# Donald Willsson — Red Harvest character guide

> Donald Willsson in Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Don Willsson, Donald, Mr. Donald Willsson, young Mrs. Willsson, Willsson

**First appearance:** 0001-red-harvest

## Snapshot

Elihu Willsson's reform-minded son, a newspaper editor whose murder in a foggy street sets the whole bloody machinery of Personville in motion.

## Who they are

Donald Willsson is the respectable face of the Willsson family, a young editor who tried to publish a reform paper in a city his father owned body and soul. He was killed within hours of hiring the Continental Op, a .32 slug in his back, a five-thousand-dollar check certified to Dinah Brand the day before. His death is the first domino: it drags the Op into Personville's underworld and forces Elihu to reckon with the son he couldn't control.

## Relationships

### [The Narrator](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/red_harvest_se/characters/the_narrator)

_professional_

Donald Willsson, the murdered reformist newspaper publisher, hired the Narrator, making their relationship that of a client and operative, cut short by his death.

### [The Narrator](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/red_harvest_se/characters/the_narrator)

_professional_

Donald Willsson, the murdered reformist newspaper publisher, hired the Narrator, making their relationship that of a client and operative, cut short by his death.

### [The Narrator](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/red_harvest_se/characters/the_narrator)

_professional_

Donald Willsson, the murdered reformist newspaper publisher, hired the Narrator, making their relationship that of a client and operative, cut short by his death.

## In the story

### [Red Harvest](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/red_harvest_se/chapters/red-harvest)

The newspaper owner who hires the narrator and is later murdered.

### [I: A Woman in Green and a Man in Gray](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/red_harvest_se/chapters/i-a-woman-in-green-and-a-man-in-gray)

Murdered before the narrator's appointment; his reform campaign is linked to the town's corruption.

### [II: The Czar of Poisonville](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/red_harvest_se/chapters/ii-the-czar-of-poisonville)

Murdered the previous night; his reform campaign and strained relationship with his father are discussed.

### [III: Dinah Brand](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/red_harvest_se/chapters/iii-dinah-brand)

The murdered man; his $5,000 check to Dinah Brand is a key piece of evidence. He is described by Bill Quint as a 'lousy liberal.'

### [IV: Hurricane Street](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/red_harvest_se/chapters/iv-hurricane-street)

Mentioned as the murder victim who had a certified check and was buying information from Dinah.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/red_harvest_se/characters/donald_willsson
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/red_harvest_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/red_harvest_se/characters