Archie Jones is Lottie’s son and the primary motivation for her life of deception. His existence shapes her choices, from her initial decision to change their names and move to Baycliff to her ongoing efforts to maintain a façade of normalcy. Lottie’s fierce desire to protect him from the same societal judgment she faced as a “never-married single mother” (35) is the bedrock of their relationship. Having witnessed the bullying his mother endured in Spokane, Archie develops an unwavering loyalty to her, accepting the narrative that she was the innocent victim of a widespread injustice. This belief system, carefully cultivated by Lottie, insulates him from the truth of her nature and allows her to maintain her double life.

Despite his professional success as a lawyer, a career Lottie believes was inspired by her “wrongful” accusation, Archie demonstrates consistently poor judgment in his personal life, particularly concerning women. Lottie views his marriage to the much-younger Morgan as a “big one” (26) among his mistakes and feels that his life is “at least half my fault” (15), suggesting she links his questionable choices to his unconventional upbringing. This dynamic highlights Lottie’s deep-seated sense of responsibility and guilt. Archie’s concern for his mother’s well-being as she ages is genuine, yet his decision to secretly track her phone via a location app is a profound betrayal. This act of surveillance ironically mirrors the scrutiny Lottie has spent her life evading from law enforcement and reveals a generational divide on privacy. While intended as a protective measure, his tracking ultimately becomes a threat to the secret life she has killed to protect.

Kenneth Burke is the novel’s primary antagonist and Lottie’s lifelong nemesis. As the lead detective in the 1985 Spokane murders, he is the one figure who correctly identifies Lottie as the killer. His inability to prove her guilt becomes the defining failure of his career, fueling a 40-year obsession that extends long into his retirement. Burke is a static character, driven by a singular, unwavering conviction that Lottie is guilty. He embodies the inescapable nature of the past and a form of institutional judgment that Lottie cannot simply eliminate.

His character serves to reignite the central conflict of the novel. Decades after the original investigation, Burke discovers Lottie’s new identity and orchestrates a plan to expose her by feeding information about her case to the ambitious docuseries producer, Plum Dixon. When that fails, he manipulates Plum’s grieving mother, Norma, and Plum’s boyfriend, Cole, even using his own son to try to prove Lottie’s guilt. Burke’s relentless pursuit forces Lottie out of retirement and demonstrates that even though she changed her name and location, she could never fully escape the consequences of her past actions. His obsession is not just about justice but also about legacy; he is determined to be remembered as the man who finally caught the “she-devil” of Spokane.

Plum Dixon and Detective Kelsie Harlow serve as critical foils to Lottie, representing a younger generation of ambitious women who fatally underestimate their elderly target. Plum is the catalyst for the novel’s events. A confident and persistent docuseries producer, she approaches Lottie with the assumption that she is a “wrongfully accused” (5) woman whose story can be neatly packaged for public consumption. Plum’s professional ambition blinds her to the danger she is in; she dismisses Lottie’s clear refusal to participate in the series, a misjudgment that leads directly to her murder. Her death forces Lottie out of a long retirement and sets the plot in motion.

Detective Kelsie Harlow mirrors Plum’s underestimation, though her motives are more cynical. Initially, she interacts with Lottie as a frail and potentially forgetful witness. However, once she uncovers Lottie’s true identity as Lorena Mae Lansdale, she sees an opportunity not for justice but for personal enrichment. Kelsie attempts to blackmail Lottie, leveraging her secret past for money. Like Plum, Kelsie’s confidence in her ability to control the situation is her undoing. Both characters embody the central theme of the perils of ageism and gender discrimination. They perceive Lottie through the lens of age and perceived weakness, failing to recognize the capable and ruthless killer hiding behind the façade of a harmless old woman.

Norma Dixon, Plum’s estranged mother, enters the narrative as a chaotic and unpredictable antagonist. Her actions are driven by a turbulent combination of guilt over abandoning her daughter as a child and the manipulative influence of Kenneth Burke. Her investigation into Plum’s disappearance is not methodical but erratic and emotional. She vacillates between believing Burke’s theory that Lottie is the killer and accepting Lottie’s counter-narrative that the police have framed Cole. This instability, often amplified by alcohol, makes her a dangerous and volatile presence. Norma’s desperation culminates in her decision to drug and tie up Lottie in an attempt to force a confession, an act of reckless aggression that ultimately leads to her own death. She functions as a pawn in the larger game between Lottie and Burke and represents the messy, emotional consequences of Plum’s murder.

Sheila and Bonnie are Lottie’s closest friends and her link to a life of normalcy within the First Covenant Church community. As fellow retirees, they share in the mundane realities of aging, from discussing health issues and family problems to gossiping about church events and critiquing potluck dishes. Their friendship provides the stage for Lottie’s most convincing performance: that of an ordinary, sociable elderly woman. They are completely oblivious to Lottie’s violent nature, seeing only the carefully constructed persona she presents. Their genuine concern for Lottie’s well-being, expressed when she stops dressing up for bingo and begins exploring retirement homes, underscores the success of her deception. They represent the stable, quiet life Lottie has built for herself and everything she stands to lose if her true identity were ever revealed.

Cole Fletcher is Plum Dixon’s boyfriend, whose earnest search for her initiates the police investigation and brings unwanted attention to Lottie’s doorstep. Characterized by his devotion to Plum, he is initially a sympathetic figure who trusts Lottie and believes she is helping him. However, he quickly becomes the primary suspect in the eyes of the police, a convenient narrative that Lottie skillfully exploits to divert suspicion from herself. At the novel’s conclusion, his desire to honor Plum’s legacy by continuing her docuseries work presents Lottie with a new, “murder-adjacent” (381) purpose.