Scandal on Rincon Hill – Characters

SPOILERS!!!

These are the characters in this novel for further reference:

Regular Characters

• Sarah Woolson (28) is the main character. Sarah is an attorney, which in the nineteenth century was not a usual profession for women, and lives in San Francisco with her parents and two of her brothers, Samuel and Charles and the latter’s wife and children. Sarah is feisty and determined. In the first book she managed to get a job in a law firm, but her boss never respected her and looked down on her for being a woman, so she decided to set her own practice. Her best friend is Robert, who is a bit old-fashioned, but he admires Sarah, and he is in love with her. In this book Sarah finds herself in the middle of two men’s loving ministrations. First, there is Pierce, the man who some time ago proposed to her but she declined. Pierce doesn’t hide the fact that he admires and loves Sarah, and several times in this book they kiss. The second man is Robert, who finally dares to show her that he has feelings for her, and Sarah also enjoys his kisses. I wonder who she will choose in the next book.
• Samuel Woolson (30) is Sarah’s favourite brother. He is only a year older than she is, and he is a journalist whose nome of plume is Ian Fearless. Only Sarah and Robert knew about Samuel’s secret profession because Samuel feared what his father’s opinion would be if he were to learn that one of his sons is a journalist. In this book Judge Woolson discovers the truth, and Samuel finally tells him that he doesn’t want a law career. Even though Judge Woolson is not happy with his choice, he concludes that Samuel should do what his heart tells him he should do.
• Robert Campbell is Sarah’s colleague and friend. Robert is Scottish, and an outstanding characteristic of his is his bright red hair. Robert is old-fashioned and keeps upbraiding Sarah for her fancies as he calls them. Yet, he also admires her and supports her when she needs him. In this book he finally makes his feelings for her known, and Sarah is not indifferent to him either.
• Eddie Cooper (16) is a young lad who drives a brougham and works for Sarah. Sarah is trying to teach the boy to read.
• Pierce Godfrey is a businessman who Sarah met at a charity party in a previous book. Pierce asked Sarah to marry him , but she turned him down. Pierce went to Hong Kong where he had a shipping company. Pierce returns to San Francisco for Christmas, and all throughout the book he shows his interest and passion for Sarah. Pierce proposes again, but Sarah still thinks that they are better off as friends.
• Li Ying is the Chinese Tong lord who sometimes resorts to Sarah for help with his fellow countrymen.
• George Lewis is the police officer who is friends with Samuel.
• Elizabeth Woolson is Sarah’s mum. She would like Sarah to find a good man and marry, but Sarah is not willing to do that.
• Judge Horace Woolson (65) is Sarah’s father. He is supportive of Sarah’s profession.
• Charles Woolson is Sarah’s brother. He is a doctor and is married to Celia.
• Celia Woolson is Charles’s wife, and she and Sarah are very good friends.
• Tom Woolson is Charles’s six-year-old son
• Amanda (Mandy) Woolson is Charles’s four-year-old daughter.
• Charlie Woolson is Charles’s three-month-old son.
• Frederick Woolson is Sarah’s brother. He is a senator and the only one living independently with his family. Frederick despises Sarah for deciding to be a lawyer when she should be at home and married.
• Henrietta Woolson is Frederick’s wife. Henrietta doesn’t like Sarah at all, and she doesn’t conceal her dislike of her sister-in-law.
• Fanny Goodman is Sarah’s neighbour in the street where she has her practice, and she and Sarah have become good friends.. Fanny Goodman owns a millinery shop.
• Nanny Mary Douglas is the nanny working for the Woolsons.
• Arthur Edis is the Woolsons’ butler.
• Ina Corks is the Woolsons’ maid.
• Freddie Woolson is Frederick’s eight-year-old son. He is quite mischievous when he is with his cousins.
• Joseph Shepard used to be Sarah’s boss at the firm. He was quite nasty to her, doubting her skills and work, and finally Sarah decided to leave the firm.

Characters in this book:

• Nigel Logan is the first victim. He was a biologist and a firm believer in the theories of Darwin.
• Reverend Erasmus Mayfield is the minister of the church which Sarah and her family attend. At first the police suspect him in connection to Logan’s death because during a party Mayfield and Logan had a heated argument.
• Ozzie Floldger is a journalist working for a rival newspaper to Samuel’s. Ozzie starts following Sarah and even writes a villifying article about her.
• Brielle Bouchard (19) is the young woman who wants to hire Sarah’s services. Her married lover signed a contract in which he promised to support her financially as long as she was faithful and did what he wanted. When she got pregnant, the man accused her of cheating on him and threw her out. Brielle wants Sarah to fight her corner, but Sarah can’t do much as there is no way she can prove the child has been fathered by the man (Knight). In the end when Knight is murdered, Brielle is approached by the man’s widow who gets her a place to live. ç
• Emma is Brielle’s lovely baby girl.
• Gerald Knight is Brielle’s married lover. The man owns a newspaper, and he is a hypocrite as his articles are about the sanctity of marriage and family life. Gerald is murdered when he shows interest in Melody Tremaine.
• Reginald Tremaine owns a popular emporium in the city, and he gives a party in honour of Reverend Mayfield, after which Logan was murdered.
• Faith Tremaine (30) is Reginald’s second wife. They have two children, and Reginald has two children from his first marriage.
• Melody Tremaine is Reginald’s daughter by his first wife. Melody is beautiful and has a wonderful singing voice. Her dream is to become a professional musician, but her father and stepmother think that it is just a silly fancy and what she needs to do is find herself a husband.
• David Tremaine is Melody’s twin brother. He is the killer and murdered four men when they showed interest in his sister because he feared that they would separate him from her. At the end of the book his grandfather sacrifices his life to protect the boy, confessing to the crimes and killing himself, but he also kills David.
• Major Zachariah Tremaine is Reginald’s father. He decides to accept the blame for his grandson’s crimes, and at the end he kills David and commits suicide, leaving a suicide note, confessing to the crimes.
• Dieter Hume is the deacon who is the second victim of the murderer.
• Patrick O’Hara is the third victim. He worked in an ice-cream parlour, and he was killed with an ice pick.
• Madam Valentine (Matilda Abernathy) is the woman who runs the brothel where Brielle goes to live after Knight kicks her out.
• Lily Randolph Knight is Gerald Knight’s wife. The woman is older than her husband, and it is known that she was the one who had the money, and Gerald is thought to have married her for her riches. Lily knows that Gerald has cheated on her with several young women, and at the end of the book when Gerald is murdered, Lilith helps Brielle by providing her with a place to live.
• Annie Watkins is the maid in Madam Valentine’s brothel who Eddie knows.
• Marco Ciatti is the gardener who works for Judge Woolson and other neighbours in the area.
• Fan Gow and Lee Yup are the two Chinese men who are arrested and accused of killing Hume and Logan. Sarah agrees to represent them.
• Sun Kin Lu is the interpreter that helps Sarah when she visits the two Chinese men accused of the crimes.