Joan Prescott

In the novel A Caribbean Mystery, Miss Joan Prescott is an elderly woman who enjoys gossiping. She has come on holiday with her brother, Jeremy, to the island of St Honoré and while there, makes the acquaintance of Miss Marple.

Miss Prescott is described as being a "thin severe-looking woman". She tells Miss Marple about the background of different people at the hotel, although her brother constantly tells her not to gossip.

Miss Prescott tells Miss Marple about how Greg Dyson's first wife had died, and how he had married Lucky soon after. She also tells Miss Marple about how some members of Molly Kendal's extended family had shown signs of mental illness, and how Molly had been involved with an unsuitable young man before she had met Tim Kendal.

Joan Prescott is featured again in the novel Nemesis. There, Miss Marple receives a posthumous commission from a fellow acquaintance from St Honoré, the wealthy businessman Jason Rafiel. He wanted Miss Marple to invesitgate an unspecified injustice. Miss Marple thought the best way to begin was to gather some background from his former secretary Esther Walters. So Miss Marple wrote to Joan Prescott to ask if she had Esther's latest address. Miss Prescott replied quickly giving the details and adding that she had since been married and was now Mrs Anderson.