Amanda Brewis

In the novel Dead Man's Folly, Amanda Brewis is the very efficient secretary of Sir George Stubbs. She also functions as the housekeeper for Nasse House. She is one of the key figures together with Mrs Masterton and Jim Warburton behind the organisation and efficient management of the fete on the Nasse House grounds.

During the fete itself Lady Stubbs asked Amanda to bring a tray of refreshments for Marlene Tucker at the boat house. Amanda got there about quarter past four and was the last person to see Marlene alive.

Poirot ultimately surmised that Lady Stubbs asked Amanda to bring refreshments to Marlene (a thoughtfulness very uncharacteristic of Lady Stubbs) in order to incriminate Amanda, although she was never seriously considered a suspect.

Amanda is known for her sharp and sarcastic remarks about the members of the household. She considered Lady Stubbs, despite appearances, to be "a sly, scheming, clever cat". When Lady Stubbs disappeared, Amanda did not believe that she was dead at all. She had merely run off with some man.

Poirot discerned that Amanda was secretly in love with Sir George Stubbs and for this reason pitied her. She gave him "faithful, loyal and passionate devotion" but he was probably quite unaware not interested. To Sir George, Amanda was "an efficient machine who took the drudgery of daily life off his shoulders, who answered telephone calls, wrote letters, engaged servants, ordered meals and generally made life smooth for him. Poirot doubted if he had ever once thought of her as a woman."