People

Here you’ll find a thumbnail sketch of characters in the Alice and Trudy series.

Alice is the owner of the Avalon Private Hotel, daughter of a slightly unusual aristocratic family.

Trudy is younger than Alice but shares the running of the hotel. She’s the daughter of a butcher in the market.

Sophie Woods is the much-loved senior guest. She is generous and tries hard to keep the peace among the other guests.

Colonel Starr, slightly forgetful, interested only in matters military, he generally misses the point.

Mrs Shand, a snob whose genius lies in name dropping, she sees herself as the arbiter of moral values and good taste.

Fay Bowen is known for her frequent but very tidy faints. She is an artist who is finding a new and rewarding career in sketching.

Calvin Hunt is known for his off-colour remarks and his way of making quite ordinary situations sound like a scene from a banned novel.

Harriet Daley, who later became Mrs Harriet Prentiss, a life-long spinster – shy, retiring, unobtrusive and painfully innocent.

Ben, a local character who drops in occasionally with something to buy or sell or trade, along with all the gossip and his little dog, Yan.

Kenneth Wilson – the young police detective whose misfortune it is to be assigned to investigate crimes and goings-on at the Avalon Hotel. His other misfortune is to be in love with Trudy.

The Bickerstaff family. Jeremy Bickerstaff, grandson of the founder of a prominent firm of lawyers, has been married to Trudy. The marriage has not gone well. Despite this, old Mr Bickerstaff (Mr B to you and me) has taken a liking to Trudy.

Mrs Evans – an older lady from Wales who comes to help in the kitchen.

The Fairaston family. Alice is the daughter of the Fairaston family from Fairaston Hall in Lancashire. Her father, Duncan, runs the estate, her brother, Rod, handsome but lazy, ought to be helping. Her mother, Viola, is an actress, lively, bossy and carries champagne in her handbag.