Sorrel Dainton

In the novel After the Funeral, Sorrel Dainton was an actress and mistress of Michael Shane. She was quite well-known and had a lead role in the last show Michael had acted in. Sorrel was married. According to Mr Goby, Sorrel's husband disliked Michael (perhaps he suspected an affair was going on). Goby also reported that Rosamund Shane did not know of the affair between Sorrel and Michael but she would later tell Poirot that she had known about it for some time.

To Michael, his affair with Sorrel was "just one of those things" and it was not as if he cared for her. She did however care for him, and he found her clingy and somewhat tiresome.

At the time Cora Lansquenet had been murdered, Michael claimed he was with Sorrel at her cottage in Kent. Poirot told him however that this would not make a convincing alibi. Sorrel was fond of him and would swear to untruths to help him.

Portrayals
Sorrel does not appear in the book in person but does appear in the ITV TV adaptation where she was played by Annabel Scholey. She is shown acting opposite Michael Shane at the Regency Theatre in a play entitled "Murder in Mayfair", and later, having an affair with him, although Shane, tells Poirot that they are just rehearsing their parts in the play! In the episode, Scholey is billed as "Miss Sorrel" (she is married in the original). Her surname Dainton is not given in the credits but is mentioned in the the dialogue and can be read off a publicity poster for the play. In the original, Michael Shane said she was quite well known as an actress. In the film she plays a minor role in the play.