Characters in Hercule Poirot's Christmas

Supporting characters

• Hercule Poirot

  Staying with the chief constable nearby, he applies his methodical reasoning to a sealed-room killing, paying close attention to the dead man's character and the family he bred.

  Also in The Mysterious Affair at Styles, Murder on the Links, Poirot Investigates, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, The Big Four, Mystery of the Blue Train, Black Coffee, Peril at End House, Lord Edgware Dies, Murder on the Orient Express

• Simeon Lee

  Cruel and manipulative, he gathers his family largely to taunt them and toy with the question of his will; his throat is cut in his locked study on Christmas Eve.

• Alfred Lee

  The son who stayed loyal and managed the household, he remained devoted to his father despite the old man's contempt.

• Lydia Lee

  Intelligent and composed, she runs Gorston Hall and observes the family's tensions with a clear eye.

• Harry Lee

  Returned after years abroad, his reappearance reopens old wounds and he is among those his father seems to favour.

• George Lee

  Pompous and money-conscious, he is anxious about his allowance and his standing in the will.

• David Lee

  Sensitive and brooding, he nurses bitterness over his late mother's treatment at his father's hands.

• Pilar Estravados

  Visiting from Spain and meeting her grandfather for the first time, she is the one relative he treats with genuine warmth.

• Stephen Farr

  Arriving from South Africa, the son of Simeon's old diamond-mine partner joins the household on Christmas Eve and falls under suspicion.

• Superintendent Sugden

  A thorough, conscientious provincial detective who works the case alongside Poirot.

• Colonel Johnson

  Poirot's host for the holiday, he brings the detective into the case after the murder.