The Mystery of Mrs. Christie

Archie Christie is Agatha’s husband and the narrator of the “Days since the Disappearance” sections in Part 1, which are told from a third-person limited point of view. Archie is an antagonist and an unreliable narrator, whose actions are determined consistently by self-interest and self-aggrandizement. He downplays his contribution to the dissolution of his marriage, framing his dislike of Agatha’s various qualities as natural. As the disappearance stretches on, Archie becomes increasingly worried and convinced that he will be blamed. He decides with certainty who is on his side or against him, typically in the absence of any clear evidence. Archie feels most comfortable with those in whom he finds some reflection of himself: He feels a kinship with Superintendent Goddard’s neat attire and focuses on the ways in which he and Rosalind are similar when thinking of the reasons he loves his daughter.

In the sections narrated by Agatha, Archie is characterized as initially romantic, passionate, and insistent on his love for Agatha. In the postwar years, Archie struggles with “black moods” (which are not clearly described as either clinical depression or mere bad temper, possibly due to a contemporaneous limited understanding of mental healthcare) and becomes increasingly removed from and hostile toward his wife. Archie values tidiness, orderliness, and quiet, and possesses limited patience for those he does not find to possess these qualities. At the end of the novel, Archie remains unrepentant regarding his behavior, though he does experience small moments of doubt after reading “The Manuscript.”

Deputy Chief Constable Kenward is the chief police officer assigned to Agatha’s disappearance. Kenward, as a character, is mediated through Archie’s unreliable narration, which poses a challenge to assessing which of his characteristics are accurate, and which reflect only Archie’s paranoia. Kenward is an untidy dresser, the key element which makes Archie (who values neatness and struggles to identify with those who differ from him in any way) immediately certain of Kenward’s dislike of him. Though Kenward does not appear to have any concrete affinity for Archie, this apparent dislike seems exaggerated, as outwardly Kenward behaves with little difference to Superintendent Goddard, a police officer who joins the case several days after its start. (Goddard, unlike Kenward, dresses neatly, which causes Archie to believe that Goddard likes him and is on his side.) The novel reveals little about Kenward aside from his professional conduct, and he serves largely as a foil to Archie.