In the novel And Then There Were None, Anthony “Tony” James Marston was a young man that came from a wealthy background. He was described as "not a man, but a young God, a Hero God from some Northern Saga". He was six feet tall and had blue eyes, crisp hair, and a tanned face.
He was invited to Soldier Island, and was accused of killing John and Lucy Combes. In fact, his reckless driving caused the deaths of the two children near Cambridge. His car, a Super-Sports Dalmain, was described as "so fantastically powerful, so superlatively beautiful that it had all the nature of an apparition". Fred Narracott noted that it was one of the few times that a car like that had ever appeared in Sticklehaven.
Anthony Marston first appears when driving to Soldier Island. He rushed with his car past Dr Armstrong who turned out to be one of the guests and criticised him for his reckless driving. He was later driven to Soldier Island by one local boatman Narracott.
Marston was a friend of "old horse" Badger Berkeley, who had gone to Norway for a short period of time. The killer used Badger's name to lure Anthony into the island.
Spoilers ahead[]
After dinner at Soldier Island a gramophone recording accused everyone of murder and pointed out that Marston had killed the Combes children earlier that year. Judge Lawrence Wargrave decided that the group should have left the island as soon as possible, but Marston didn't seem to agree. He died immediately after drinking a cyanide laced drink, thus making it U. N. Owen's first murder victim.
General Macarthur suggested that his death was probably an accidental choking but, Dr Edward Armstrong said that the glass contained cyanide. Another hypothesis was that he must have killed himself, but this one too wasn't valid since he wasn't a "suicidal type".
The culprit killed Marston first because the death of the Combes children was accidental yet Marston felt no remorse for what he had done. The next deaths were of the more cold-blooded murderers, like a governess who allowed a child to drown, a spinster who led a young girl to suicide, or Mr Blore who made someone innocent die in prison.
Portrayals[]
Films[]
1945 - In the 1945 And Then There Were None movie, he was renamed Nikita Starloff and portrayed by Mischa Auer.
1959 - In a 1959 television adaptation, the characters name is changed to Frederick James Marston. He is played by actor Chandler Cowles.
1965 - In the 1965 film, the character is renamed Michael "Mike" Raven and is played by Fabian.
1974 - In the 1974 film adaptation of the novel, Marston was renamed Michael Raven and played by Charles Aznavour.
BBC Miniseries[]
- 2015 - In the 2015 And Then There Were None BBC Miniseries, he was portrayed by actor Douglas Booth. His role here is mostly faithful to the original one except that Marston is made a drug addict. He is one of the first guests to arrive on the island along with a Miss Brent. He later speaks with Lombard about how nobody did care about World War One anymore. He also remarked how nobody would notice if the old people disappeared. Just like in the original novel, Anthony rushed past Dr Armstrong with his car. However in this adaptation Armstrong recognised his car and made a scene at dinner.