Henry Rawlins

Henry Rawlins is large black man in his late fifties with dark-coffee-colored skin and greying hair. He is a member of the CPD. He first appeared in Dead Beat. He is a good cop who gets in trouble with his superiors by following his instincts instead of police procedure. He has a droll sense of humor and is one of the few on the force who believe in the supernatural. He is married and has children.

He is a uniformed cop in Dead Beat, but he's been a detective twice. Both times he was demoted "on account of I have an attitude problem." At the end of Proven Guilty, Rawlins was again made a detective and a member of Special Investigations. He is partnered with Karrin Murphy. There are indications Rawlins knew Murphy as a little girl, having been a friend of her father, and he's assumed to be the only person alive who is allowed to call her "Karrie."

Rawlins meets Harry in chapter thirteen of Dead Beat. He catches Harry surreptitiously examining a crime scene. Rawlins recognizes him, knows that he works with Murphy, and compliments him on his work. He shows him a relevant news clipping about Corpsetaker and Li Xian. When Harry asks why Rawlins is helping him, he tells him a story of when he was a young cop; he had interrupted a "thing" attacking a woman, and it had turned on him, about to kill him, when Collin Murphy had appeared and killed it with a shotgun loaded with rocksalt.

Rawlins was on the scene of the initial attack at SplatterCon!!! in chapter eleven of Proven Guilty, with a name tag reading "An Authority Figure." He arrested Nelson for the crime, because there were no other suspects and he hoped the boy knew something that could help the investigation, though he believed him innocent. He lets Harry look at the crime scene through the door. He later helps him and Murphy with the phobophage attacks. He ends up being kidnapped by Madrigal Raith, along with Harry, and gets a bullet shot through his foot.

He's mentioned in White Night as the one who heard about the rumor of Harry and Thomas having a relationship.

He appears briefly in Small Favor, where Harry and Murph make him leave the crime scene for deniability and steal his donut.

In Turn Coat, he makes amusing remarks over the speaker as Murphy and Harry interrogate Binder.