In the novel Cards on the Table, Mrs Luxmore is the widow of Professor Luxmore. Her husband died in suspicious circumstances during an expedition in the Amazon.
Mrs Luxmore is described as being a "tall, rather handsome woman", and she speaks in a "deep husky voice".
When Poirot visits Mrs Luxmore, she at first tells him that her husband died of fever during an expedition to the Amazon. However, she eventually tells him that her husband was shot.
Mrs Luxmore tells Poirot that her husband was years older than her, and that she had married when she was still "a mere child", and did not know what she was doing. During the expedition, she discovered that John Despard was attracted to her. However, he was too honourable to show his feelings, and she never showed him that she knew, so they remained Major Despard and Mrs Luxmore to each other.
She describes coming out of her tent one night, and finding her husband and Major Despard fighting. She came between them, telling her husband that it was not true, but he did not listen, and threatened Major Despard. Major Despard fired in self-defence, and Professor Luxmore was shot through the heart. Afterwards, she was fearful of the publicity which the story would receive if the nature of her husband's death became known. So, as the professor had been suffering from a bout of fever, she convinced Major Despard to say that the professor had died of fever. When they returned to civilisation, she and Major Despard said goodbye to each other.
Portrayals[]
In the film adaptation of Cards on the Table in Series 10 of ITV's Agatha Christie's Poirot drama series, Mrs Luxmore is given the first name Lily. Here, her husband also died while on an expedition to the Amazon guided by Major Despard. However the circumstances of his death is changed. As Despard told Poirot, Luxmore's purpose in going for the expedition is to collect new types of psychotropic botanical substances. He tried the psychotropic drugs on himself and went berserk, slashing at his wife with a machete. Major Despard had to shot him in the back to save Mrs Luxmore's life. As for the suspicion that Despard might have been in love with Mrs Luxmore, Despard told Poirot that this did not have anything to do with the circumstances of Luxmore's death. After the incident, he buried his feelings and got on with life. Poirot accepted Despard's explanation as credible. In this adaptation, Mrs Luxmore was not interviewed by any of the sleuths. Lily Luxmore is portrayed by Cordelia Bugeja.
In Cartes sur table, the French adaptation for the series Les Petits Meurtres d'Agatha Christie, the parallel character is Jacqueline Louvier.