Aster Lockwood: Character Introduction - Murder in Heliopolis

Murder in Heliopolis

Aster Lockwood: Character Introduction

Aster Lockwood is known to the world as the wealthy founder of Greenland Farm, the agricultural producer that bought fierce competition to The Farms. He leads a quiet life, doesn't like talking to interviewers or the media, and is generally reclusive.

But is that all there is to it?

When Cassia Grove is found murdered in the home she shared with Aster Lockwood, and he is placed at the scene of the crime at the time of her death, the police naturally suspect him. The only problem?

Aster Lockwood is missing.

Not only is he missing - his entire identity is a complete anomaly on PATET's databases. Fingerprints that can't be identified, photographs that are missing past a certain point in his history - these are just the beginning of the mystery that is Aster Lockwood.

Who is he, really?

Where is he?

And - most importantly - did he kill Cassia Grove?

 

Though I've since decided I'm not a fan of this portrait, I'm adding it here for fun.
Seen here is Aster Lockwood as a young man - late teens, early twenties.

Aster Lockwood is the main antagonist of the book, for various reasons. He is first introduced as a potential antagonist when Detective Laith Alazraq's investigation points to him as the likeliest suspect for Cassia Grove's murder. 

But Aster Lockwood is not who he seems - and the shifting identity becomes a big problem for Laith as he investigates the murder and the other dark secrets it connects to. 

Aster Lockwood so far doesn't have a POV in Murder in Heliopolis, mainly because I think his POV would reveal too many spoilers. However, that doesn't mean that I'm not hoping to give him at least one or two POV scenes. It depends on how the story progresses given the current edits and whether or not his POV would be an appropriate addition.

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Character art for Aster Lockwood has been really iffy for me. I've made two portraits. In the first one, there's a more detailed and realistic sketch of how Aster may look at the time of the story... but I'm unsatisfied with it because it clashes with the image of him that I have in my mind. 

In the second one, the young Aster Lockwood is pictured in the same style as Warda and Laith's portraits.You can see him holding a weapon and he has blood on his hands.

I'm not sure I like either of them, so maybe one day I'll redo the portraits!

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To learn more about Murder in Heliopolis, its worldbuilding, and its characters, check out its dedicated page here. Also, if you would like to be an alpha reader, please read this post. 

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