Dew's Agatha
Christie Mystery Site
Repetitive Characters
(Usually detectives, co-detectives, allies, or enemies)
Captain Arthur Hastings
€Close friend of Hercule Poirot. Serves as Poirot's dim-witted side-kick and narrates many of Poirot's cases.
€Served in WWII.
€Favors woman with auburn hair.
€Appears in: The Mysterious Affair at Styles, Murder on the Links, Poirot Investigates, The Big Four, Peril At End House, Thirteen At Dinner, The ABC Murders, Murder In The Mews, Dumb Witness, The Regatta Mystery & Other Stories, The Mousetrap & Other Stories, The Under Dog & Other Stories, Double Sin & Other Stories, Curtain, and Black Coffee. (All with Poirot)
Felicity Lemon
€Hercule Poirot's loyal secretary.
€At one time, Miss Lemons worked for the detective, Parker Pyne as his secretary.
€Poirot refers to her as his "perfect machine" until one day when she makes three typing mistakes in a simple letter.
€Her appearances are usually very brief and have no impact to the story.
€She is "sublimely incurious."
€She has a little room in Poirot's office at Whitehaven Mansions.
€She doesn't like to "play detective"--she would rather be completing her secretarial tasks.
€"Miss Lemon, always efficient, had preceded him to the street and was waiting by a taxi. She asked no questions and displayed no curiousity. She did not tell Poirot how she would occupy her time while he was away. She did not need to tell him. She always knew what she was going to do and she was always right in what she did." --Third Girl
€Appears in: Parker Pyne Investigates, The Regatta Mystery & Other Stories, Hickory Dickory Dock, Dead's Man Folly, Third Girl, and Elephants Can Remember (All with Poirot; some with Hastings/Oliver; one with Parker Pyne)
Colonel Johnny Race
€Friend of Hercule Poirot. First meets Poirot in "Cards On The Table."
€"A dark, handsome, deeply brozned man of fifty, he was usually to be found in some outpost of empire--especially if there were trouble brewing. Secret Service is a melodramatic term, but it described pretty accurately to the lay mind the nature and scope of Colonel Race's activities."--"Cards On The Table"
€Tall, soldierly
€In "The Man In The Brown Suit," Anne describes him as having "dark hair with a touch of grey at either temple" and that is "easily the best looking man on board."
€Wealthy
€Big game hunter
€Journeys to and from Africa a lot
€Appears in: Death On The Nile (with Poirot), The Man in the Brown Suit, Remembered Death, Cards on the Table (with Poirot, Oliver, and Battle)
Superintendent Battle
€Friend of Hercule Poirot and Hastings; meets Oliver and Race in "Cards on the Table"
€"A big square, wooden-faced man [...] Not only did an onlooker feel that Superintendent Battle was carved out of wood--he also managed to convey the impression that the wood in question was the timber out of a battleship." --"Cards On The Table"
€"Why, you're one of the big noses at Scotland Yard, aren't you?"--Dr. Roberts, "Cards On The Table" to Battle
€"Superintendent Battle had never suggested brillance; he was, definately, not a brillant man, but he had some other qulaity, difficult to define, that was nevertheless forceful." --"Towards Zero"
€He is married and Has five children. One daughter, Sylvia, appears in Towards Zero and it's belived that Colin Lamb (The Clocks) is a son of Battle's.
€Appears in: Murder is Easy, Towards Zero (with Sylvia), Cards on the Table (with Poirot, Race, and Oliver)
Detective Inspector Dermont Craddock
€Is a friend of Miss Jane Marple
€"[Craddock] not only had brains and imagination, he had also, which Rydesdale appreciated even more, the self-discipline to go slow, to check and exmaine each fact and to keep an open mind until the very end of a case." --"A Murder is Announced"
€Also in "A Murder is Announced," Miss Marple's "...eyes swept over the manly proportions and handsome face of Detecive Inspector Craddock with truly feminine Victorian appreciation..."
€He is a detective inspector before his promtoion at New Scotland Yard.
€He is the nephew and godson of Sir Henry Clithering
€Appears in: A Murder is Announced, The Mirror Crack'd, and What Mrs. McGullicuddy Saw! (All include Marple)
Mr. Satterthwaite
€Elfin, elderly man
€Intuitive and can see the true nature of others
€Occassionally runs into his friend, Mr. Quin
€Dry and cultured
€"The principal interest of Mr. Satterthwaite's life was people. He was, on the whole, more interested in woman than in men."--Three Act Tradegy
€"Mr. Satterthwaite was fairly shrewd in his assumptions." --"Three Act Tradegy
€"Because, after all, Mr. Satterthwaite had always been a snob." --"The Harlequin Tea Set & Other Stories"
€Mr. Satterthwaite feels that Mr. Quin makes him think of things and influences him to act.
€Mr. Quin tells Mr. Satterthwaite: "You always know things. You are very quick to observe and to know the meaning of things." --"The Harlequin Tea Set & Other Stories
€Knows Colonel Melrose (from the short story "The Love Detectives" which appears in the novel "Three Blind Mice and Other Stories)
€Appears in: Three Act Tradegy (with Poirot), The Mysterious Mr. Quin (with Quin), The Harlequin Tea Set (with Quin), and The Mousetrap & Other Stories (with Quin and Melrose)--U.S.
Detective Inspector Japp
€Old friend of Hercule Poirot, friends with Hastings, too.
€Works for Scotland Yard
€In "The Mysterious Affair at Styles," Hastings says that Japp is "a little, sharp, dark, ferret-faced man."
€Appears in: Death in the Clouds, Thirteen at Dinner, Peril at End House, The Mysterious Affair At Styles, The Labors of Hercules, The Big Four, The ABC Murders, The Under Dog & Other Stories, and Poirot Investigates
Superintendent Bert Spence
€Good friend of Hercule Poirot and is acquainted with Ariadne Oliver.
€He's large, earnest and honest.
€In "Mrs. McGinty's Dead," we learn he is going to retire from the Kilchester Police department in six months. By the time we catch up with him in "Halloween Party," he has already retired, lives in Woodleigh Common, and enjoys gardening.
€He is particularly fond of roses.
€Appears in: Mrs. McGinty's Dead, Halloween Party, and Elephants Can Remember
Harley Quin
€Runs into Mr. Satterthwaite once and awhile and claims that he "is only passing by."
€Mr. Quin usually appears right before something brings him mind
€Mr. Quin's visits involve a "trick of light" (a mixture of bright colored lights) falling on him.
€The only person who ever seems to see Mr. Quin is Mr. Satterthwaite. Therefore, so you are never quite sure if he is real, a ghostly presence, or if he is just a figment of his imagination.
€He serves as Mr. Satterthwaite's guide and friend.
€Mr. Quin is "someone who might turn up anywhere and who, if he did turn up, was always
an announcement that something was going to happen. Something that was going to happen to [Mr. Satterthwaite]. No, that was not quite right. Not to [Mr. Satterthwaite], but through him."
€As Agatha Chrisite explains in her autobiography: "Mr. Quin was a figure who just entered into a story--a catalyst, to me--his mere presence affected human beings. There would be some little face, sme apparently irrelevant phrase, to point him out for what he was: a man shown in a harlequin-colored light that fell on him thrgh a glass window; a sudden appearance or disappearance. Always he stood for the same things: he was a friend of lovers, and connected with death."
€Appears in: The Mysterious Mr. Quin, The Harlequin Tea Set & Other Stories, and The Mousetrap & Other Stories--U.S. (all with Satterthwaite)
Parker Pyne
€Pyne is a former government clerk and statistician--now he is a detective.
€Mrs. Oliver once worked for him as well as Miss Lemon.
€Pyne believes that there are five causes of unhappiness: ill health, wives having trouble with husbands, husbands having trouble with wives, boredom, and miscellaneous.
€Is not above manipulation and deception
€Appears in: Parker Pyne Investigates and The Regatta Mystery & Other Stories
Jason Rafiel
€Aids Miss Marple
€Wealthy
€Makes a posthumous appearance in Nemesis and sends Miss Marple on a mission to solve a mystery
€Appears in: A Carribean Mystery and Nemesis
Maureen Summerhayes
€Disorderly and messy
€Has red hair and freckled face
€In Mrs. Ginty's Dead, Poirot stays at her guest house and ends up teaching her how to make an omelet.
€In Cat Among The Pigeons, Mrs. Upjohn mentions that she is a good friend of Maureen's and she make a reference about her to Poirot.
€Appears in: Mrs. Ginty's Dead and is mentione d in Cat Among The Pigeons
Sir Henry Clithering
€Has respect for Miss Marple and calls her a "old pussy."
€Sir Henry also says that Miss Marple is "just the finest detective God ever made. Natural genius cultivated in a suitable soil."
€He is Dermont Craddock's godfather and Uncle
€Former Comissioner of Scotland Yard
€Appears in: The Tuesday Club Murders, The Body in the Library and A Murder Is Announced
Dr. Haydock
€Miss Marple's friend and physician
€Tells Miss Marple in The Mirror Crack'd that what she needs to revive her spirit is "a nice, juicy murder."
€Appears in: Murder In The Vicarage, The Mirror Crack'd, Sleeping Murder
Raymond West (Usually with his wife, Joan)
€Miss Marple's nephew--her sister's son
€Wealthy writer and is married to Joan, who appears also
€Sends his Aunt Jane on vacations (for instance, the Carribean and the West Indies)
€Appears in: The Tuesday Club Murders, Murder in the Vicarage, At Bertram's Hotel, Sleeping Murder
Mr. Robinson
€A member of a financial syndicate called the Arrangers
€In three of novels that Mr. Robinson appears, Colonel Ephrain Pikeaway is with him. The Colonel is the head of the Special Branch in England and he has the utmost respect for Mr. Robinson.
€"He was not definately Jewish, nor definately Greek nor Portugese nor Spanish, nor South American." (Cat Among The Pigeons)
€He speaks with no accent and he "...was fat and well dressed, with a yellow face, melacholy dark eyes, a broad forehead, and a generous mouth that deisplayed rahter over-large, very white teeth."
€He claims that he's "..just a man who knows about money...and the things that branch off from money, you know..." (Cat Among The Pigeons)
€He is the only character who appears with ALL of Christie's major detectives.
€Appears in: Cat Among The Pigeons (Poirot/Lemon), At Bertram's Hotel (Marple), Postern Of Fate (Tommy and Tuppence), & Passenger To Frankfurt
Mrs. Dolly Bantry (Usually with her husband, Colonel Arthur)
€A life-long companion of Miss Marple
€Has a friendship Miss Marple although she thinks that Miss Marple is "hopelessly behind the times."
€Miss Marple comes to her when she discovers the body in the library
€She is married to Colonel Arthur Bantry, who shows up with her.
€Appears in: The Tuesday Club Murders, The Body in the Library, The Mirror Crack'd, Sleeping Murder
Mrs. Julia Lancaster
€Her appearances were just cameos and had no part in the mysteries
€In By The Pricking of My Thumbs, she is a fellow patient at Sunny Ridge with Tommy's senile Aunt Ada and she speaks to Tuppence
€In the other two novels, she is simply noticed in an unnamed mental home.
€Charming, old lady with white hair
€She is always holding a glass of milk
€Talks about a child being buried behind a fireplace and about the time
€Seems disorientated, talking nonsense
€Appears in: The Pale Horse (Oliver), By The Pricking of My Thumbs (Tommy and Tuppence), and Sleeping Murder (Marple)
Countesss Vera Rossakoff
€Flamboyant Russian jewel thief that Poirot falls in love with, much to the surprise of Hastings.
€Despite her crimes, Poirot views her as a "remarkable woman."
€Appears in The Big Four, Double Sin and Other Stories, and The Labrous of Hercules (all with Poirot)
Colonel Melrose
€Appears in: The Secrety at Chimneys, The Seven Dials Mystery, and one Harley Quin short story ("The Love Detectives" which appears in Three Blind Mice and Other Stories)
Clement Edward Alistair Brent, Lady Eileen (Bundle) Brent, and Dr. Carwright
€All Appear in: The Secret of Chimneys and The Seven Dials Mystery (along with Colonel Melrose)
Reverend Caleb Dan Calthrop and Maud Dane Calthop
€The Reverend and his wife live at the vicarage in Much Deeping.
€Appear in "The Moving Finger" (Marple) and The Pale Horse (Oliver)
Colonel John Hugh Despard and his wife, Rhoda Davis Despard
€Colonel John Hugh Despard is the only character reused by AC who had previously been a murder suspect in another novel.
€The Colonel is a well known explorer.
€Rhoda is the cousin of Mark Easterbrooke, who is a central character in The Pale Horse.
€Appear in Cards On the Table (Oliver, Poirot, Battle, and Race) and The Pale Horse (Oliver)
Boris Ivanovitch
€Appears in: The Secret Adversary (Tommy and Tuppence) and The Mystery of the Blue Train (Poirot; also has many references to St. Mary Mead, the village where Miss Marple lives)
Detectives/Allies Appearing In
Only One Book
Robert Jones & Lady Frances Derwent
€They are both former childhood friends who have drifted apart because of their class status differences.
€Lady Frances "Frankie" Derwent is rich (although others don't view her as stuck up), drives a green Bentley, and lives in Derwent Castle with her father, Lord Marchington.
€Frankie has a very a spunky, imaginative personality and she doesn't hestitate when it comes to lying, scheming, or using her title/money/influence in order to get to the bottom of things.
€Frankie: "And I'm in a frightfully strong position because I've got a title. You see how useful that is. I'm not just a stray woman gaining admission to the house for mysterious purposes. I am an Earl's daughter and therefore, highly respectable."
€Robert Jones's father is the Vicar, Reverend Thomas Jones. Both live in the vicarage in Marchbolt, Wales. Bobby is an ex-navyman who is impulsive and likes to play golf. He also has a soft spot for a old friend, Badger, who employes him as an mechanic.
€Lady Frances mentions that her nickname at school was Monkey Face. Bobby also calls her various nicknames throughout The Boomerang Clue: Chief, Sherlock, Sick Monkey, and Lady Macbeth.
€They appear in: Why Didn't They Ask Evans?/The Bommerang Clue
Luke Fitzwilliam
€Aids Superintendent Battle
€"Natural" at mystery solving
€Appears in: Murder Is Easy
Charles Hayward
€Second-generation Scotland Yarder
€Appears in: Crooked House
Lucy Eyelesbarrow
€Aids Miss Marple in the physical aspects of detecting
€Was once engaged to Marple's nephew, Raymond
€Oxford-educated, thirty-two-year-old
€Works in "domestic labour"
€Appears in: What Mrs. McGullicuddy Saw!
Colin Lamb
€A British Intelligence agent
€It's strongly suggested that he is Battle's son.
€Knows Poirot very well
€Appears in: The Clocks (with Poirot)
Anne Beddingfeld
€Longs for adventure and romance
€Appears in: The Man in the Brown Suit
Victoria Jones
€Longs for adventure and romance, just like Anne
€Appears in: They Came To Bagdad
Dr. Arthur Calgary
€Believes in justice and wants to clear the name of man that was sent to prison
€Appears in: Ordeal By Innocence
