Ed is a Black investigator for the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation. He is dispatched to the small, predominantly white town of Money to look into a string of bizarre and gruesome murders. Ed is tough and observant, maintaining his composure and wit while dealing with the overt racism of the local police force and townspeople. He views his job as a way to provide armed representation for his community.

Jim is an MBI detective who works closely with Ed Morgan. Like Ed, he joined law enforcement to ensure armed representation for the Black community. He is perceptive and uses a sharp sense of humor to cope with the tension of his job. Jim takes an early interest in a local diner waitress while trying to gather information on the town's history.

Sheriff Jetty is the lead law enforcement officer in Money, Mississippi. Embittered by his job and the town's lack of resources, he is forced to work with state and federal investigators when local murders escalate. Though raised in a racist environment by a father connected to the Ku Klux Klan, he attempts to keep his most openly bigoted deputies in check.

Herberta, who prefers to be called Herbie, is a tough Black FBI agent sent to provide support in Money. She manages a male-dominated, frequently hostile work environment by adopting a hardened exterior. She is dedicated to reforming law enforcement from within, placing her at odds with locals who view the system as entirely corrupt.

Mama Z is a 100-year-old resident of Money and a respected elder in the Black community. She has meticulously cataloged records of lynchings in the United States since 1913, following the death of her father. She operates as a keeper of history and views white-dominated law enforcement with deep mistrust.

Gertrude is a white-passing Black woman who works at a diner in Money. Because locals assume she is white, she quietly observes the unfiltered racism of the town's residents. She acts as a vital bridge between the visiting detectives and the local Black community's history.

Damon is a highly educated assistant professor at the University of Chicago who has published books on racial violence. He arrives in Money at Gertrude's request to document the strange occurrences in the town. Surrounded by Mama Z's extensive archives, he begins the emotional task of hand-writing the names of historic lynching victims.

Digby is a deputy sheriff in Money who assists Sheriff Jetty with the initial murder investigations. He follows his boss's orders, including a covert assignment to spy on the out-of-town Black detectives. He represents the systemic prejudice common among the town's local authorities.

Brady is a local police officer in Money who works alongside Digby. He frequently uses racial slurs and exhibits overt bigotry toward the Black community and the visiting MBI detectives. His undisguised racism makes him a liability to Sheriff Jetty.

Wheat is an unemployed truck driver and resident of Small Change, a suburb of Money. He is the son of Granny C and the direct descendant of one of the men responsible for a historic 1955 lynching. He becomes the second victim in the town's mysterious string of murders.

Charlene is Wheat Bryant's wife and a mother of four. She operates on a pragmatic level, reacting to her husband's death by wondering if he was secretly having an affair and immediately preparing to clean the blood with bleach. She secretly enjoys participating in erotic chats with truck drivers over a private radio channel.

Junior Junior is Wheat Bryant's cousin and a descendant of the perpetrators of a famous 1955 lynching. He is thoroughly disliked by both the white and Black communities in Money, known for stealing pigs. His brutal murder sets the entire plot into motion.

Daisy is the widow of Junior Junior and a mother of four. Following her husband's murder, she struggles to afford funeral expenses and is frightened by the strange circumstances surrounding the crime scene.

Granny C is the elderly matriarch of the Bryant family, known historically as Carolyn Bryant. She lives with the guilt of having falsely accused a young Black boy decades earlier, an act that led to a notorious lynching. She is tormented by fear that the past is returning to haunt her family.

Reverend Cad Fondle serves as the town coroner despite lacking medical credentials, while also leading a local Ku Klux Klan chapter. He frequently manipulates death certificates to cover up racial violence. He is deeply paranoid about a Black uprising and uses his religious and civic authority to maintain the town's racist status quo.

Fancel is Reverend Fondle's wife. She shares town gossip with him and, after his death, reluctantly provides the MBI detectives with information about his prejudices, criminal behavior, and widespread unpopularity.

Dill works the front desk at the town morgue under Reverend Fondle. He attempts to explain the impossible disappearance of a corpse by suggesting ghosts are involved. He later shares damning information about Fondle's corrupt practices with the detectives.

Helvetica is the state medical examiner who analyzes the mysterious corpses recovered from the crime scenes. She conducts DNA testing to identify the bodies and trace their origins to a cadaver supply company in Chicago.

Daniel Moon is a Chicago police detective sergeant who investigates a murder scene matching the exact methods of the killings in Mississippi. He assists Jim in tracking leads related to a local cadaver supply company.

Agnes is Sheriff Jetty's wife. While looking through old family photographs with him, she helps uncover a surprising truth about his ancestry, complicating his relationship with the town's history.

Pete Built is a trucker who participates in private radio chats. He serves as an outlet for Charlene's need for intimate conversation outside her marriage.

Lulabelle is the young daughter of Charlene and Wheat Bryant. She reports hearing dragging chains and laughter, heightening the family's paranoia before another tragic event.

Chester is a white man who drives a truck carrying cadavers from Chicago. He disappears near Mississippi and is later tracked down by the MBI detectives, who question him regarding his connections to the stolen bodies.

Chris Toms is the manager of the Acme Cadaver Company in Chicago. He provides crucial information to the detectives regarding a missing truck full of cadavers.

Otis is the local mortician who tries to upsell expensive funeral packages to grieving widows. He eventually settles for selling Daisy a pauper's coffin for her husband.

Hal Chi is a lieutenant detective in California. He investigates copycat murders that match the gruesome methods found in Mississippi.

Daryl Ho is a detective in California who works alongside Hal Chi. He communicates directly with the FBI regarding the strange disappearance of bodies from his local morgue.

Kwame Wallace is the Black sheriff of Hernando, Mississippi. He oversees the investigation of a mass murder in his town and shares the gruesome details with the visiting MBI detectives.