Characters in Towards Zero

Supporting characters

• Superintendent Battle

  A solid, unflappable Scotland Yard man, woodenly impassive by design, who is holidaying nearby when the case breaks; this is his final appearance in Christie's novels.

• Nevile Strange

  Former ward of Lady Tressilian's late husband, whose insistence on hosting both his new and former wives together sets the household on edge.

• Audrey Strange

  Quiet, pale, and self-contained, her composure masking deep strain in a household full of watchers.

• Kay Strange

  Young, vivid, and openly jealous of her predecessor, quick to anger when slighted.

• Lady Camilla Tressilian

  A frail, exacting widow confined largely to her room, who presides over Gull's Point and disapproves of her guests' arrangements.

• Mary Aldin

  The capable, watchful woman who runs the household and manages its frictions.

• Thomas Royde

  A reserved man returned from Malaya, long quietly attached to one of the household, slow to speak and easy to underestimate.

• Ted Latimer

  A sleek, faintly disreputable young man whose presence near Gull's Point sharpens the tensions.

• Andrew MacWhirter

  A blunt, melancholy Scot whose own brush with despair connects him obliquely to the household.

• Mr Treves

  A retired legal man who articulates the book's idea that a crime is the convergence point of long-building forces.

• Inspector Leach

  The investigating officer on the ground who calls on his visiting uncle's experience.