The Locked Door Characters: Full List & Analysis

Who drives the story

Main characters

Dr. Nora Davis

A successful San Francisco surgeon in her late thirties who has hidden her serial-killer father her whole life. When his signature resurfaces in new murders and evidence appears in her own home, she comes to believe she may be the killer — until she fights the real one and saves herself.

Appears in:: Part 1: The Daughter Nobody Knows; Part 2: The Signature Returns; Part 3: Just Like Him; Part 4: The Original
Themes:: Inheritance of violence; The cost of secrecy; Doubt as a weapon; Who gets believed; Being known

Aaron Nierling

Nora's father, a convicted serial killer, now elderly and frail in prison. He greets his daughter's first visit in twenty years with chilling calm and sows doubt about whether the new killer is a copycat or 'the original.'

Appears in:: Part 1: The Daughter Nobody Knows; Part 3: Just Like Him; Part 4: The Original
Themes:: Inheritance of violence

Leo

Nora's friendly colleague and the first person at work she trusts with her secret. He is secretly the Copycat Killer, obsessed with her father's crimes, and stages evidence to convince Nora she is the murderer.

Appears in:: Part 1: The Daughter Nobody Knows; Part 2: The Signature Returns; Part 4: The Original
Themes:: Inheritance of violence; The cost of secrecy; Doubt as a weapon; Who gets believed; Being known

Brady

Nora's kind, unassuming carpenter boyfriend, kept outside her secret until the end. He proposes mid-crisis, and after she finally tells him everything, he stands by her.

Appears in:: Part 2: The Signature Returns; Part 3: Just Like Him; Part 4: The Original
Themes:: Being known

Detective Barber

The polite but pointed detective questioning Nora about Sophie's murder, alibi and all. He returns at the climax, where the evidence clears her: 'You saved yourself, Dr. Davis.'

Appears in:: Part 1: The Daughter Nobody Knows; Part 2: The Signature Returns; Part 4: The Original

Sophie

The young woman whose murder, with her father's triple-loop binding, drags Nora's past into the present. Her photograph later turns up hidden in Nora's own basement.

Appears in:: Part 1: The Daughter Nobody Knows; Part 2: The Signature Returns; Part 3: Just Like Him

How they are connected

Key relationships

Aaron Nierling Dr. Nora Davis
Nora's father, a convicted serial killer, now elderly and frail in prison.
Leo Dr. Nora Davis
Nora's friendly colleague and the first person at work she trusts with her secret.
Brady Dr. Nora Davis
Nora's kind, unassuming carpenter boyfriend, kept outside her secret until the end.
Detective Barber Dr. Nora Davis
The polite but pointed detective questioning Nora about Sophie's murder, alibi and all.
Detective Barber Sophie
The polite but pointed detective questioning Nora about Sophie's murder, alibi and all.
Sophie Dr. Nora Davis
The young woman whose murder, with her father's triple-loop binding, drags Nora's past into the present.

Go deeper

The Locked Door themes & symbols

Inheritance of violence · The cost of secrecy · Doubt as a weapon · Who gets believed

Themes explained

Read the full The Locked Door summary

The full story act by act, the ending explained and a quick quiz.

Open the summary