The Running Grave - Characters

 

SPOILERS!!!

These are the characters in the novel for further reference:

Regular characters that may appear in later books:

• Cormoran Strike (41) is a private detective. He used to be in the army, but he left  when he lost a leg as a consequence of a bomb blast in Afghanistan. He uses a prosthetic leg, which often gives him problems when he has been on his feet for too long.  Cormoran also has a very colourful background. His father is a famous singer, who has hardly come into contact with him,  and his mother was a groupie. His mother went from boyfriend to boyfriend, from squat to squat, and she died of an overdose, but in a previous book we learnt that Cormoran has always thought that his mother’s second husband killed her. Cormoran’s only steady background was when his uncle Ted and Aunt Joan took him and his half-sister Lucy in. In his personal life Cormoran had an on-off relationship with Charlotte. They broke up when she told him that she had got pregnant but got rid of the child. It is not clear whether this is true or not, because Charlotte is a born liar. Three weeks after their break up Charlotte announced that she was engaged to an old boyfriend, so Cormoran thought that she and the new man were already seeing each other behind his back. Charlotte got married, and had twins,but then she kept sending Cormoran texts, especially when she was  in a mental home. Cormoran saved her when she overdosed. In the last book Charlotte divorced Jago, and in this book she keeps calling Cormoran, and when he refuses to talk to her, she takes an overdose and kills herself.  Cormoran has feelings for Robin, and in the last book they almost kissed after he invited her to a drink at the Ritz, but he pulled away when he saw the expression of horror in Robin's face. And in this book he told her that Charlotte thought he was in love with her (Robin), which leaves Robin confused.
• Robin Ellacott (31) is Cormoran’s partner. She is from Yorkshire and is divorced from Matthew, after she discovered he had been cheating on her. Robin started to work for Cormoran as a temp while she was trying to find a proper job, but then Robin refused a better job and salary because she wanted to work as a private detective. That was what created problems with Matthew, who did not understand her point of view. She eventually told Cormoran that she was committed to work and wanted to be more than a receptionist, and he agreed to pay for some training for her. Now they are partners in the agency. Robin has strong feelings for Cormoran, but like Cormoran she is worried that starting an affair will lead to problems. Now Robin is dating DCI Ryan Murphy, which annoys Cormoran.
• Sam Barclay is the agency’s longest-serving subcontractor. Barclay is Scottish.
• Pat Chauncey (68) is the agency’s office manager. She and Cormoran have a rocky relationship. She is married and even has a great granddaughter. Pat confesses that she lied when she first got the job, and she is actually 68 and not 58. The reason to confess this was that the new recruit Littlejohn was pressing him to keep quiet about certain things he did in the agency.
• Midge (Michelle Greenstreet) is a subcontractor. She used to be in the police and recently she broke up with her partner, Beth. In this book she got friendly with a client, Tasha, which annoys Cormoran. At the end of the book she and Tasha are an item.
• Dev Shah is another subcontractor in the agency. He was a met officer and Robin calls him the most handsome men in the agency.
• DCI Ryan Murhpy is the detective who Robin is dating.
• Charlotte Campbell was Cormoran’s fiancée and in this book she kills herself. She was  beautiful and well-off. The woman, though, was twisted in her personality. While they were dating, Charlotte kept lying to Cormoran, and he forgave her all the time, but when she told him that she got pregnant and had an abortion, he couldn’t put up with her any longer.  Cormoran broke up with her. Then she got engaged to someone else and married him and had his children.. After her divorce she kept bothering Cormoran with phone calls. Strike kept ignoring the calls, and the night she overdosed she left three messanges in his voicemail. 
• Shanker is a petty criminal who Cormoran uses as an informer. Cormoran and Shanker share some history. Cormoran’s mother found Shanker years ago in a bad state, so she took him to the squat and treated him as if he were a nephew or a new son. So Shanker spent long periods with Leda and Cormoran in his youth. Cormoran knows that he can trust Shanker to bring him the information he needs, but he also knows that having the chance, Shanker would rob him of every penny.
• DI Eric Wardle is the detective that Cormoran has often worked with.
• DS Vanessa Ekweski is Wardle’s partner. Robin has now become a good friend of hers, and she is brought to help in the case.
• Nick Herbert is a friend of Cormoran’s. He is a doctor (gastroentereologist)
• Ilsa Herbert is Nick’s wife and Cormoran’s friend. She and her husband met thanks to Cormoran. Nick was the friend Cormoran had in London and Ilsa went to school with Cormoran in Cornwall. Ilsa is a lawyer. Nick and Ilsa tried to have a child for years and had several miscarriages.She finally had a baby in this book,
• Benjamin Herbert is Isa and Nick's baby.
• Lucy is Cormoran’s half-sister. She is the only relative Cormoran has a connection with. Lucy is married and has three children. 
• Uncle Ted Nancarrow (79) was Cormoran’s mother’s brother, and he and his wife took Cormoran and Lucy in when he found the children in a terrible squat. He lost his wife recently. Lucy and Cormoran are very worried about him as he has been diagnosed with dementia. So they are thinking of moving Ted to a nursing home.
• London Dormer was Charlotte's boyfriend. He was a rich hotelier, but they had a terrible row that reached the press. 
• Jack (12) is one of Lucy and Greg’s child and Cormoran’s nephew. Jack is actually Cormoran’s favourite nephew.
• Greg is Lucy’s husband
• Luke is Cormoran’s nephew. Cormoran does not like him as he thinks the boy is a little bully.
• Adam is Cormoran’s second nephew. Cormoran does not like him either.
• Prudence Donleary is Cormoran’s half-sister. Cormoran gets to meet her and they start having a relationship. Prudence is a therapist.
• Sylvie is Prudence's daughter.
• Declan is Prudence's husband.
• Gerry is Prudence's son.
• Linda Elacott is Robin’s mother. She disapproves of her daughter's profession.
• Michael Elacott is Robin’s father. In this book he has a heart episode. 
• James Jago Ross is the man Charlotte married and divorced. He was her first boyfriend, who she left for Cormoran. 
• Mitch Patterson is the man in charge of the rival agency. Mich is arrested when it is discovered that he bugged the office of a lawyer.
• James Ross is Charlotte's son
• Amelia Ross is Charlotte's daughter. 
• Spanner is the IT specialist Cormoran turns to when he needs help with technical things. 
• Matthew Cunliffe was Robin’s husband. He didn’t like her working for Cormoran. He was really annoying and too chauvinistic in his views about Robin and her job. Shorlty after the honeymoon, Robin realised that she did not love Matthew when she discovered that he had stopped Cormoran from contacting her, but she didn’t leave him then because Matthew got sick. However, when she found an earring in her bed, she discovered that Matthew had been cheating on her with Sarah, a friend. After they separated, Matthew gave her a hard time, making divorce proceedings difficult.
• Sarah Shadlock is the woman Matthew cheated on Robin with. Robin always knew that Sarah would like to steal Matthew from her. Before her wedding Robin discovered that Matthew slept with Sarah when Robin was fighting her agoraphobia after being raped, and that was why she broke up with him for a while. AFter their marriage, Matthew cheated on her with Sarah once again, and they got divorced. Matthew and Sarah are now married and they have a child.  
• Jonny Rokeby is Cormoran’s famous father. He has never cared for Cormoran, and they have seen each other only twice, and both times were a disappointment for Cormoran..
• Dave Polworth (41) is Cormoran’s friend in Cornwall. They have been friends since they were at school together. Dave is married and has two children.
• Penny Polworth is Dave Polworth’s wife.
• April Wardle is Chris Wardle’s wife. 
• DI Chris Carver is the detective that takes over from Eric Wardle when he takes compassionate leave. Carver hates Cormoran because in the first novel Cormoran solved the case, making Carver appear as a fool. 
• Al (Alexander) Rokeby is Cormoran’s half-brother. He and Cormoran became friendly when Cormoran was in hospital after the bomb, and Al went to visit him.
• Aunt Joan Nancarrow was Uncle Ted’s wife. She died in a previous book.
• Leda Strike was Cormoran’s mother. She overdosed when Cormoran was 20. When she was forty, she met a man in his twenties, Jeff Whittaker, and after a whirlwind romance, she got pregnant and they married. Leda had a baby boy, but then she died. Jeff was charged with her death as his alibi aroused suspicion, but he was acquitted.
• Eddie Rokeby is another half-brother of Cormoran’s. He has little interest in Cormoran.
• Martin Elacott is Robin’s brother. He is at university.
• Stephen Elacott is Robin’s older brother
• Jonathan Elacott is Robin’s youngest brother.
• Jenny Elacott is Stephen’s wife. 
• Annabel Marie Elacott is Stephen and Jenny’s daughter.
• Dominic Culpepper is a journalist that sometimes hires Cormoran for some stories to investigate.
• Valentine Longcaster is Charlotte's stepbrother.
• Angel is Shanker's stepdaughter, who is very sick. 
• Switch is Strike's half brother by his mother's second husband. 
• Tara is Charlotte's mother.
• Amelia Crichton is Charlotte's sister.
• Dennis Chauncey is Pat's husband. He is a breeder of pigeous.
• Rhoda is Pat's daughter

Characters in this case:

• Sir Colin Edensor is the man who hires Cormoran and Robin because his son is in a cult, and he wants them to get him out.
• Lady Sally Edensor was Colin's wife, who died without seeing her son again.
• Will Edensor was the young man who joined the Universal Humanitarian Church. He is mildly autistic. Will eventually leaves the church after Robin escapes, and he leaves with his young daughter, Qing, intending to find the baby's mother, Lin. He knows he has done wrong and is willing to go to prison. At the end of the book he, Lin and Qin are together, living with his father.
• James Edensor is Sir Colin's eldest son. He is very angry with his youngest brother because of what his mother had to go through.
• Edward Edensor is James's brother. He had a car acciden and during his convalescence Will joined the church, so he feels guilty that his parents didn't pay attention to him. 
• Kevin Pirbright was a former member of the Universal Humanitarian Church, who was trying to help Sir Colin. He was also writing a book. Then he was murdered, and the police thought it was a matter of drugs, bu Cormoran discovered that he guessed that Abigail killed Daiyu.
• Jonathan Wazwe was the church's founder and leader. He is called Papa J and has great power. He was in custody at the end of the book for the crimes committed in the church he knew about. 
• Mazu Wace is the woman who leads the church alongside her husband. She is feared by everyone. 
• Taio Wace was Jonathan and Mazu's eldest son. When Robin was undercover, she had to stall him because the young man wanted to bond with her. 
• Daiyu Wace was Wazu's daugher who drowned. She was the main prophet of the church. At the end of the book Cormoran and Robin discover that the girl did die, but she was murdered by her sister because she hated her. 
• Jennifer Wace was Jonathan's first wife. She drowned when she was swimming as she suffered an epileptic attack.
• Noli Seymour is an actress who suppors the church. 
• DR Andy Zhou is the doctor that members of the church can only come to when they feel ill. 
• Giles Harmon is a writer who is a member of the church. Cormoran and Robin discover that he uses the church to have intimate relations with underage girls. 
• Bijou Watkins is a young lawyer who Cormoran meets at the christening of Ilsa and Nick's son, and he has a one-night stand with her. Then she keeps pestering her, and through this brief liaison he finds his name in the press because this woman is in a relationship with a rich lawyer. Cormoran is angry and tells her to leave him alone, and Bijou confesses she is pregnant with her lover's child. 
• Clive Littlejohn is the man who Strike hires but he discovers taht Littlejohn has been spying on him at the behest of Patterson. That is the reason he sacks him.
• Louise Pinbright is Kevin's mother and she took her children to the church. When Robin goes undercover, Louise is still there, but her position is low in the church's hierarchy because she sinned by bonding with Jiang.
• Becca Pirbright is Kevin's sister, and she has a high position in the church. Cormoran and Robin discover that she reached so high because she knew the truth about Daiyu.
• Emily Pribright is Becca's sister. Emily had a bad relationship with Becca, and she committed transgressions when she tried to escape the centre. Robin tried to talk to her during her time undercover but it proved impossible. 
• Malcolm Crowther was the man who led a community in the place where the UHC is now, and he was arrested for child abuse.
• Deirdre Doherty is a woman who joined the church. Her husband left with two of his children, and when Cormoran talks to one sister, she wants to know what happened to her mother. Robin and Cormoran discover taht Deirdre died when she was forced into the lake during a manisfestation ceremony.
• Lin Doherty was Deirdre's young daughter who she had after Wace abused her. Lin and Will bonded and they had a child. 
• Qin is Lin and Will's daughter. At the end of the book they have renamed her Sally after her late grandmother. 
• Niahm Doherty was Deirdre's daughter.
• Ralph Doherty was Deirdre's husband, and it was his idea to join the UHC, but then he left.
• Rusty Anderson was one of the prophets. He stayed on Chapman Farm, and then he was killed by a car which ran him over.
• Alexander Grave was another young man who was drawn to the church. Dazu had a relationship with him, and he fathered Daiyu. His family did everything to get him out, so they kidnapped him, and then Alexander hanged himself. He is considered another proheet.
• Harold Coates is another prophet in the cult. 
• Margaret Carthcart-Bryce was a rich woman who was a member of the church, and when she died, she became another prophet. 
• Sheila Kenneth (85) was a former member of the church. She says that she was actually a hippie. Her husband was punished and died without getting medical treatment. 
• Fergus Robertson is a jounralist who wrote an article about the church, and he tells Cormoran that after his investigation he was to have the information for his new article. 
• Tasha Mayo is an actress who hires the agency because some men are stalking her, and Cormoran discovers that the two men want to kidnap her. Tasha and Midge become an item at the end of the case. 
• Cherrie GEttins /Carrie Woods is an ex-member and the girl who took Daiyu swimming when the little girl drowned. When Robin and Cormoran discover that she has a new name and is married, they talk to her, but she is not helpful. Then she gets a call from a woman and hangs herself. Cherie was part of the plot to kill Daiyu. 
• Jordan Reaney is an ex-member who is in prison. Jordan talks to him, but the man is not very forthcoming. After the interview, he tries to kill himself. Cormoran discovers that he and Abigail killed Daiyu. 
• Abigail Glover is Jonathan's eldest daughter and left the church. She is a firewoman. Cormoran discovers that when she was still part of the church, she killed her daugher and fed her body to the pigs. Her position of power was what got three other members submit to her. Then when Kevin seemed to know what happened, she killed him. And she also sent someone to shoot Robin and Cormoran. 
• Flora Brewster was a former member who joined the church because she thought her sexual orienttation would be accepted. That was not what happened. She managed to leave. Flora was Prudence's patient, and Robin talked to her, and she and Will also talked about their experiences.
• Paul Drape was another man who was part of the church and one of the four in Abigail's circle. After leaving the church, he was murdered when he came to work for a couple. 
• Jiang Waze is the driver in the church and Jonathan's son. He and Luise had a son who was born sick. 
• Amandeep Singh is an engineer who becomes a new member of the church alongside Robin.
• Walter Frensley is a university professor who becomes a new member of the church alongside Robin. We discover that he was in the church twice before for short periods of time.
• Marion Huxley  is a widow who becomes a new member of the church alongside Robin. She is totally in awe of Jonathan Wace. 
• Danny Brockler is a member of the church and Jonathan has a high opinion of him.
• Vivienne is another member of the church. 
• Colonel Edward Graves was Alexander Graves's father. When his son dies, he tried to gain custody of Daiyu, but then the girl died. 
• Barbara Graves was Alexander's mother.
• Philippa Delauney is Alexander's sister.
• Nicholas Delauney is Philippa's husband. He has a very bad opinion of the effect that his brother-in-law had on the family. 
• Andrew Honbold is the lawyer who was Bijou's lover. His wife left him when she discovered that he was having an affair with Bijou. 
• Wan is another member of the church. She gave birth to a girl, and then she disappeared and the girl stayed with Wazu.
• Shawna is another member of the church. 
• Mr and Mrs Heaton were the couple who witnessed the distress of Cherrie when Daiyu allegedly drowned.
• Jacob is the sick child that Louise and Jian had, and Robin was sent to look after. Then the boy died shortly after Robin left.