Evil Under the Sun characters

Appears from the start

The Belgian detective, taking a holiday at a smart island hotel in Devon, correctly dressed for a boulevard rather than a beach and unashamed of it. He listens to the other guests talking about wickedness and observes that a quiet place in the sun is as good a setting for it as any slum.

Appears from the start

A famous stage beauty, married to Captain Marshall and still the centre of attention in any room she enters. Men gravitate to her and women resent it; she has been the cause of at least one public scandal. She is used to being looked at, careless of what it costs other people, and less confident in private than her manner suggests.

Appears from the start

Arlena's husband, a reserved and courteous army officer who married her after a scandal and refuses to discuss his marriage with anyone. He is imperturbable in public and inflexible about loyalty, and he spends much of the holiday typing letters in his room.

Appears from the start

Captain Marshall's sixteen-year-old daughter by his first marriage, awkward, badly dressed, and miserable in company. She is at the raw stage between child and adult, adores her father, and detests her stepmother with an intensity she does not know how to hide.

Appears from the start

A handsome, athletic young man on holiday with his wife, who attaches himself to Arlena Marshall almost from the first day and makes no attempt to be discreet about it. He is popular with the other guests and easy company.

Appears from the start

Patrick Redfern's wife, a small, pale, fair woman who does not tan and dislikes the sun, formerly a schoolmistress. She bears her husband's public infatuation with quiet dignity, is said to be afraid of heights, and befriends the unhappy Linda Marshall.

Appears from the start

A successful London dress designer, elegant and amused by herself, who grew up near the Marshalls and has known Kenneth Marshall since childhood. She is frank with Poirot about the other guests and about her own regrets.

Appears from the start

A brisk, athletic middle-aged woman who rows and swims every morning and has no patience with idleness or with women who trade on their looks. She is a reliable and unimaginative witness.

Appears from the start

A retired Indian Army officer with a large stock of long anecdotes that the other guests take considerable trouble to avoid. He has an eye for a good-looking woman and a habit of reminiscing about scandals.

Appears from the start

A loud, hearty man with a good deal of money and no tact, who keeps a sailing boat at the island and is forever urging other people to come out in it. He is not much liked at the hotel and knows it.

Appears from the start

A clergyman staying at the hotel to recover from a breakdown, thin, intense, and preoccupied with the presence of evil in the world. He says openly that he believes wickedness is walking about among them.

Appears from the start

An American visitor who talks continuously and agreeably about nothing at all, addressing most of it to her silent husband, who confines himself to short expressions of agreement. Her chatter turns out to have registered a good deal of accurate detail about who was where.

First appears in chapter 6

The Chief Constable of the county, who takes charge of the investigation and is glad to have Poirot at hand, though he finds his methods indirect.

First appears in chapter 6

The police inspector working the case under the Chief Constable, methodical and thorough, who builds the timetable of movements and checks each alibi in turn.