Annie Raft

Annie Raft moves to Blackwater with her daughter, Mia, to live with a boyfriend, Dan Ulander. Annie is an introspective woman, and her quiet internal monologue reveals her history and depth of character. She was conceived in Blackwater but eventually left, conceiving Mia during an affair.

When Annie moves to Starhill, she struggles to blindly obey orders. Life becomes a constant struggle between being a good mother to Mia and being a good lover to Dan. After she becomes pregnant and Dan leaves the commune for an undisclosed amount of time, she finally leaves as well.

Eighteen years later, she springs into action when she sees her daughter with Johan Brandberg, whom she thought responsible for the long-ago murders. When trying to confirm her suspicion, she speaks with Gudrun Brandberg, who kills Annie to protect Johan, her son. Although Annie’s judgment is never perfect, her intentions are always pure.

Birger Torbjörnsson

Birger Torbjörnsson is in Blackwater when Annie Raft finds the two corpses. Although he is only the district doctor, he finds himself involved in the case immediately. His wife, Barbro, is missing the night of the murders—through the investigation, he discovers she was having an affair with Dan Ulander up at the Starhill community. Their marriage eventually dissolves.

When the story picks up eighteen years later, Birger is a sad and lonely man. The only light in his life is the attraction he shares with Annie Raft. When she winds up dead, his depression and love for Annie fuel his otherwise dwindling energy, so he teams up with Johan Brandberg to investigate her death.

Johan Brandberg

Johan Brandberg is the outcast of the Brandberg family. He is the direct son of Torsten and Gudrun Brandberg and is the half-brother of Torsten’s four other boys. Johan’s sense of distance from the family overshadows his entire young life. When he escapes the night of Midsummer's Eve, he uses it as an opportunity to prove that he does not need his family in Blackwater.

He grows up and falls in love with Mia Raft, unaware of her proximity to the murders by the Lobber River. Johan lives his life confused by his own identity and misunderstood by the people around him.

Mia Raft

Mia Raft is Annie’s daughter. When Johan runs by Annie and her on Midsummer Eve, Annie pushes her down in the grass to hide her, so she does not see who it is that runs by. As a child, Mia is stubborn and curious but eventually adjusts well to life at the Starhill Community. When Mia meets and falls for Johan Brandberg, she has no idea about his relationship with her mother or the unsolved murder. When Johan and Birger reignite their curiosity about the murders after Annie’s death, it is Mia who reveals the previously unknown name of the man murdered in the tent. 

He was called John Larue. I knew how it was spelt and how it was pronounced. I was six. And in some way I have always known it was the name of the guy in the tent. Us kids knew that.

Åke Vemdal

Åke Vemdal is the district chief of police and the first official on the scene of the double homicide. He has Lill-Ola Lennartsson’s place searched because Lill-Ola seems to have been the last known person to have had contact with the murdered couple. As payback, Lill-Ola claims to have seen Birger Torbjörnsson in the area the night of the murders. When Åke and Birger’s friendship becomes known, this causes a conflict of interest and leads to Åke’s removal from...