Tabitha-Ruth “Turtle” Wexler
The de facto protagonist of the novel and the youngest of Sam Westing’s 16 potential heirs, Turtle Wexler is a precocious preteen who is fiercely protective of herself, her secrets, and the beloved long…
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Samuel W. Westing
Sam Westing, the son of immigrants who was born as Samuel “Windy” Windkloppel, is the eccentric and reclusive owner and operator of the Westing Paper Products Corporation, a conglomerate based in the eponymous Westingtown just…
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Grace Windsor (Windkloppel) Wexler
The snobby, social-climbing Grace Wexler is the wife of Jake Wexler and the mother of Turtle and Angela. She’s one of Sam Westing’s 16 potential heirs. A self-proclaimed heiress with a passion for…
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Angela Wexler
Angela is the beautiful 19-year-old daughter of Jake and Grace Wexler and the sister of Turtle Wexler. She’s one of Sam Westing’s 16 potential heirs. Engaged at the start of the novel to…
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Jake Wexler
Jake Wexler is a podiatrist, Angela and Turtle’s father, and Grace’s husband. He’s one of Sam Westing’s 16 potential heirs. Jake is also secretly a bookie—dissatisfied with his own profession yet so…
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Judge Josie-Jo “J.J.” Ford
Judge Josie-Jo “J.J.” Ford is a judge who serves in the Appellate Division of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. She’s one of Sam Westing’s 16 potential heirs. A reserved yet proud black woman, Ford has…
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Berthe Erica Crow
Crow is a mysterious, deeply religious, and very tall woman who dresses all in black. She’s one of Sam Westing’s 16 potential heirs. Crow works as the cleaning woman at Sunset Towers and lives…
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James Shin Hoo
James Shin Hoo is a restaurateur, father to Doug Hoo, and husband to Madame Sun Lin Hoo. He’s one of Sam Westing’s 16 potential heirs. Born James Hoo in Chicago to immigrant…
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Madame Sun Lin Hoo
Madame Sun Lin Hoo is the 28-year-old second wife of James Shin Hoo and stepmother of Doug Hoo. She’s one of Sam Westing’s 16 potential heirs. A recent immigrant from Hong Kong, she…
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Alexander “Sandy” McSouthers
Sandy McSouthers is the doorman at Sunset Towers. He’s presented as one of Sam Westing’s 16 potential heirs, though he is secretly an alias of Westing. A kindly ex-boxer with a chipped tooth and…
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Sydelle Pulaski
Sydelle Pulaski is a lonely, aging woman who has worked for decades as the secretary to the owner of a local sausage company while living with her mother and two older aunts. Sydelle is the…
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Christos “Chris” Theodorakis
Chris Theodorakis is George and Catherine’s the 15-year-old son and Theo’s younger brother. He’s one of Sam Westing’s 16 potential heirs. An intelligent, thoughtful, and soulful young man who has recently been…
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Theo Theodorakis
Theo Theodorakis is a high-school senior. He’s one of Sam Westing’s 16 potential heirs. George and Catherine’s and Chris’s older brother, Theo is a family-oriented youth who loves his parents and his…
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Doug Hoo
Doug Hoo is the son of James Hoo. He’s one of Sam Westing’s 16 potential heirs. A high school senior, track star, and accomplished athlete, Doug Hoo is a genial, easygoing kid who…
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Otis Amber
Otis is a hapless aging delivery boy who, at 62, lives in the basement of a greengrocer and makes local deliveries on his bicycle. He’s one of Sam Westing’s 16 potential heirs. Otis and…
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Flora Baumbach
Flora is a plump, kindly dressmaker who is one of Sam Westing’s 16 potential heirs. She is paired with the whip-smart but bratty Turtle Wexler; Flora is also in the process of making…
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Dr. Denton Deere
Dr. Denton Deere is Angela’s fiancé and an intern in plastic surgery at the local hospital. He’s one of Sam Westing’s 16 potential heirs. A smarmy, pompous, and self-important man, Deere is constantly…
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Julian R. Eastman
The mysterious Julian Eastman is the president and CEO of the Westing Paper Products corporation—and an alias of Sam Westing. Westing disguises himself as Eastman in the wake of his terrible automobile accident in…
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Barney Northrup
Barney Northrup is a salesman charged with renting the six available apartments in the newly-constructed Sunset Towers on Lake Michigan—and an alias of Sam Westing. Barney Northrup wears a disguise—a bad wig and buck-toothed…
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Dr. Sidney Sikes
Sidney Sikes is Sam Westing’s longtime friend and the local county coroner. After Sikes and Westing were in a car accident many years ago, both men all but disappeared from public life. Sikes, it…
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Edgar Jennings “E.J.” Plum
Edgar Jennings “E.J.” Plum is the young, inexperienced lawyer assigned to handle the reading of Sam Westing’s will, the organization of the Westing game, and the distribution of Westing’s estate. Plum, who is in…
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Violet Westing
Violet Westing is the deceased daughter of Sam Westing and Berthe Erica Crow. She was once in love with George Theodorakis, the son of one of Westing’s workers, but her mother felt that…
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Minor Characters
George Theodorakis
George is Chris and Theo’s father and Catherine’s husband. As a young man, he was in love with Violet Westing, but their courtship was cut short when Violet’s mother, Crow, arranged a more suitable match for Violet—a move that ultimately led to her unhappy daughter’s suicide.
Catherine Theodorakis
Catherine is George’s wife and Chris and Theo’s mother. A tired, anxious woman, she frets over Chris’s health and her family’s coffee shop business, yet she knows how to handle a crisis.
Alice
Alice is Angela and Denton Deere’s daughter.
Rosalie
Rosalie is Flora Baumbach’s deceased daughter. Rosalie was developmentally disabled, and she died of pneumonia a year before the start of the Westing game.
