Kerenza is a Macmillan nurse who helps care for Joan after her diagnosis. Macmillan nurses specialize in cancer and help patients through their treatments and experience. Strike is very grateful for Kerenza, not only for the aid she provides to Joan but also for the respect and friendship she shows to both his aunt and uncle. Strike thinks of Kerenza as “kind, efficient and humane” and even “a blessing such as he could never have imagined.” 

Kerenza, which is a Cornish name meaning “love” or “loving,” is the same age as Strike and is described as “slender and freckled.”

When the agency’s cold-case clients, Anna and Kim, ask to make a donation on their behalf, Strike asks them to donate to the Macmillan Nurses for the support Kerenza provided to Joan. If you would like to learn more or donate to the Macmillan Nurses, you can do so at their website here.