| Jonathan Royal | of Highfold Manor, Cloudyfold, Dorset |
| Caper | his butler |
| Aubrey Mandrake | born Stanley Footling, poetic dramatist |
| Sandra Compline | of Penfelton Manor |
| William Compline | her elder son |
| Nicholas Compline | her younger son |
| Chloris Wynne | William’s fiancée |
| Dr Francis Hart | a plastic surgeon |
| Madame Elise Lisse | a beauty specialist, of the Studio Lisse |
| Lady Hersey Amblington | Jonathan’s distant cousin; beauty specialist, of the Salon Hersey |
| Thomas | a dancing footman |
| Mrs Pouting | Jonathan’s housekeeper |
| James Bewling | an outside hand at Highfold |
| Thomas Bewling | his brother |
| Roderick Alleyn | Chief Detective-Inspector, C1, New Scotland Yard |
| Agatha Troy Alleyn | his wife |
| Walter Copeland | Rector of Winton St Giles |
| Dinah Copeland | his daughter |
| Fox | Detective-Inspector, C1, New Scotland Yard |
| Detective-Sergeant Thompson | a photographic expert |
| Detective-Sergeant Bailey | a fingerprint expert |
| A Housemaid | |
| Superintendent Blandish | of the Great Chipping Constabulary |
