1 | Lydia | Chin | P.I. in New York City, Chinese/American, aka Ling Wan-Ju |
| Bill | Smith | Lydia's partner in the detective firm |
| Genna | Jing | Fashion designer, owner of Mandarin Plaid brand |
| John | Ryan | Genna's boyfriend, helps manage Genna's business |
| Andrew | Chin | One of Lydia's older brothers (4 yrs. older), photographer,
Aka: Chin An-Zhang |
| Brad | | Genna's secretary, friend of Andrew |
| Ted | Chin | Lydia's oldest brother, lives in Flushing |
| Tim | Chin | Lydia's youngest older brother, a lawyer |
2 | Harry | Krch | NYPD detective investigating the shooting |
3 | Roland | Lum | Clothing manufacturer Genna wants to produce her clothing line |
| Willy | Leng | Factory owner where Lydia's mother used to work |
| Andi | Schechter | A fashion model |
| Wayne | Lewis | Genna's runway show producer who quit |
5 | Elliot | Chin | Lydia's 2nd oldest brother, orthopedist at Mt. Sinai Hospital, aka Chin Ai-Liang |
| Ling-An | Chin | Ted's wife |
| Ed | Everest | Owner of Everest modeling agency, suspected of being sleazy |
| Mishika | Yamamoto | Lydia's alias while investigating the modeling agency |
| Francie | | Model, warned Lydia about Ed Everest |
6 | Eleanor Talmadge | Ryan | John's very wealthy mother |
| Tony | D'Angelo | Andrew's roommate |
| David | Kim | Owner of fashionable new Korean restaurant in Greenwich Village |
| Dawn | Jing | Genna's sister, a model, accused by Andrew of stealing Genna's drawings |
8 | Ba-Ba | | Lydia's father, deceased |
| Antonio | Velez | Skip-tracer who helps Bill & Lydia on cases |
| Henry & Megan | Lum | Roland's siblings, a surgeon in CA & intern at a TV station |
9 | Mrs. | Jing | Genna & Dawn's mother, lives in Oak Park, IL |
| Simone | Sinclair | Asst. editor at Vogue magazine |
10 | Irene | | Ed Everest's receptionist |
11 | Robert | | Owner/stylist at Tulipe Salon where Everest sent Lydia (Mishika) for a cut & style |
13 | Edith | Lattimer | Upstairs neighbor of Wayne Lewis |
15 | Paul | Kao | Friend of Andrew's that Lydia briefly dated |
| Peng | Hui-Liang | Seamstress at Roland's workshop, missing |
19 | Mrs. | Chan | Friend of Lydia's mother, works at Golden Dreams jewelry store |
22 | Francesca | Rossi | PD officer investigating Everest,
Aka: Francie |
27 | Helga | | Mrs. Ryan's housekeeper |
| John | | Concierge at Mrs. Ryan's condominium |