Principle characters

Brick North

Sylvia Kingston

Barry Tiffin

Brian Richard North, "Brick" to his friends, is a World War II vet who saw action in Italy and France, nightmares of which continue to haunt him. He is the lead detective for the LaSalle Harbor Police Department, where he has served for eleven years. North is a deeply flawed individual who drinks too much, sleeps too little, and has trouble maintaining relationships. Described as crude, unpredictable, and yet lovable, he is a man of integrity and passion. Unorthodox in his approach to both life and police work, North is not some omniscient two-dimensional character. Rather, he is a flawed individual who, at times, misses what's in front of him.

Barry Tiffin

Sylvia Kingston

Barry Tiffin

Barry Tiffin is also a detective with the LaSalle Harbor PD. He is North's partner and the closest thing North has to a friend. The two have been partnered since Tiffin made Detective three years ago. Married to Kaye and with two children, a mortgage, and a car payment, Tiff lives from paycheck to paycheck. While the Tiffin household budget is tight, their home is filled with love. Also a WWII vet, Tiff served in the Navy in the South Pacific. He is North's opposite in most ways, being calm, analytical, and settled down.

Sylvia Kingston

Sylvia Kingston is a switchboard operator at the LaSalle Harbor Police Department. She is some ten years North's junior. Meijer describes her as a "petite blonde who, while not North's type, is round in all the right places, and while not a looker, is attractive and always eager for a drink after work." She and North have a relationship born of mutual loneliness. She would like to settle down and hopes she can convince North to settle down with her.

Suzette Arquette

Dr. Melvin Howard

Suzette Arquette

Suzette Arquette works at Lakeland Airport. A brunette with captivating blue eyes, she is the image of North's ideal woman. Meijer describes her as "tall, buxom, and confident. She walks with that heel-to-toe gait that accentuates the movement of her hips." Close to North's age, he sees her as an equal and a challenge.

Pete Cummings

Dr. Melvin Howard

Suzette Arquette

Peter "Pete" Cummings is Chief of Police in LaSalle Harbor. As a youth, the pipe-smoking middle-aged chief was the city's boxing league champion three years running. While older than most of the men he served with, he was a Marine who fought in the Pacific Theater during the War. Cummings holds those who serve under him to the same high standards that he holds himself. His red hair tinged with white, he is a formidable man.

Dr. Melvin Howard

Doc Melvin "Mel" Howard is the local surgeon and serves as the Douglas County Coroner. Mel is in his late 40s with a perpetual five-o'clock shadow. He's short, round, and out-of-shape. He is North's confidant and conscience. Knowing that Tiffin is uneasy around the dead and especially gruesome deaths, Howard takes great delight in pointing out the more gory causes of death.

The Location is as important as the characters

Is There a LaSalle Harbor, Michigan?

LaSalle Harbor is a fictional city based upon the Twin Cities of Benton Harbor and St. Joseph, Michigan. The French Explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, established a fort at the mouth of the St. Joseph River about 1681. There is a monument to LaSalle in St. Joseph. Across the St. Joseph River is Benton Harbor, an industrial city that was once the site of the House of David amusement park. Combining these two towns into one fictional city allows Meijer to use the best of both for his stories.

Meijer writes that LaSalle Harbor (like Benton Harbor once did) hosts the world's largest grower-to-consumer fruit market. This brings trucks from dozens of states with drivers searching for gambling, prostitution, and drugs. Add into that mix the sailors in a busy port, farmers looking for a bit of fun in town, and the challenges associated between the haves and the have nots, and it's easy to see that LaSalle Harbor is not some sleepy village.