister's death. Faye started going out with Ben's boyfriend and colleague after Ben broke up with him. That caused a rift between the sisters. Faye was reckless, and Luke was a cocaine user, and Ben knew that her sister has started using cocaine. One night Faye called her four times, but Ben ignored her calls, and the next day her sister appeared strangled. Her boyfriend was arrested, but during the trial he said that Faye had died after a consensual sexual practice that had gone awry, so he was only charged with manslaughter  and sentenced to ten years. Ben's parents are not happy and want a more firm punishment, but Ben doesn't want them to discover that she ignored Faye's calls and the fact that Faye used cocaine. That was what pushed her to leave Dublin, and now she visits them very infrequently. Ben is happy in Donegal, and has a good friendship with the local sergeant, Molloy, and there is some attraction between them, and in this book they finally get together. At the end of the book Ben learns that Luke has been released from prison. 
• Sergeant Tom Molloy is the local guard. He and Ben are close, and it is clear that there is an attraction between them. At the end of the book he finally confesses what he feels and they get together. 
• Maeve Sheridan is a local vet and Ben's best friend. 
• Garda Andy McFadden is a local policeman. 
• Leah McKinldy is Ben's assistant.
• Liam McLaughlin is the estate agent in the town. 
• Dr Laura Callan was the pathologist who did the postmortem in the last book. Ben identifies as the pathologist in her sister's case, whose testimony resulted in Luke having a lesser sentence. In this book Tom tells Ben that Laura is his ex and she wants them to get back together. That makes Ben very jealous and bitter. At the end of the book Tom tells her that he told Laura that there is only a woman who is in his mind all the time, and that woman is Ben.
• Luke Kirby is the man who is serving ten years in prison for killing Faye. In this book Ben learns that he has been released. 
• Hal McKiley is the local undertaker and mechanic.
• Phyllis Kettle owns a bookshop where Marguerite worked on Saturdays. Phyllis is very upset to learn about Marguerite's death. 
• Carole is the barwoman at the Oak. 
• Faye was Ben's sister. She was killed by her boyfriend.
• Guinness is Ben's cat. 
• Jackie Breen is the receptionist of the hotel in Ballyliffin. Jackie is Carole's sister, and Ben thinks she is a gossiip. 

CHARACTERS IN THIS NOVEL

• Marguerite Etienne (42) is a French woman who is found dead. Marguerite was Ben's client and wanted to make her will. The police conclude that she committed suicide, but Ben is not convinced, so she starts investigating. She learns that twenty years ago Marguerite belonged to a cult and had a daughter she had to leave behind. In the end Ben discovers that Marguerite was murdered by Hugh O'Connor.
• Iggy McDaid was the man who found Marguerite's body. Iggy is a client of Ben's too as he lost his driving licence for drunkenness, and Ben is trying to get it validated again. Iggy finds a job in the ferry, and he dies after falling from the boat. Everybody thinks that his death was caused by his drinking habit, but Ben disccovers that he was also murdered. 
• Adelaine / Abra is Marguerite's daughter who still belongs to the cult. She comes to Marguerite's funeral but she has a negative opinion of her mother. Since her father, the leader, died, she is supposed to take over. That is why David Howard, who also belonged to the cult, tried to stop the letters from her mother, as Marguerite confessed in them that Vaillard wasn't Adelaine's father. Ben gives the letters to Adelaine, and when she reads them, she realises that she can't be the leader. That angers David, who tries to hurt Ben. 
• Alain Veillard was the leader of the cult that Marguerite used to belong to. He died a year ago.
• Simon Howard is the sculptor who lives next-door to Marguerite's cottage. Simon shows interest in Ben, and in the end she realises that he just wanted to protect his son from Ben finding out the truth.
• Seamus Tingue is the man who lived in Maguerite's cottage and died in the lake. At the end of the book we discover that Seamus was actually Hugh O'Connor's father. He had an incestuous relationship with Clodagh, who was his half-sister and didn't know. Hugh killed him when he learnt the truth. 
• Jim Gallaguer and Sean Dolan are developers who hire Ben to deal with the sale of some land in Malin Head because they want to build a hotel. 
• DS FRank Hanrahan is the detective that comes from Letterkenny to investigate the death of Marguerite.
• David Howard is Simon's son. He is a strange man who talks little. At the end of the book he reveals that he was the one who drugged Marguerite because he wanted to stop her from interfering with her daughter. David kidnaps Ben and takes her to the cliff near where Marguerite died. When Tom and his father appear, the young man throws himself from the cliff. 
• Brendan Quinn is a psychiatrist who treated Marguerite for the trauma she was experiencing for her life in the cult. Brendan confesses to Ben that she had an affair with Marguerite but the affair ended six months ago.
• Hugh Connor (18) is a young man who hired Ben to get him out of the charges for dangerous driving. Hugh turns out to be Marguerite's killer, but he alos killed Iggy and Seamus. He discovered that Aidan was not his dad, but he was the product of incest. That is something he couldn't afford to be known as he aspired to become a Minister like his grandfather one day.
• Big Hugh O'Connor was Hugh's late grandfather was was the ex-minister for the devence.
• Aidan Doherty was Hugh's father. He had an affair with Marguerite. Aidan regrets telling Hugh about the truth of his parentage.
• Clodagh O'Connor is Hugh's mother.
• Micchaela REddy is the woman who used to belong to the cult and helps Ben with information. 
• James Quinn is Brendan's son who confesses to the murder of Marguerite because he was in love with Hugh, who persuaded him to admit to having killed the woman.