One of Us Is Dead

Olivia Petrov is the antagonist and murder victim at the hands of the other main characters. She approaches social climbing as a “marathon” and is determined to rule the Buckhead scene. Many of the other characters comment on her vanity and cruelty.

Olivia’s ruthless ambition and coquettish manners are reminiscent of the most famous Southern socialite in literature: Scarlett O’Hara in Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind. When Olivia was a child, her family’s wealth was seized due to their illegal activities, leaving her with an iron determination never to be poor again. Like her literary counterpart, she is happy to enslave others for her own benefit. Learning about Dean’s human trafficking operation, she tells him that she wants to be actively involved. She later thinks, “Honestly, I felt I could do it better than him. Trafficking needed a woman’s touch” (283).

The novel suggests that Olivia’s fate is karmically appropriate. In the first scene of the book, the reader learns that red is her “power color,” and Olivia associates it with both sex appeal and money: “She’d never be caught dead walking in anything other than a pair of red-bottomed Louboutin’s” (11). At the end of the book, Jenny shoots her and admires the red of her blood against the black-and-white of her costume. She remembers, “I gave Olivia her final touch-up, her beauty glow in her favorite shade one last time” (384). The image brings Olivia’s character full circle.

Karen Richardson undergoes a full Identity Crisis and Revised Self-Image. From the beginning of the novel, she stands out from “the other wives. She had a young son, and she didn’t depend on her husband for money” (20). She’s a successful realtor and generally well liked. During her journey as a character, she reevaluates her place in Buckhead society, her sexuality, and her most intimate relationships.

Karen struggles with flagging sexual desire and alienation in the first half of the book. She reflects, “I’m not the woman I was when [Mark] married me […] I no longer know who I am, because sometimes we become strangers to even ourselves” (65). She has little patience with the social politics of her close friends and the organizations to which she belongs. She and Mark have grown distant, emotionally as well as sexually, and she worries that there might be a problem with her hormones. Once she and Keisha begin their relationship, she weighs her options, concerned about the effect that it will have on every aspect of her life.

Karen’s self-discovery and coming-out ultimately help purge Buckhead of its toxic elements. She uses her announcement as a dramatic, attention-stealing spectacle to cover Olivia’s abduction. The society at the end of the novel is less abusive, less classist, and less heteronormative than it is at the beginning.

Shannon Madison’s name indicates her situation at the start of the novel. Once one of Buckhead’s social leaders, her recent divorce from Bryce has robbed her of her position in Buckhead, her home, and her sense of self. She doesn’t know who she is without Bryce and initially refuses to find out, clinging to both the old relationship and her married name despite the judgment of her peers.

Shannon’s character arc sees her learn how to “let go.” Jenny’s early description of Shannon uses her physical appearance to indicate her tense temperament:

She was thin and curvy in the way only a forty-year-old can be, which requires copious amounts of time in the gym, extreme dieting, and regular trips to the physician […] Effortless was never a word you’d put in the same sentence with Shannon (47).

As Shannon evolves, she claims to be “letting go” on the “roller-coaster ride” of life in Buckhead (147). She accepts the end of her marriage and the fact that she can’t control everything.

There’s no mention of Shannon ever changing her last name, but it means something different at the end of the book than it does at the beginning. The shared trauma of marriage to Bryce forges a deep bond between her and Crystal. When Shannon meets Crystal for the first time, she awkwardly jokes that their shared last name must mean that they’re related. By the novel’s last pages, Shannon and Crystal have become like family. Karen even notes that they look like mother and daughter.

Crystal Madison’s entry into the world of Buckhead and her husband Bryce’s divorce from his first wife catalyze the events of the narrative. She helps shake up old dynamics and discovers evidence of Bryce and Dean’s illegal activities. She saves Jenny and finds out that Olivia hired her attackers.

Crystal is strong, and so is her moral compass. She is the youngest character but has suffered physical abuse and social persecution in her “old life” before she moved and changed her name. These experiences make her a staunch advocate for women. When Bryce publicly humiliates Shannon, Crystal takes him to task. When she sees Jenny being attacked, she charges to her rescue. When Dean manhandles Olivia, she addresses the issue head-on and offers Olivia her support.

The novel establishes Crystal’s moral and physical courage well before she discovers that Dean and Bryce are involved in human trafficking. Her first thought is for Olivia’s safety, but she also resolves to end it. Despite her tense relationship with Shannon, she seeks out the older woman and learns that Shannon has known about her past all along. They share the trauma of learning Bryce’s true character and respect for one another’s judgment and strength.

She ends the novel as the vice-chair of Buckhead’s Women’s Committee. No longer the newcomer, she becomes one of Buckhead’s leaders.

Keisha is both Jenny’s employee and her best friend. She begins a romantic relationship with Karen during the novel—one that helps Karen discover her inner strength and ultimately helps to bring down the corrupt triumvirate of Bryce, Dean, and Olivia. While she often plays the role of peacekeeper, she has little patience for the barbs and social games of her clients. As a gay woman of mixed ancestry, Keisha provides a visible contrast to the white-washed, heteronormative world of Buckhead.

While not a point-of-view character, Keisha provides the external perspective necessary for both Jenny and Karen to change. She pushes Jenny to change her workaholic ways, questioning her priorities. With Karen, Keisha openly addresses the fact that this client doesn’t fit the mold established by Karen’s friends. Looking into her eyes, Karen discovers acceptance and feels desire, leading her to realize her own sexuality. Despite some initial back-and-forth, by the end of the novel, Keisha is in a committed relationship with Karen.

Detective Sanford is the detective investigating Olivia’s murder that Jenny approaches immediately before the beginning of the novel. The official interview punctuates the narrative, which moves between the world’s “present” and a retrospective of the events leading up to Olivia’s death.

Sanford pushes Jenny, determined to get to the bottom of the novel’s secrets. While he appears to put Jenny on the defensive, the novel’s conclusion reveals that their entire conversation was a play for time, giving Dean the opportunity to kill Bryce and be captured. Satisfied that he’s gotten to the bottom of the mystery, Sanford never realizes that the women murdered Olivia and that Jenny, whom he begins dating in the aftermath, pulled the trigger.