| Folks You’ll Need to Know | Who Their People Are | What They Do | Common Knowledge |
| Andrews, Nate | Liz Talbot’s partner and ex-brother-in-law | Private Investigator | He is hot. |
| Andrews, Scott | Liz Talbot’s ex-husband and Nate’s brother | Owns private equity firm in Greenville, SC | He is a snake. |
| Bradley, Kristen | Merry Talbot’s roommate | Pharmaceutical sales rep | She’s a little free with her favors. |
| Butler, Willa | One of Clive and Dahlia Butler’s girls | Surgeon | She’s the closest thing we have to a voodoo priestess |
| Causby, Hayden | Part of the Causby clan from Mt. Pleasant | Shrimper | He went to prison for 15 years on drug charges. |
| Causby, Troy | Hayden’s grandson | Thug | Merry Talbot’s been seeing him, but her daddy doesn’t know it. |
| Cooper, Clay | Bill and Nell Cooper’s boy | Police Officer, Stella Maris PD | He’s always been a little sweet on Liz. |
| Cooper, Bill | Clay’s father and Nell’s husband | He owns Cooper’s Dry Cleaners | He’s a straight arrow. |
| Cooper, Nell Avalee Baker | The Bakers are an old Stella Maris family. | Office Mgr. & Dispatcher for Stella Maris PD | She basically runs things at the police department. |
| Devlin, Adam | Michael’s brother, Kate’s older son | Manages Steven’s Hardware, owned by his wife’s family | He thinks mighty highly of himself. |
| Devlin, Deanna Stevens | Adam’s wife | Works in hardware store, mostly home décor | She’s as sweet as she can be. |
| Devlin, Holly | Adam and Deanna’s younger daughter | Goes to kindergarten | |
| Devlin, Isabella | Adam and Deanna’s older daughter | She’s in first grade. | |
| Devlin, Kate Sullivan | Adam and Michael’s mother, the Devlins and the Sullivans have lived on Stella Maris forever | She’s retired from working as a secretary to a judge. | Bless her heart, she’s had a hard life. Raised those two boys by herself. |
| Devlin, Marci Miller | Michael’s wife, Liz’s cousin | Works as a teller at the bank | Her daddy was no account. Her poor mamma drank herself to death. |
| Devlin, Michael | Adam’s brother, Kate’s son, Marci’s husband | Owns a construction company | He’s on the town council–represents District One. |
| Devlin, Stuart | Adam and Michael’s father, Kate’s husband | He’s been dead twenty-five years. | He left to go sailing one Sunday and never came back–lost at sea. |
| DiTomei, Phoebe Bianca | She’s not from here–moved down from Brooklyn about ten years back. | Owns and operates Phoebe’s Day Spa | She does the best color in three states. |
| Douglas, Casey Jane | She moved down from Orangeburg about nine-ten years ago. | Waitress at The Pirate’s Den | She has a pierced belly button. |
| Glendawn, Alma Ferguson | John’s wife, Elvis and Moon Unit’s mother | Works with John at the Pirate’s Den | She’s a good woman, but a little nutty. Saw Elvis Presley last week at the Piggly Wiggly. |
| Glendawn, Elvis | John and Alma’s son, Moon Unit’s brother | Rides his bike on patrol unofficially for the Stella Maris PD | He’s developmentally challenged. He’s 29 on the outside and 14 on the inside. |
| Glendawn, John | Alma’s husband. The Glendawns have been in Stella Maris forever. | Owns and operates The Pirate’s Den | He’s on the town council–represents District Two. |
| Glendawn, Moon Unit | John and Alma’s oldest child, Elvis’s sister | Owns and operates The Cracked Pot, the island’s diner | She’s a talker. Some of the women at Phoebe’s Day Spa think Moon is sweet on Blake. |
| Harper, Elenore | Warren Harper’s first wife | Maid for Calista McQueen | They have three children, but she abandoned them and Warren years ago. No one’s heard tell of her in years. Then, recently, she turned up working as a maid for that new woman in town, Calista McQueen. She’s not right in the head. |
| Harper, Warren | Moved down from Asheville, NC in 1987 | Town doctor and medical examiner when needed | His first wife was a loon. His second wife, Lauren, is sweet as sugar. |
| Jacobs, Charlie | The Jacobs have been around for years | Retired as chief of police in 2005 | His wife, Myrna Lynne, had family money, which was how he could retire so young. |
| Johnson, Hank | The Johnsons have been around a spell. | Local judge | His wife, Shannelle, is certifiable, but she knows how to accessorize. She’s Myrna Lynne’s sister. |
| Lyerly, Tammy Sue | She was a Ketchie before she married Zeke Lyerly. Her people are from Atlanta. | Operates a booth in a local flea market selling handmade items. | She’s high-strung and prone to radical hair color changes. |
| Lyerly, Zeke | He says he’s originally from Atlanta, but he says a lot of things. | Owns and operates Lyerly’s Auto Repair | He’s a good ole boy with a vivid imagination. |
| Manigault, Alicia Rivers | The Rivers family has been in Stella Maris forever. Alicia married Sam Manigault. | Works at the Stella Maris Hotel, her family’s business. | Alicia was Blake Talbot’s high school girlfriend, but Liz and Merry never warmed up to her. |
| Manigault, Sam | The Manigaults have been around a right long time. | Police Officer, Stella Maris PD | Sam is positively besotted with that wife of his. She leads him around with ring through his nose. |
| McQueen, Calista | She’s new in town. | Unknown | No one knows who her people are. She keeps to herself. If she has a job, no one knows what she does. No one knows a thing about her, but Moon Unit is working on it. |
| Miller, Paul | A surfer who showed up one summer and ran off with Sharon Talbot. | Worked for a while with Sharon’s daddy, Ben, in landscaping. | Ran off in 1988. Whereabouts unknown. |
| Miller, Sharon Talbot | Ben and Emma Rae Talbot’s oldest child. Marci Miller Devlin’s mother. | Never held a job. | Drank herself to death in 2001, three months after Marci married Michael. |
| Morehead, David | Nobody knows where he came from. | Works for New Life Foundation, those folks Merry’s dealing with | No one knows a thing about him except that he uses a lot of hair gel and carries a man purse. |
| Murphy, Rodney | Moved here from Minneapolis in 2005. His folks came the following year. Nice people. | Police Officer, Stella Maris PD | He’s a quiet boy, keeps to himself. |
| Owen, Quincy | Executive Director of New Life Foundation | ||
| Pearson, Humphrey Sinclaire | His mamma was a Waters. Both the Pearsons and Waters have been in Stella Maris forever. | He’s an activist. He protests things, mostly drug laws. | Something fried this poor man’s brains. He’s stuck in 1969, and can’t keep his clothes on. |
| Pearson, Olivia Beauthorpe | The Beauthorpes were the first family on this island. Robert Pearson’s wife, Liz’s friend from high school. | Soccer mom | She’s a little high strung. If her fourth great-granddaddy hadn’t been a gambler, the Beauthorpes might still own the whole island. |
| Pearson, Robert | The Pearsons have been in Stella Maris forever. Olivia’s husband | Lawyer | He’s on the town council–represents District Six. |
| Ravenel, Sonny | Lives in Charleston. There are Ravenels all over Charleston, and a few in Stella Maris. | Police Officer, Charleston PD | Sonny and Blake Talbot go way back. |
| Smithers, Luella | Wife of Emmett Smithers, moved here in 1995 from Birmingham, AL | Preacher’s wife | She makes the best shrimp salad anyone’s ever tasted. |
| Smithers, Reverend Emmett | Moved here in 1995 from Birmingham, AL | Preacher at Stella Maris Baptist Church | He has TV preacher hair. |
| Stevens, Colleen | Liz’s best friend. Deanna Stevens Devlin’s sister. Daughter of Walter and Myra Stevens | Drowned her junior year in high school while swimming in Breach Inlet | Anyone with a speck of sense knows better than to swim there. |
| Stevens, Myra | Colleen and Deanna’s mother, Walter’s wife | Retired | She’s a sweet lady, but maybe pushed those girls too hard. |
| Stevens, Walter | Colleen and Deanna’s father, Myra’s husband | Owns Stevens Hardware, but has retired and let Adam and Deanna run it. | |
| Sullivan, Grace | Liz’s Godmother, Caroline Talbot’s best friend, Henry’s sister, Lincoln’s second cousin | Owns and operates Sullivan’s Bed and Breakfast | She’s the local psychic–the real deal. Also serves on town council–District Five. |
| Sullivan, Henry | Grace’s brother, Mac’s father, Lincoln’s second cousin. Married Nancy Emerson | Rector at St. Frances Episcopal | |
| Sullivan, Lincoln Elisha | Mildred’s husband, second cousin to Grace and Henry, Mac’s great uncle | Mayor of Stella Maris | |
| Sullivan, Mackenzie Emerson | Son of Henry and Nancy Sullivan, Grace’s nephew | Lawyer, town solicitor | He’s been a pompous boy his whole life. |
| Sullivan, Mildred Kingsley | Seems like her people are from Charleston. Married the mayor, Lincoln Sullivan | Mayor’s wife | She holds that it’s her duty to set high moral standards for the community–ask her. |
| Sullivan, Nancy Emerson | The Emersons are from Charleston. She married Henry Sullivan. | Rector’s wife | |
| Talbot, Benjamin | Liz’s grandfather. Emma Rae’s husband. The Talbots have been in Stella Maris forever. | He passed on in 1992. | |
| Talbot, Blake | Liz’s older brother by one year | Stella Maris Chief of Police | He could have been a great many things if he’d been willing to leave Stella Maris. Thank the Good Lord he stayed. But living on a houseboat and playing part-time in a band are unusual in a police chief. |
| Talbot, Carolyn Moore | Liz, Blake and Merry’s mother. The Moores are from Sullivan’s Island. | Active church volunteer, housewife | She’s taken up Jazzercise, and wears some interesting outfits for her workouts. |
| Talbot, Emma Rae Simmons | Liz, Blake, Merry and Marci’s grandmother. She was a Simmons, and they’ve been here forever. | She was a homemaker, mother and grandmother | She was on the town council–District Three. Loved to throw parties. |
| Talbot, Frank | Emma Rae and Ben’s son. Liz, Blake and Merry’s father. Caroline’s husband. | Retired from an accounting position in Charleston | He’s a character. |
| Talbot, Harrison | Ben Talbot’s brother. Liz, Blake and Merry’s great uncle | Retired investment banker | He loves money better than anything. |
| Talbot, Liz | Emma Rae’s granddaughter, Blake and Merry’s sister, Frank and Caroline’s girl | Private Investigator | She’s still pining for Michael Devlin ten years after he married her cousin Marci. |
| Talbot, Merry | Liz’s younger sister by 2 years | Executive Director of Teen Council in Charleston | She’s a sweet girl, but she has a wild streak. |
| Vardry, Atticus | The Vardrys are an established Greenville family. | Retired | He hired Liz and Nate to find his granddaughter who ran away in September. |
| Walker, Mr. & Mrs. | The Walkers are from Greenville | Mrs. Walker hired Liz and Nate to document Mr. Walker’s infidelity. | |
| Waters, Vern | The Waters have been in Stella Maris forever. | Owns and operates The Stella Maris Citizen, the local newspaper | |
| Watson, Coy | Moved here from West Virginia in 1993 | Still a bartender at the Pirate’s Den even though he’s past retirement age. | He’s got some colorful family back in West Virginia. |
| Rhett | Liz’s Golden Retriever | ||
| Chumley | Frank and Caroline’s Bassett Hound |
Map of Stella Maris
