| Ginny |
Adams | Friend of Lily's mother |
| Kare |
Armitage | Ethan's classmate |
| Kelli |
Baldwin | Prostitute, murdered |
| Martin |
Byrne | Ethan's grandfather. Aka: Grampy |
| Linda |
Callahan | Detective in charge of Mikaela Sager's case |
| Donald |
Carlyle | Canadian artist |
| Robert |
Charnock | Ethan's new identity |
| Larry |
Childs | Member of the group |
| Mrs. |
Corrigan | Lily's old teacher |
| Melissa |
Cruz | Detective in charge of Nora Johnson's case |
| Gemma |
Daniels | David's second wife |
| Eve |
Dexter | Lily's high school nemesis |
| Eve |
Dexter | Martha's former classmate |
| Kit |
Dexter | Eve's mother |
| Joan |
Didion | Author |
| Nancy |
Drew | Fictional character |
| George |
Eliot | Author |
| Libby |
Frost | David's former co-teacher |
| Inez |
Garnett | Lily's old boss |
| Alice |
Gilchrist | The girl who wrote to Ethan |
| Rebecca |
Grubb | Ethan's wife |
| Detective |
Gunter | Detective who worked on Kelli Baldwin's case |
| Bethany |
Hart | Martha's longtime friend |
| Seamus |
Heaney | Novelist, David's colleague |
| Sharon |
Henderson | Local artist, Lily's mother |
| Jane |
Hillerman | One of Ethan's longtime clients |
| Diane |
Hodder | Libby's old acquaintance |
| Paul |
Hollywood | Celebrity chef |
| Nora |
Johnson | One of the victims |
| Deidre |
Jones | Head of Lily's department |
| Henry |
Kimball | The man Lily helped |
| David |
Kintner | Martha's father, famous English author |
| Lily |
Kintner | Martha's friend from graduate school |
| Siegfried |
Kintner | Lily's grandfather |
| Addie |
Logan | Lily's fake name |
| Mr. |
MacNeice | One of Martha's favorite patrons |
| Cecily |
Makouns | Lily and Martha's classmate |
| Dennis |
Maxwell | One of Ethan's clients |
| Arnold |
Milner | Pedophile |
| Eileen |
Morrell | Former teacher |
| Bianca |
Muranos | Receptionist in Chicago, murdered |
| Ms. |
Myrvoll | Martha's former teacher |
| Josie |
Nixon | Middle school art teacher, murdered |
| Travis |
Nixon | Josie's husband |
| Alan |
Peralta | Martha's new husband |
| Jim |
Prescott | The man who found the dead body |
| Barbara |
Pym | Author of "Less Than Angels" |
| Ellen |
Raskin | Author of "The Westing Game" |
| Martha |
Ratliff | Protagonist, Alan's new wife |
| Mikaela |
Sager | One of the victims |
| Chris |
Salah | Ethan's longtime assistant |
| Dominic |
Salamone | One of Ethan's victims |
| Carlien |
Saltz | Ethan's mother |
| Ethan |
Saltz | Martha's toxic ex-boyfriend |
| Scott |
Saltz | Ethan's brother |
| Vicky |
Saltz | Ethan's sister |
| Evan |
Saltzman | Ethan's client who requested a large refund |
| Richard |
Seddon | Joan's boyfriend |
| Gerry |
Severn | Head of the English department |
| Anne |
Sexton | Author of "The Complete Poems" |
| Gareth |
Vollbeck | Artist |
| Eric |
Washburn | Lily's ex-boyfriend |
| Ethel |
Watkins | Lily's former landlady |
| Joan |
Whalen Grieve | Richard's girlfriend |
| Edith |
Wharton | Author |
| Officer |
Wood | Police officer who worked on Bianca Muranos's case |
| Brenda |
| Lily's friend, mosaic artist |
| Brian |
| Josie's supervisor |
| Chet |
| The boy Lily killed |
| Gilbert |
| Martha's cat |
| Jean |
| One of the library regulars |
| Lucy |
| Martha's sister |
| Mary |
| Martha's co-worker |
| Mo |
| Bartender |
| Norman |
| Mo's co-worker |
| Saul |
| Alan's colleague |
