Dr. Maura Dorthea Isles is the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' Chief Medical Examiner and Jane Rizzoli's best friend. Born to Irish crime boss, Patrick Doyle, and Dr. Hope Martin, she is later privately adopted by a wealthy couple, Dr. Arthur Isles and Constance Isles, as their only child. As a child, she was shy and weird, spending a lot of time alone instead of with friends. She grew up not asking much from her adoptive parents, which resulted in their giving her less attention, emotionally a