Valentine Chantry

In the short story Triangle at Rhodes, Valentine Chantry, formerly Valentine Dacres, was a guest at the resort hotel in Rhodes where Poirot was hoping to have a quiet holiday. Valentine was described as woman of thirty nine who had been famouse since sixteen for her beauty. According to the text, she had been "famous for many things--for her caprices, for her wealth, for her enormous sapphire-blue eyes, for her matrimonial ventures and adventures". She was known for her numerous husbands and lovers, which included an Italian count, an American steel magnate, a racing driver and a tennis professional. By the time of her visit to Rhodes, she was already with her fifth husband, having married a Commander of the Royal Navy by the name of Tony Chantry some six months previously. Valentine was poisoned with strophanthin while at Rhodes. Untangling the love triangles she was involved in and discovering who killed her formed the main plot of the story.

Portrayals
Valentine Chantry was played by Annie Lambert in the film adaptation of the story in episode 6 of Series 1 of ITV's Agatha Christie's Poirot drama series. The portrayal is very close to the description in the original story except that she is not poisoned by strophanthin but by an poison made from snake venom which Marjorie Gold had purchased from a herbalist in the old town of Rhodes.