Characters in Taken at the Flood

Supporting characters

• Hercule Poirot

  Methodical and observant, he is drawn in less by an official case than by an intriguing fragment of conversation

  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

• Rosaleen Cloade

  Fragile, anxious, and isolated, she is resented by the family and closely guarded by her brother

• David Hunter

  Ambitious and manipulative, his protectiveness shades into something far more calculating

• Lynn Marchmont

  Restless and perceptive, she is torn between the safety of her engagement and a pull toward danger and excitement

• Rowley Cloade

  Practical and honourable on the surface, he is strained by jealousy and family financial pressure

• Frances Cloade

  Composed and resourceful, she is willing to consider unconventional measures to relieve the family's debts

• Jeremy Cloade

  Reserved and increasingly anxious as his money troubles mount

• Adela Marchmont

  Genteel and prone to procrastination, she struggles to manage without Gordon's financial backing

• Enoch Arden

  He adopts a borrowed name and uses his knowledge as leverage, becoming the case's central victim

• Superintendent Spence

  Solid and conscientious, he respects Poirot's methods and shares his unease about a too-tidy solution

  Also in Mrs. McGinty's Dead, Hallowe'en Party

• Major Porter

  A garrulous club bore whose testimony carries unexpected weight