The Murder at the Vicarage · Character

Mr. Hawes

The vicarage's nervous curate, whose eager prying into the murder and taste for mystical pronouncements make him far more unsettling than his mild manner suggests.

supporting

Also known as Hawes, poor Mr. Hawes, the unlucky Hawes, That poor devil Hawes

First appearance: the murder at the vicarage

As a supporting figure in The Murder at the Vicarage, Mr. Hawes is not background color—the story leans on what they do once the chapter opens.

The new curate with High Church views, mentioned in connection with Colonel Protheroe's complaints.

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Hawes hovers at the edges of the investigation with a reporter's hunger for detail, pressing Mr. Clement to carry the poacher Archer's threats to the police and quoting the vicar's own words back at him with unnerving reverence. He is a man of trembling conscience and visionary tendencies, the kind who hears premonitions in ordinary conversation. His eagerness to see justice done—and his readiness to let someone else do the hounding—makes him a quietly disquieting presence in the parish's worst week.

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Character Web

13 connections

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Relationship types

Other

Character groups

Primary suspects and investigators
Minor supporting characters
Village community and background figures
Protagonist

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Narrative arc

Story tension across the book.

Setup
Escalation
Breaking point
Aftermath
Closing

Miss Marple’s quiet rebuttal—comparing Raymond West’s metaphor of a “stagnant pool” to his own writing—marks t…

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In the story

Mr. Hawes appears across 7 companion beats. Open any chapter in the free preview to see the notes beside the text.

I
The new curate with High Church views, mentioned in connection with Colonel Protheroe's complaints.
XIV
Hawes is mentioned as having had encephalitis lethargica, which may have affected his character; he arrives to see the narrator.
XV
Visits the narrator, appearing nervous and showing excessive interest in the murder case and the possibility of Archer as a suspect.
XXIV
Shows extreme nervousness, asks the narrator to preach, takes a headache powder, and expresses suspicion about Lawrence Redding and Archer.
XXVIII
Found asleep in his chair with an empty cachet box and a crumpled confession letter beside him.
XXIX
Found unconscious from an overdose; the letter suggests he embezzled church funds and killed Protheroe.
Miss Marple's Revelation
Mentioned as the curate who attempted suicide and confessed to misappropriating church funds, with Lawrence Redding attempting to frame him for the murder.

Chapter companion notes

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See Mr. Hawes in the murder at the vicarage

See Mr. Hawes in I