- "Veronica is a private detective. We take turns visiting one another in hospital."
- —Anita Blake[src]
Veronica "Ronnie" Simms is a private detective and was Anita Blake's best friend, and the only untrained human Anita knew of who she felt was capable of handling herself in a fight.
Description[]
Ronnie is a physically fit blonde, standing several inches taller than her friend at 5'9''. She has short, straight blond hair that she keeps shoulder length long. She has grey eyes with a tinge of blue in them. She four years older than Anita,. Anita notes that she is tall, slender and leggy, and blond. She also notes that Ronnie is small-chested enough to cross her arms over her breasts.
History[]
Ronnie's states that her parents hated each other because her father prevented her mother from being independent. Some unspecified time before the first novel Ronnie was married to an unknown man for two years, that ended in divorce. Anita met her three years before the events of Guilty Pleasures, presumably around the same time that Ronnie was first put in retainer for Animators, Inc., the company Anita works for. The pair hit it off, sharing similarly deprecatory humor, becoming exercise buddies and, when necessary, visiting one another in hospital.
Though she works for Animators, Inc., Ronnie can also be hired directly working from her south-west corner office in a high building from which overlooks the vampire-owned district. She has a nice out-of-town cabin, that she received in the divorce settlement.
Guilty Pleasures[]
During Guilty Pleasures Ronnie went to Anita's apartment the day after the latter was threatened into taking up an investigating the vampire murders by the city's head vampire. Swiftly realizing something was wrong, Ronnie was someone Anita confided in as to her predicament, and offered her assistance. Anita asked Ronnie to look into the possible involvement of anti-vampire hate groups, which Anita could not hope to approach because of her own supernatural powers. Ronnie discovered rumors of a death squad within Humans Against Vampires (HAV), but Anita asked her to dig deeper, afraid that passing on this rumor to the vampires would merely cause them to massacre potentially innocent people. Ronnie managed to find a HAV member, Beverly Chin, willing to talk to them, and arranged a meeting between Beverly and Anita, after which Beverly agreed to delve further on their behalf. Ronnie subsequently accompanied Anita on a visit to the vampire-run Church of Eternal Life, another possible suspect group for the involvement in the killings. Ronnie played the part of an intimidating bodyguard to help Anita scare the church secretary Bruce into arranging an appointment with Malcolm, the church head. On the way out of the Church, Ronnie spotted a gunman in time to tackle Anita out of the way of his first shot; the gunman entered the building after them, and when Anita denied being a target, he turned to shoot Ronnie. Anita shot him dead, her bullets striking the would-be assassin mere seconds before Ronnie's did the same. Though Anita was unwilling to drag Ronnie deeper into the case following this incident, she did entrust her with knowledge of a safety deposit box containing a letter with all her findings to that point, in case her meeting with Malcolm went badly.
The Laughing Corpse[]
In The Laughing Corpse, Anita met with Ronnie, after she was attacked by the zombies in her apartment, for a jogging session. Ronnie offered to check into Harold Gaynor for her, even though she was busy with another case. She also expressed her apprehension about Anita's meeting with Jean-Claude. On their way back Ronnie spotted a man on the lookout before they are ambushed by two henchmen hired by Bruno to abduct Anita. They threatened Ronnie with physical harm before Anita turned the tables on them. Anita forced them to reveal who hired them and despite Ronnie's protests agreed not to report them to the police. Ronnie seemed worried when Anita revealed she would have killed the henchmen. Later that night they went for dinner and did not talk about the ambush.
Circus of the Damned[]
In Circus of the Damned, Ronnie met with Anita at a health club for exercise. Ronnie recognized the name of the victim of vampire attack that Anita was investigating. She informed Anita that he was a member of Humans Against Vampires. Ronnie agreed to find out more about the victim from HAV for Anita. When Ronnie reminds Anita about a party she learns about Anita's interest in Richard and encourages Anita to invite him to the party. She also agrees to help Anita prepare for the party. Later Ronnie calls Anita she knew the victim's name because while working for a law firm the previous year she met a lawyer who specialized in dying wills, which the victim had. Ronnie also said that she suspected who the second victim that was discovered might be as a woman fitting the description also had a dying will. She'd already investigated and found out that that person is not answering her phone and has missed her work for two days which is the length of time the victim has been dead for. She agrees to call in the police. She is worried about Anita when told that the perpetrators had attacked her.
The Lunatic Cafe[]
In The Lunatic Cafe, a client of Animators Inc. whose lycanthrope wife is missing is referred to Ronnie by Anita. She agrees to meet the client the same night. Later they went Christmas shopping after jogging. She tells Anita not to let Jean-Claude mess up her relationship with Richard. She advised her to let Richard explain himself and is not fazed by the possibility of him being a lycanthrope. She suspects that the missing lycanthropes are all dead and wonders what made them disappear. Ronnie calls Anita to ask her to accompany her when she confronts her client at his house about the fact that he's having an affair and that he bought silver bullets. She drives Anita to the house along with Gabriel and Raina. Anita tells them that they are only there to intimidate the client. At the house when it is clear to others that her client is not the perpetrator she agrees to call the police and let Anita go with Edward.
Bloody Bones[]
Ronnie is away from the city working a case during the events of Bloody Bones. Anita mentions that Ronnie had convinced her to buy a fashionably short skirt, and later mentions a similarly acquired robe from Victoria's Secret.
The Killing Dance[]
In The Killing Dance, Anita leaves her a message to not meet her for working out on that Saturday morning. Anita mentions that Ronnie likes Richard but not Jean-Claude.
Burnt Offerings[]
In Burnt Offerings, Anita mentions going to Burnt Offerings for Scary Karaoke with Ronnie before the events of the novel. On Saturday, Ronnie arrives at Anita's rented house for their weekly morning jog along with Dr. Louie Fane. They had been out of town at her cabin during the events at Circus so did not know what had transpired. Since Anita is not available all of them go on inside. By the time Anita comes back to them in the kitchen Jamil had informed them. Ronnie makes it clear that she does not like the fact that Anita is dating Jean-Claude but agrees not to push the subject. Ronnie comforts Anita when she throws everyone out after her fight with Richard. Later when an assassin dressed as a delivery boy attacked the house she reacted first. Ronnie along with Anita took him down, she then went outside and broke down. Afterwards she again advises Anita to dump Jean-Claude and go with Richard. When the police arrive she is worried about getting arrested, she points out that she's only shot two people and both the time she was with her. Anita comforts her saying that both time she did what she had to to save her life. When Ronnie wonders if she is in the right line of work Anita realizes she means if she has the right friends. Anita offers to let her leave if she is unable to handle the pressure as Anita's life will keep getting dangerous.
Obsidian Butterfly[]
In Obsidian Butterfly, Anita mention that she hasn't talked to Ronnie for the six months. Ronnie had tracked down Ted Forrester for Richard when he wanted to contact Anita. Towards the end Anita mentions she'll see her again even though it might be a little awkward at first.
Narcissus In Chains[]
In Narcissus In Chains, its Ronnie's birthday they had dressed up and went dancing. When they come back they have another argument regarding Anita's love life. Ronnie does not like that Anita is unwilling to give up Jean-Claude. As Anita gets to leave she gets a call from Gregory about Nathaniel being in trouble at the club. Ronnie wants to either go with her or have her call to police for assistance. Anita declines because Ronnie won't easily kill and since it is pard business the police cannot be involved. At her insistence for a backup Anita reveals she'll take Jean-Claude which make Ronnie angry. She is also scared of the fact that Anita is willing to kill so easily. Before leaving Anita she says maybe the reason she's unwilling to dump Jean-Claude is that he's more like her than she cares to admit. In the epilogue Anita mentions that even though Ronnie was horrified by Anita's ordeal she's unwilling to compromise her opinions of Anita and her partners.
Incubus Dreams[]
In Incubus Dreams, Anita sees Ronnie arguing with Louie in the parking lot of Larry Kirkland's wedding. She decides not to interfere. She mentions that their friendship has more or less broken down. Ronnie leaves Louie stranded at wedding still angry. Louie tells Anita that he proposed to Ronnie who declined. Anita comforts Louie and agrees to mediate on his behalf. The next day Ronnie calls Anita and she agrees to come over to talk. Ronnie says that she is happy the way things and does not like the fact that Louie is intruding in her life. Anita notes that Ronnie is actually afraid of committing. Anita advises her to decide whether she likes her space or Louie more. Anita also suggests professional therapy. Ronnie admits that she's uncomfortable with the fact that Anita is comfortable living with two men with no guarantees about the future. Ronnie in turn advises Anita that it's not okay for her to keep ignoring Nathaniel. Later Ronnie calls Anita from the Incubus Dreams club because she was too drunk to drive. When Anita come over to pick her up, she finds Ronnie drunk having a private dance while semi-nude. She uses her badge and picks Ronnie up and takes her outside where she finds another body. After the police arrive and Ronnie has sobered up she goes home with Micah and Nathaniel.
Danse Macabre[]
Danse Macabre opens with Anita discussing her pregnancy scare with Ronnie. Ronnie suggests that Anita can take care of the pregnancy without confiding in any of her men. When asked Anita tells her about the potential fathers, which leads her issues about men and relationship to cause a heated argument between them. Ronnie is both impressed the fact that Anita slept with Richard and horrified because he'd a bad choice for being the father of the child. When Micah and Nathaniel come home and kiss Anita enthusiastically Ronnie feels that Anita is putting on an act to mock her and Louie's monogamous relationship. Nathaniel, still angry about Ronnie's scathing remarks about him, decides to give Anita a lap dance. In reaction Ronnie spill the beans about the potential baby. Nathaniel reveals that Ronnie has been insulting him behind Anita's back. The discussion goes down from there on with Nathaniel goading Ronnie, by forcing her fears out into the open, and her fear of only having one real lover for the rest of her life, potentially, after hitting "triple digits" in bed partners causing her to breakdown in tears. When Nathaniel still continues Anita stops him. Nathaniel then tells her not to run away from Louie, the best thing she's had in her life, and gives her his therapist's card.
She does not appear post-Danse Macabre and is only mentioned once in relation to Louie. This is presumably because her and Anita's relationship has broken down due to Anita's ever increasing harem and complicated life.
Personality & Traits[]
Ronnie is smart enough to know how dangerous it can sometimes be to be around Anita with a case; so sometimes she carries a gun when out with Anita. She remains calm in a crisis, and takes most things in a stride. She has a similar sense of humor to Anita, and happily teases her friend. She knows Anita well enough to spot when she is not being wholly honest, but knows her well enough not to push. She is willing to shoot and kill someone in self-defense but not in cold blood. She is however unwilling to talk about the fact that she killed someone self-defense or not.
She had a lot no-strings attached relationship with men before meeting Louis Fane. Unlike many humans she has no prejudices regarding lycanthropes, as evident by the fact she is dating a wererat and dismisses Anita's concern about Richard being a lycanthrope.
Anita felt that unlike her own family, Ronnie understood the work she does, killing vampires because of the violence Ronnie's own job sometimes entailed.
She encourages a sexually carefree attitude in Anita. She persuaded Anita to sleep with Richard. She however does not approve of Anita dating Jean-Claude and thinks he, like all vampires, is evil. This thinking was informed by Anita's earlier ideas about vampires being complete monsters, who has since changed her mind. In the later novels she becomes discouraged by the fact that Anita has the life she wanted for herself, sleeping with a number of men, and vice versa.
Her parents relationship, her divorce and the fact both she and her husband cheated on each other a month after the wedding haunt her and has made her shy of any form of commitment. This issue of hers combined with her dislike of vampires and Anita's relationship issue causes their friendship to break down.
Notable Skills[]
Ronnie is an exceptional private detective, is in excellent physical condition and is a lethal shot with a firearm.
Equipment[]
She usually carries a firearm.