# Miss Russell — The Murder of Roger Ackroyd character guide

> Miss Russell in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Russell

**First appearance:** 0005-iv-dinner-at-fernly

## Snapshot

Fernly Park's housekeeper, whose pinched lips and acid smile suggest a woman who has learned to keep her own counsel — and her own secrets.

## Who they are

Miss Russell runs the household with a chilly efficiency, and she has no patience for Mrs. Cecil Ackroyd's gushing charity. She professes sympathy for the dependent widow while making clear she herself works for her living, and her sharp tongue has made her a fixture of King's Abbot gossip. But her composure hides a private life the investigation will eventually have to reckon with, and her knowledge of the house's comings and goings makes her a witness no one can afford to overlook.

## In the story

### [Who’s Who in King’s Abbot](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_murder_of_roger_ackroyd_se/chapters/ii-who-s-who-in-king-s-abbot)

Ackroyd’s housekeeper; visits Sheppard with a vague knee complaint and questions him about rare poisons.

### [Dinner at Fernly](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_murder_of_roger_ackroyd_se/chapters/iv-dinner-at-fernly)

Housekeeper; acts suspiciously in the drawing room, breathing hard as if she had been running.

### [XI: Poirot Pays a Call](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_murder_of_roger_ackroyd_se/chapters/xi-poirot-pays-a-call)

Mentioned as a surgery patient; Caroline suspects she has a hidden agenda and that Poirot is interested in her.

### [XIII: The Goose Quill](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_murder_of_roger_ackroyd_se/chapters/xiii-the-goose-quill)

Referred to as a study of interest for Poirot; Caroline and Mrs. Ackroyd suspect something 'fishy' about her.

### [Miss Russell](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_murder_of_roger_ackroyd_se/chapters/xx-miss-russell)

Revealed to be the mother of Charles Kent; confesses to meeting him in the summerhouse on the night of the murder.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_murder_of_roger_ackroyd_se/characters/miss_russell
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_murder_of_roger_ackroyd_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_murder_of_roger_ackroyd_se/characters