Guilty Pleasures characters

Appears from the start

A professional animator in St. Louis who raises the dead for legal and personal business, and a court-authorized vampire executioner. Anita is practical, armed, and resistant to vampire influence. When vampire killings draw her into the city's undead hierarchy, she is forced to investigate despite wanting no part in vampire politics.

Appears from the start

Anita's employer at Animators, Inc. Bert values profitable assignments and pushes Anita toward clients and cases she would rather refuse.

Appears from the start

A vampire who knew Anita before his death and asks her to investigate a series of vampire murders. His approach establishes that the city's vampires are frightened enough to seek help from an executioner.

First appears in chapter 2

Anita's close friend, whose bachelorette outing takes their group to the vampire strip club Guilty Pleasures. Catherine is unaware of the danger surrounding Anita's dealings with the city's vampires.

First appears in chapter 2

An acquaintance in Catherine's social circle who organizes the visit to Guilty Pleasures and seems unusually comfortable around vampires.

First appears in chapter 3

A powerful vampire associated with Guilty Pleasures. Jean-Claude is controlled and persuasive, and his ability to affect Anita makes him both a source of information and a threat to her independence.

First appears in chapter 4

A human who seeks the danger and intimacy of vampire company without becoming a vampire. He guides Anita through parts of St. Louis's vampire subculture and is more vulnerable than his practiced manner suggests.

Also known as Dolph

First appears in chapter 5

A police detective who calls on Anita when a crime may involve the undead. Dolph is direct, skeptical of unsupported conclusions, and willing to use Anita's specialized knowledge.

Also known as Death

First appears in chapter 6

A vampire hunter whose calm manner and professional detachment have earned him the name Death among vampires. Edward and Anita share skills and information, though she never mistakes him for a safe ally.

First appears in chapter 7

The apparent child who rules St. Louis's vampires. Nikolaos is centuries old, exacting, and accustomed to obedience. She compels Anita to investigate the killings and demonstrates that refusal carries consequences for Anita and her friends.

First appears in chapter 7

A physically imposing vampire who serves Nikolaos and treats Anita with open hostility. His strength makes the master's threats immediately credible.

First appears in chapter 8

A vampire within Nikolaos's circle who presents a more composed face than Aubrey while still enforcing the master's authority.

First appears in chapter 15

An animator whose unnatural survival is bound to the vampire murders. At the final confrontation, Anita identifies him as the immediate killer protected by Nikolaos's power structure.