Major Pennyman

In the novel Murder in Mesopotamia, Major Pennyman is an acquaintance of Major Kelsey and his wife, Mary. Nurse Amy Leatheran meets him shortly before she is due to go to Tell Yarimjah, to look after Louise Leidner.

Major Pennyman says that the expedition staff are all nice people individually, but he had gotten a sense that something was wrong the last time he had visited them. He noticed a "queer atmosphere of tension", and said that "they all passed the butter to each other too politely". He says that Dr Leidner had always managed to keep his expedition happy and on good terms with each other, but he had noticed the tension that day. Mary Kelsey says that Louise Leidner is the cause of the tension, but Major Pennyman does not think that explains it.