Character List for Deadly Animals

The Bonney Family and Related Characters

Ava Bonney—the protagonist; a precocious 14-year-old, fascinated by animal anatomy and decomposition

Veronica Bonney—Ava’s younger sister

Colleen Bonney—Ava and Veronica’s mother, who’s divorced from their father and in a relationship with Trevor Bax

Michael “Mike” Bonney—Ava and Veronica’s father, who’s remarried

Ashleen Scullion—aka Nanny Ash; Ava and Veronica’s grandmother (Colleen’s mother)

Orla Scullion—Nanny Ash’s deceased sister, whom Ava resembles

Trevor Bax—Colleen’s current boyfriend, a mechanic; Ava and Veronica dislike him because he’s sneaky

Luke Bax—Trevor’s 16-year-old son from a previous marriage, whom Ava and Veronica like

John Eades—Ava’s best friend; he goes to a different school than she does

The Police

Detective Sargeant Seth “Skip” Delahaye—a detective with the West Midlands Police, in charge of the cases of the missing boys

Detective Constable Steve Lines—Delahaye’s partner on the cases of the missing boys

Woman Detective Constable Olivia Gibson—a detective who helps with investigations on the cases of the missing boys; she was formerly an investigator for a lawyer who handled lost-heir and inheritance cases

Police Constable Daryl Morgan—a police constable with the West Midlands Police

Detective Inspector Perrin—Delahaye’s boss

Chief Inspector Harry Marshall—Delahaye’s former boss, now retired, who knows some background on the Banlock Farm dogs

Mr. Trent—a forensic scientist and the chief scene-of-the-crime (SOC) officer

Professor Angela Simmons—the police pathologist who does the autopsies

Towler—Simmons’s autopsy assistant

Missing and Murdered Boys

Michael Anthony “Mickey” Grant—a 14-year-old and the first boy to go missing; Ava finds his body near her neighborhood when she goes to check on a dead fox she’s been studying

Bryan “Bry” Shelton—a 6-year-old and the second boy to go missing when he takes the trash out one night; Ava finds his body on the edge of a nearby stream

Gary Clarke—a 9-year-old boy who disappears into the woods during a game of Hunter; the third boy to go missing, his body is found in an abandoned air-raid shelter on an old garden plot

Keith “Trigger” Magaw—a 12-year-old leader of a gang of men and boys who firebomb Bob Aster’s home; later he goes missing from Beacon House, a children’s home where he’s been placed because his alcoholic mother can’t care for him

Other Neighborhood Characters

Nathaniel Marlowe—a 16-year-old schoolmate of Ava’s who works as a delivery boy with a bike and a trailer; he’s also a school prefect

Paul Ballow—a member of a punk band; his girlfriend Lucy “Loops,” their singer

Matty Ballow—Paul’s younger brother and a friend of Ava’s

Maya—a friend of Ava’s who often walks Veronica home from school when Ava’s class is kept in detention

Shawn Temperton—a classmate and friend of Ava’s; he’s the one who throws the Molotov cocktail when a gang of men and boys firebomb Bob Aster’s home

Tom Shelton—a 15-year-old classmate and friend of Ava’s; he’s Bryan Shelton’s older brother

Alan Shelton—Tom and Bryan’s father, who’s convinced Bob Aster is guilty

Kelly Shelton—Tom and Bryan’s mother

Karl Jones—a prefect at Ava’s school who bullies her

Bob “the Nonce” Aster—a known pedophile who lives in the neighborhood

Mrs. Cutter—Aster’s next-door neighbor

Pete Ancona—the neighborhood ice cream man and a suspect

Mack Hardy—owner of Hardy’s Gifts, a store that sells high-end candy

Harry Ca Nab—a character from folklore; the signature on graffiti poetry that begins to appear around the neighborhood after boys start going missing

Banlock Farm

Neville Coleman—an octogenarian who owns the unoccupied Banlock Farm, a former dog-breeding farm; he’s currently in Joseph Sheldon Hospital and diagnosed with Alzheimer’s; he has not lived on the farm for at least 10 years

Sophia Coleman—Neville’s deceased wife

Tisephone “Tiss” Coleman—Neville’s deceased daughter; she died in an automobile accident 13 years earlier

Zasha—Coleman’s best dog, also dead

Marlowe & Son Breakers Yard

Nick “Jip” Marlowe—owner of the Marlowe & Son junk yard and Nathaniel’s father

Minty—one of Nick Marlowe’s long-time employees

Tim—one of Nick Marlowe’s long-time employees

Hospital Personnel

Mrs. Brown—the hospital manager at Joseph Sheldon Hospital

Maureen—an attendant at the hospital who seems to be able to manage Neville Coleman’s moods

Dr. Walter Tremblay—a specialist in psychiatric disorders whom Delahaye interviews