| | | | Part 1 |
| 1 | John | Rebus | Protagonist. Aka: Strawman, Monkey Man. |
| | David | Gilfillan | The man who works at Historic Scotland. |
| | Lord | Hatton | The original owner of Queensberry House. |
| | Farmer | Watson | Rebus's boss. The detective chief superintendent. |
| | Derek | Linford | The detective inspector. |
| | Joseph | Dickie | The detective sergeant. The informant. |
| | Alec | Carmoodie | MI5. One of the members of PPLC. |
| | Peter | Brent | The Scottish officer representative. |
| | Ellen | Wylie | One of Rebus's associates. |
| | | | PPLC - Policing of Parliament Liaison Committee. |
| | Grant | Hood | Rebus's associate. One of the members of PPLC. |
| | Joe | Dickie | One of the members of PPLC. |
| | Duke of | Queensbery | The secretary of state. |
| | James | Douglas | The duke's son. Earl of Drumlanrig. |
| | Hugh | McDiarmid | A poet who writes a poem to Alicia. Aka: Christopher Murray Grieve. |
| | Marlene | | One of the archaeologists. |
| 2 | Siobhan | Clarke | One of Rebus's associates. |
| | Sandra | Carnegie | Siobhan's companion. A rape victim. |
| | David | Carnegie | Sandra's son. |
| 3 | Roddy | Grieve | An investment analyst. Murdered. Aka: Roderick David Grieve. |
| | Lorna | Cordover | Roddy's sister. A fashion model. |
| | Seona | Grieve | Roddy's wife. |
| | Cammo | Grieve | Roddy's brother. A politician. |
| | Hugh | Cordover | Lorna's husband. A rock star. |
| | Richard | Cordover | Hugh's brother. A lawyer. |
| | Allan | Grieve | Roddy's father. |
| | Alicia | Rankeillor-Grieve | Roddy's mother. A painter. |
| 4 | Jayne | Lister | Jerry's wife. |
| | Nic | Hughes | Jerry's friend. A rapist. |
| | Jerry | Lister | Jayne's husband. Nic's friend. |
| | Catriona | | Nic's ex-girlfriend. Bryce Callan's relative. Aka: Cat. |
| 5 | Dougie | | The man who runs the city mortuary. |
| | Prof | Gates | Dr. Curt's partner. The fiscal depute. |
| | Dr. | Curt | The post-mortem doctor. |
| 7 | Colin | Carswell | Linford's boss. Assistant chief constable. |
| | Donald | Camell | A film director. |
| 8 | Gill | Templer | The chief inspector. Siobhan's mentor. |
| | Christopher | Mackie | The man who committed suicide. |
| 9 | Marcia | Templewhite | Former health board worker. |
| 10 | Josephine | Banks | Roddy Grieve's election agent. |
| | John | Smith | Josephine's former boss. |
| | Billie | Collins | Roddy's first wife. |
| | Peter | Grief | Roddy and Billie's son. |
| | Gwen | Mollison | One of Roddy's political opponents. |
| | Archie | Ure | One of Roddy's political opponents. |
| | Sara | Bone | One of Roddy's political opponents. |
| | Rhona | | Rebus's former wife. |
| | Sammy | Rebus | Rebus's daughter. |
| | Pa | Broon | Sammy's teddy bear. |
| | Margaret | Thatcher | Former Prime Minister of U.K. |
| | Hi-Ho | Silvers | A detective sergeant. One of Rebus's associates. |
| | Billie | Pryde | The detective who interviewed Lorna. |
| | Roy | Frazer | Bill's partner. |
| 11 | Mr. | Robertson | The bank manager. |
| | George | Samuels | Mr. Robertson's predecessor. |
| | Valerie | Briggs | One of Mr. Robertson's staff. |
| | Jimmy | | George's friend. |
| | Rachel | Drew | The lady-in-charge of the hostel. Mr. Mackie's acquaintance. |
| 12 | Alasdair | Grieve | The vanished Grieve's son. |
| | Paul | | A vinyl dealer. |
| | Professor | Sendak | The head of forensic pathology at Glasgow University. |
| 13 | Hamish | Hall | Roddy's press officer. |
| 14 | Matthew | Vanderhyde | Allan's friend. |
| | Edwin | Muir | One of Allan's colleagues. |
| | Naomi | Mitchison | One of Allan's colleagues. |
| 15 | Peter | Kirkwall | Jack's son. |
| | Jack | Kirkwall | The man who built Queensberry House. |
| | Dean | Coghill | The man who built the basement of Queensberry House. |
| | Doc | | Rebus's drinking partner. |
| | Salty | | Rebus's drinking partner. |
| | Gordon | | Lorna's suitor. |
| | Bryce | Callan | Big Ger's successor. A gangster. Aka: Mr. Big. |
| | Morris Gerald | Cafferty | The mobster Rebus had sent to prison. Aka: Big Ger. |
| | | | Part 2 |
| | Dr. | Talbot | Mr. Mackie's doctor. |
| | Miss | Stanley | A social security agent. |
| | Desiderata | | Mackie's ex-girlfriend. Aka: Dezzi. |
| | Rod | Harken | The arresting officer. |
| | Gerald | Sithing | Mackie's close friend. The leader of the knights of Rosslyn. |
| 17 | Millie | Jenkins | Billie's student. |
| | Frankie | | Alasdair's business partner. |
| 18 | Isla | Ure | Archie's wife. |
| 19 | Meg | Coghill | Dean's wife. |
| 20 | The | Weasel | Big Ger's assistant. |
| | Robert | Hill | Cafferty's co-prisoner and friend. Aka: Rab Hill. |
| 21 | John | Hicks | One of the men who worked in Queensberry. |
| | Bert | | John Hicks's co-worker. |
| | Terry | | John Hicks's co-worker. |
| | Eddie | | John Hicks's co-worker. |
| | Tam | | John Hicks's co-worker. |
| | Harry | Connors | John Hicks's co-worker. |
| | Dod | McCarthy | John Hicks's co-worker. |
| | Barry | Hutton | John Hicks's former co-worker. Bryce's nephew. |
| 23 | John | Graham | Barry's assistant. |
| 25 | Yvonne | | Cat's friend. |
| 27 | Bob | Cowan | The interviewee. |
| | Blair | Martine | Freddy's solicitor. |
| | Gerry | Reagan | Owner of seismic storage. |
| 28 | | | SAD - Seasonal Affective Disorder. |
| | Conor | Leary | The reverend. |
| | | | Part 3 |
| 29 | Bill | Nairn | The assistant governor. |
| 31 | Pauline | Carnett | Rebus's contact at National Criminal
Intelligence Service. |
| | Richie | Cordover | Hugh's brother. |
| | C. Arthur | Milligan | A big defense solicitor. Aka: The Big C. |
| 35 | Claverhouse | | A police officer from Scottish Crime Squad. |
| | Ormiston | | A police officer from Scottish Crime Squad. |
| 36 | Big | Po | A doorman from pubs and clubs. Rebus's
acquaintance. |
| | Eck | | The chef. |
| | Houton | | The Bellman's owner. |
| | Gordie | Burns | The Bellman's regular. |
| | John Michael | Lorimer | A criminal. |
| 37 | Cameron | Whyte | Ure's solicitor. |
