The plot of this novel has demanded a greater number of characters than is usual in my books. I have had requests from reviewers of my earlier books to preface my stories with a list of the principal characters for handy reference, together with a glossary of Northern Ireland police terms and acronyms. If such lists were needed for my previous books,they are most definitely needed for this one. Both lists follow.
DRAMATIS PERSONNAE
Team of Detectives
Chief Inspector Jim Sheehan—Team Leader; charismatic, clever,independent, married.
Detective Sergeant Edwin McCullough—Long-time team member.Old school, stout, confirmed bachelor, lazy, but definitely showing signs of improvement.
Sergeant Bill Larkin—Forensics Liaison; bald, heavy glasses, married.
Sergeant Denise Stewart—Sheehan's detective partner; intelligent,resourceful, very pretty.
Sergeant Tom Allen—Newly promoted to sergeant; bright, well built,romantically involved with Stewart.
Detective Geoff McNeill—Allen's partner; fortyish, middle of the road, incurable stutter, married.Detective Simon Miller—slim, always well dressed, extremely sharp,unmarried.
Detective Declan Connors—Miller's partner; heavily built, well over six feet, unhappily divorced; tends to be surly, but a good cop.
Detective Malachy McBride—McCullough's partner. New to the team;youngest member; excellent detective instincts; unmarried.
Members of the 'Fulfilment for the Enlightened Club' (A)
Judge Trevor Neeson—seventies, elegant, knows many secrets,questionable character, gay.
Judge Kenneth Adams—late sixties, slight, short, astute, enigmatic,cold, lacks empathy, hates Judge Neeson, gay.
Robert Bryant—wealthy surgeon, balding, fiftyish, flashy dresser,questionable sexual tastes.
Jaclyn Kennedy—millionaire property mogul, dangerously quiet but a planner and thinker, extreme sexual tastes.
Patrick F. Robinson—partner to Jaclyn Kennedy; millionaire; large,vicious, uncouth; questionable business ethics and methods.
Michael Stevens—barrister, squat, heavy set, bon viveur with decadent tastes.
Edith Gallagher—law professor, snobbish, worldly, mid-forties,superficially attractive, jaded sexual appetite.
Oliver Kane—senior civil servant, mid-fifties, bland personality,hidden depths, voracious sexual appetites, carries grudges to extreme lengths; hates Judges Neeson and Adams.
Members of 'The Club' (B) [These are characters whose names are mentioned but who have little or no role in the story. The fact that they have sought membership of 'TheClub' is an indication of their questionable sexual appetites.]
Thomas Downey—wealthy restaurateur; owns several restaurants in Belfast; likes to live dangerously.
Norville Keeley—inherited money, wasting it at a fast rate, not particularly bright.William Martin—large shareholder in BBC television, elderly,millionaire.
Malcolm McAfee—makes a shady but very wealthy living hiring gambling machines to clubs, pubs, hotels and other places where people congregate; lacks moral integrity.
Martina Henderson—wealthy socialite, party girl, flighty, romantically linked with Norville Keeley.
Suspects[Criminals who issued death threats against Judge Neeson.]
Gerald (The Toff) Delaney—immaculate dresser, burglar who parties at rich houses before robbing them.
Baako Kahangi—brutish African immigrant, guilty of rape and callous murder.
Thomas (The Hulk) McStravick—huge, villainous, guilty of aggravated assault and murder.
Terence Quinn/Eamon McKernan—members of the Real IRA. Quinn was arrested and imprisoned at eighteen years of age for shooting and killing a serving police officer. McKernan, a Real IRA sympathiser, was jailed for threatening Judge Neeson at Quinn's trial.
Ahdel Khan—Asian, but born and reared in Belfast. Vicious and violent bully, involved with sex trafficking gang operating in North Belfast.
Timothy Small—spousal abuser, killed his wife, arrested and imprisoned.
Other Characters
Kevin Lane—a young inmate at Magilligan Prison.
Dr Richard Campbell—pathologist, tetchy, very clever, good friend of CDI Sheehan.
Dr Andrew Jones—tall, well-built black man, with a deep, booming voice, pathologist, assistant to Dr Campbell.
Edgar Doran—Judicial Assistant to Judge Neeson.
George Rice—Scene of Crime Officer.
Margaret Sheehan—school-teacher, attractive, mid-forties, wife to Chief Inspector Sheehan.
Inspector Bob Williams—Friend of Sheehan's. Operates out of 'A'District.
Sam Gardener—retired cryptographer.
Superintendent Joseph Owens—Leader of the Task Force.
GLOSSARY
Police Service of Northern Ireland Acronyms.Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom (Britain) and its police service has broadly similar ranks to its counterparts in England. The short glossary below, while not exhaustive, is offered to clarify for American readers the abbreviations used in this book.
RUC—The Royal Ulster Constabulary now redundant and replaced, in 2001, by:
PSNI—The Police Service of Northern Ireland which is peopled by:
CC—Chief Constable
DCC—Deputy Chief Constable
ACC—Assistant Chief Constable
CS—Chief Superintendent
Superintendent (tends not to be abbreviated)
DCI—Detective Chief Inspector
DI—Detective Inspector
DS—Detective Sergeant
DC—Detective Constable
SOCO—Scene of Crime Officer
NOTICE : The author is British. Spelling (and any common words) are U.K.
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