Erlendur—Detective Inspector with the Reykjavik police
Sigurdur Oli—colleague
Elinborg—colleague
Eva Lind—daughter of Erlender, with a history of drug addiction
Sindri Snar—Erlender’s son out of rehab for the third time; only barely mentioned in this story
Olafur—father and sons who discovered the body. They lived upstairs.
Holberg—murder victim, rapist
Fjola and Birna—twins who had been attacked the same day Holberg was murdered
The Attacker—young man in a green army jacket
The Pilot—another neighbor of Holberg
The couple from Gardabaer—parents of the bride who ran away after her wedding
Disa Ros—missing bride
Viggo—bridegroom
Audur—child who died when she was four years old
Kolbrun—Audur’s mother, committed suicide three years after her daughter’s death
Marion Briem—retired police person known to Erlendur for thirty years
Elin—Kolbrun’s sister
Runar—policeman who failed to investigate Kolbrun’s rape allegations
Gretar—friend of Holberg, with him when he met Kolbrun, missing
Ellidi—friend of Holberg, with him when he met Kolbrun, currently in prison for assault
Klara—Gretar’s sister
Theodora—Gretar’s mother
Eddi—Eva Lind’s dealer
The pathologist—who discovered Audur’s brain is missing
Hanna—the professor who helps him find Eydal
Eydal—the scientist who has Audur’s brain
Katrin—the other rape victim
Albert—Katrin’s husband
Einar—Katrin’s son
Einar’s daughter—died of the same disease as Audur
Ragnar—the head of forensics
Karitas—director of the Genetic Research Center
