Characters in Mrs. McGinty's Dead

Hercule Poirot

Bored and out of sorts in shabby village lodgings, he relies on patient observation and psychology rather than physical clues to undo a conviction the law has already accepted.

Also in The Chocolate Box, The Kidnapped Prime Minister: a Hercule Poirot Short Story #2, The Lemesurier Inheritance, The Affair at the Victory Ball, The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim, The Plymouth Express: a Hercule Poirot Short Story, The Adventure of the Cheap Flat: a Hercule Poirot Short Story, The Submarine Plans: a Hercule Poirot Short Story, The Adventure of the Clapham Cook: a Hercule Poirot Short Story, The Cornish Mystery: a Hercule Poirot Short Story

Ariadne Oliver

A scatty but shrewd writer whose exasperation with her own fictional detective serves as Christie's affectionate self-parody; she is drawn into the village while battling a stage version of her work.

Also in Hercule Poirot and the Greenshore Folly, Cards on the Table, Dead Man's Folly, Third Girl, Hallowe'en Party, Elephants Can Remember

Superintendent Spence

Secured the conviction himself yet is troubled enough by conscience to seek help, unwilling to let a man hang on a verdict his instinct rejects.

Also in Taken at the Flood, Hallowe'en Party, Elephants Can Remember

James Bentley

A meek, awkward, self-pitying man whose very lack of charm makes him hard to defend, testing Poirot's belief that unlikeable does not mean guilty.

Mrs McGinty

An ordinary cleaning woman whose habit of noticing things in the houses she worked sets the tragedy in motion.

Maureen Summerhayes

Warm and well-meaning but hopelessly disorganised, running a chaotic guest house that subjects Poirot to comic discomfort.

Major Summerhayes

A struggling former military man trying to make a living from market gardening alongside his disorderly household.

Robin Upward

Theatrical and self-absorbed, he fusses over his mother and his work while collaborating with Ariadne Oliver on a stage version that drives her to despair.

Mrs Upward

An invalid with a keen memory whose recognition of an old photograph proves dangerously consequential.

Mrs Rendell

Anxious and uneasy, she behaves as though she has something to hide, drawing Poirot's attention.