Peter Carmody

In the novel The Body in the Library, Peter Carmody is the son of Adelaide Jefferson and Mike Carmody. He was the stepson of Frank Jefferson. He is about nine years old.

Peter is fond of detective stories, and has the autographs from Dorothy L. Sayers and Agatha Christie and Dickson Carr and H.C. Bailey.

He is excited to tell his friends at school that he knew the Ruby Keene, and knew her rather well.

He also tells the police that he did not like Ruby much, and thought she was rather stupid. He says that his mother and and Uncle Mark did not like her much either. Only Conway Jefferson, whom Peter acknowledges as Grandfather, liked her.

Peter says that on the night of her disappearance, Ruby had caught her nail on Josie's shawl and tore it off. Adelaide cut it for her, gave it to Peter, and told him to throw it away. However, after the murder, he kept it as a souvenir. It turned out that there was a bit of Josie's shawl still caught in the nail, so he had a souvenir of the murderer as well.

Portrayals
In BBC 1984 adaptation of the novel which formed part of the Miss Marple series, Peter is played by Andrew Downer.

In the ITV 2004 adaptation of the novel (Episode 1, Season 1 of Agatha Christie's Marple), Peter is played by Steven Williams.