| Sir Henry Clithering | |
| Creator: | Agatha Christie |
| First: | The Tuesday Night Club (1932) |
| Last: | 4.50 from Paddington (1957) |
| Portrayer: | Raymond Francis Graham Crowden Donald Sinden |
| Gender: | Male |
| Nationality: | English |
| Occupation: | Police commissioner (retired) |
| Family: | Dermot Eric Craddock (godson) |
Sir Henry Clithering is a fictional character who appears in a series of short stories by Agatha Christie, featuring Jane Marple. The stories were first published in monthly magazines starting in 1927, and then collected into a hard-bound collection, The Thirteen Problems in 1932. Clithering also appeared in several novels featuring Miss Marple.[1]
He is a retired Scotland Yard commissioner and his godson Dermot Eric Craddock is eventually a detective inspector at Scotland Yard.
Whenever local police warn Miss Marple not to interfere in an investigation, Sir Henry supports Marple. He recommends her to the county police trying to solve the crime in A Murder Is Announced, connecting Miss Marple to Sir Henry’s godson, Detective Inspector Dermott Craddock, then working for the Chief Constable in the county. This is the first time Miss Marple and Detective Inspector Dermott Craddock worked together.
In the novel The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side, Craddock has been promoted to Chief Inspector in Scotland Yard.[2]
Graham Crowden voiced Sir Henry in the 1999 BBC Radio dramatisations of The Body in the Library and A Murder is Announced.