Dew's Agatha Christie Mystery Site
Physical Description: Some Information About Ariadne Oliver
€Booming bass voice
€Heavy set
€"...was an agreeable woman of middle age, handsome in a rather untidy fashion with fine eyes, substantial shoulders and a large quantity of rebellious grey hair with which she was continually experimenting." --"Cards on the Table"
Work and History:
€"I'm Mrs. Oliver. I write books."
€She is the author of forty-six best selling mystery novels and the creator of a famous vegetarian Fisnnish detective. (She is much like Agatha Christie herself.)
€The first appearance of this character is in "Parker Pyne, Detective" when she is the employee of Parker Pyne.
€Oliver's peak performance is in "Third Girl"--Poirot wouldn't have solved the case without her.
Personality Characteristics:
€Comical and witty
€Impatient
€Imaginative
€Speaks her mind
€According to Poirot, Mrs. Oliver loves to talk. In "Halloween Party," he mentions his fear that she "would no doubt spend a very long time pouring out her grievances, her woes, her frustrations or whatever is ailing her."
€Highly emotional ("The things that excited Mrs. Oliver were so numerous [...] that one had to be careful how one embarked upon a discussion of them.")
€Despises the detective that she has created in her mystery novels, Sven Hjerson. She also talks about her love/hate relationship with writing.
€loves apple. She has a large bag of apples beside her while she types out her novels. She gives them up temporarily, however, in "Halloween Party."
€Likes comforable shoes, her privacy, and well-cooked meals
€Often mentions that she doesn't understand younger girls and the way they act. ("I can't really help thinking that girls are really very silly nowadays.")
€Hard on men, also. ("You men. Now if a woman were the head of Scotland Yard--" from "Mrs. McGinty's Dead)
€Hot-headed feminist
€Doesn't drink or smoke
€Disorganized
Her Approach To Solving Crimes:
€She usually teams up with her friend, Hercule Poirot and provides Poirot with many helpful clues.
€She is led by her intuition and follows her feelings. ("Men are so slow. I'll soon tell you who did it. Someone down here, I suppose? Give me a day or two to look round, and I'll spot the murderer. A woman's intuition--that's what you need."--"Mrs. McGinty's Dead")
