In the novel The Body in the Library, Florence Small is a Girl Guide and a friend of Pamela Reeves. Florence is the daughter of a well-to-do farmer. She is described as a "tall girl with fair hair, a rather foolish mouth, and frightened brown eyes". Florence and the other friends of Pamela; Mary Price, Beatrice Henniker, Jessie Davis and Lilian Ridgeway were all questioned by the police about Pamela's behaviour on the the day of her disappearance. All the girls said the same thing: that Pamela had told them that she was going to Woolworth's to do some shopping after the Girl Guides rally and she would go home by a later bus.
However Miss Marple sensed that Florence was holding something back. Miss Marple had experience with girls lying and referred to her village parallel of her maid Janet. She would lie and then give herself away by smirking as she left the room. Liars nearly always relaxed too soon. Under pressure, Florence confessed that Pamela had confided in her that she had been approached by a film producer working for Lemville Studios and he had invited her to do a screen test at the Majestic Hotel.
Portrayals[]
In the BBC 1984 adaptation of the novel which formed part of the Miss Marple series, Florence Small is played by Karen Seacombe. She is mostly referred to as “Florrie”.
In the ITV 2004 adaptation of the novel (Episode 1, Season 1 of Agatha Christie's Marple), Florence is played by Zoe Thorne.