Characters / Death in Paradise

WARNING: There are unmarked spoilers on these sheets for all but the most recent episodes. Some of these characters also appear in spin-off Beyond Paradise - so there may also be spoilers for that show.

The Paradise franchise:

Death in Paradise | Beyond Paradise

Current Regular Characters

As of the finale of season 13.

Detective Sergeant Naomi Thomas

Played by: Shantol Jackson (ep. 11.1 to present)

A sergeant who was transferred over from Saint Barnabas following J.P.'s departure. She is quickly promoted to Detective Sergeant following Florence's second departure.

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• Broken Pedestal: When a case leads to Naomi returning to her old home of Saint Barnabas, she's devastated when her old mentor, Sammy Debraun, admits that he didn't properly investigate a case of a house fire where a woman was accused of starting it with a careless cigarette, when a check of Naomi's childhood notes would have given him a vital clue.
• Establishing Character Moment: The first time Naomi is introduced, she is already inside the police station and drawing up the details of the murder case on the whiteboards. She had already read up on the case in advance, and she even tells Marlon off for turning up late to work by 20 minutes.
• From New York to Nowhere: Inverted. Naomi comes from Saint Barnabas, which is described as the smallest of the Caribbean islands. This is part of the reason why Naomi is so driven and focused on solving the case, because she never had to deal with anything like homicide back home.
• Mentor's New Hope: During a talk with Naomi, Sammy Debraun, her old mentor and superior, admits that he never found the nerve to leave Saint Barnabas and travel like he wanted to when he was younger, and admires Naomi's passion and resolve to go for what she wants.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Not her personality, but her hair and costuming are extremely similar to those used for Madeleine in season 9.

Officer Dwayne Myers

Played by: Danny John-Jules (ep. 1.1 to 7.8, 2021 Christmas special, 13.6 to present)

The longest-standing officer of the Saint Marie police force, his utter lack of ambition resulting in him never being promoted to sergeant. He has complete faith in his seniors and perhaps too good an understanding of the criminal underworld on the island. Dwayne often uses unlawful means to get the job done and is the go-to man for any investigations into the shadier aspects of Saint Marie. He has an eye for the ladies, sometimes getting distracted on the job.

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• Amicable Exes: Is able to bury the hatchet with Darlene when he returns to service on Saint Marie after her reveals that his father is dying and wishes to spend his last days on Saint Marie.
• Big Brother Instinct: He throws himself between JP and a pipe wielding criminal and is badly hurt in the process. He explains to JP that he has a lax style of policing but that doesn't mean that he doesn't care about the job or his colleagues any less.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: He's a highly experienced and competent crime-solver but has no ambition to be anything other than a beat cop, which makes him a contrast to his younger colleagues; Fidel and J.P. each make sergeant before they move on to other jobs.
• The Casanova: The series is littered with appearances and references to his numerous old flames. His reactions to them vary between friendly, flirty, and finished. One girl keeps trying to get back together with him, and he insists that "they were never an item."
• Dirty Old Man: Downplayed; Dwayne is notably older than the vast majority of his colleagues, and he's a shameless womanizer who regularly hits on much younger women. But he doesn't cross any major lines in regards to his flirting.
• Disappeared Dad: His father walked out on the family when he was a child and they didn't have contact for at least 50 years before meeting by accident in London (Dwayne was actually planning to look up his aunt and was surprised to find that his father was staying with her).
• It's Personal: When his mentor Cedrik dies under mysterious circumstances, he gets very heavily involved in the investigation of a possible murder after a Dying Clue sent via cell phone during the burning tips him off.
• Odd Couple: With J.P. This is particularly emphasised in the final episode of series 4, when Dwayne insists his more relaxed methods are just as effective as J.P.'s more uptight, rule-abiding methods.
• Old-Fashioned Copper: His style of policing involves being chummy with Saint Marie's lower-level criminals and letting them go about their business in exchange for information on bigger targets. Unlike other examples, he isn't prone to violence although he likes to talk a big game.
• Put on a Bus: At the start of series 8, Dwayne is said to be travelling with his elderly father.
  • The Bus Came Back: He briefly returned in the 2021 Christmas special, where the Commissioner requests his help in solving a case as Florence was on holiday and J.P. had already left for his new job, meaning the police force was in need of all the help they could get. He leaves at the end of the special to spend time with his now ill father in London.
    • Returns to service proper in episode 6 of series 13 to fill the vacancy left by Marlon, though reveals the main reason being his dad is dying and wishes to return home for his last days.
• Shipper on Deck: He is a vocal supporter of his colleagues' various attempts at finding romance on the island.
• Those Two Guys: With Fidel and later J.P.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Dwayne has a fear of the dark and confined spaces.

Officer Darlene Curtis

Played by: Ginny Holder (ep. 7.3-7.5, 7.7, 11.5 to present)

Introduced initially as one of Dwayne's old flames he tries to rekindle the fire with, Darlene was hired by Commissioner Patterson to help the police force in a civilian capacity, due to the lack of other staff. However, when she realised that her job doesn't hold much legal weight, she decided to enroll as an actual officer. By the start of series 13, she's graduated to a fully fledged officer.

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• Berserk Button:
  • Darlene does not appreciate people shirking their duties, no matter the reason.
  • She also detests people who don't see her for her actual value, even noting to Marlon that she decided to become an actual officer to stop people viewing her as, in her own words, 'a spare part'.
• Beware the Nice Ones: As nice and respectful Darlene may be, if someone does something to annoy her, she will make them regret it, such as making Dwayne go back to help his team in solving a case, birthday dinner be damned.
• Contrasting Replacement Character: When she was introduced and brought on to the force, she was not a police officer, and she is the first member of the team to have joined in a civilian capacity. She helped out with administrative duties, answering the phone, taking witness statements at the station, etc, before deciding it was time she became a trainee officer.
• Hidden Depths: The finale of series 12 reveals she is a big calypso fan, much to Marlon's chagrin.
• Nice Girl: This is Darlene's character to a fault. As Commissioner Patterson noted, she has a deep desire to help others, which is what led him to recruiting her. This gets brought up again in series 13, where, after Darlene believes she made a mistake due to empathising with a suspect and overlooking certain facts, Neville sincerely tells her that her empathy is nothing to be ashamed of, and is what makes her a brilliant police officer.

Catherine Bordey

Played by: Élizabeth Bourgine (ep. 1.1 to present)

DS Camille Bordey's mother and the owner of "Catherine's Bar", a local hangout popular with locals and tourists alike. She is a solid source of emotional support for her daughter's fellow police officers.

In Series 6, she wins an election to become Honoré's mayor.

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• Berserk Button: A quite bit of casual English-on-French racism is one thing, but don't you dare insult her cooking for petty reasons.
• Glamorous Single Mother: She raised Camille on her own after her deadbeat husband abandoned the family. Although she struggled, she's managed to build a successful business and eventually made a serious run for mayor.
• Lethal Chef/Supreme Chef: Depending on who is eating her cooking. Richard finds it unpalatable, Humphrey gobbles it up, while JP finds it to be too spicy to swallow. Neville is an odd example, as he adores Catherine's cooking when it's something English, such as chicken and chips, but has trouble when she cooks traditional Caribbean food.
• Living Emotional Crutch: She's never been needed for serious emotional support, but she offered some helpful insight for Jack, Neville and Florence on certain issues.
• Local Hangout: Her bar is where the Honoré police go to relax after a long day investigating murders.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Post Series Six, on account of being the mayor.
• Ship Tease: She mentions in the second episode of Series 9 that she thought she and DI Mooney might have been good together, but in the available context she may have just been teasing.
• Shipper on Deck: For Florence and Parker.

Commissioner Selwyn Patterson

Played by: Don Warrington (ep. 1.1 to present)

Head of the Saint Marie police force, although he seems to spend a disproportionate amount of time focusing on the Honoré Police Department.

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• Character Development: In the early seasons the Commissioner was more of an Obstructive Bureaucrat, stepping in to warn Poole in particular about the potential ramifications of the current case almost to the point of discouraging a focus on certain suspects due to potential political or tourism-related ramifications. As time goes on, however, he shows more tolerance for the team, allowing them to follow their leads as they wish and trusting their judgement.
  • Goes through a minor development arc when it comes to Neville. During Neville's first few cases, the only thing stopping the Commissioner from forcing Neville off the island is Neville's medical treatment. After Neville decided to stay on the island, despite being given the all-clear, the Commissioner begrudgingly works alongside him. Over time, however, he starts tolerating Neville more and more, and expresses most of his grievances via snarky comments and casual ribbing.
• Disappeared Dad: Is unintentionally one himself. It isn't until his ex-wife returns to the island in the season 11 finale that he learns he has a daughter.
• Embarrassing Nickname: He does not like Ruby addressing him as 'Uncle Selly' in public.
• Everyone Has Standards: As difficult and neurotic as some of the British detectives can be, Patterson actually likes having them on the island and is saddened when each one has to leave. At least until Parker comes along. He finds Parker to be so irritating, he's ready to be rid of the man almost immediately, which isn't helped by an early Parker case where the two are trapped on an island overnight during a storm.
• A Father to His Men: While he can be strict, and gruff, whenever someone says something negative about the police department, he's right there to defend the officers. Part of this comes from a time when, as a beat officer, he was investigating a murder. His superiors had classified it as a mugging-gone-wrong, but he'd felt that there was more to the case, yet his superiors ignored him. It took him 30 years to solve the case, but it's part of the reason as to why he's always on the side of his officers, even if they annoy him, like Parker seems to.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: A platonic version of this; when Jack Mooney starts to consider leaving the island, the Commissioner advises Mooney to consider what is right for him rather than define his actions by what would benefit the rest of the team.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: For all of standoffishness and Obstructive Bureaucrat tendencies, he genuinely cares for the officers under his command. When Florence is shot, he stays in the hospital with her until she's out of surgery, and then leaves as she's regaining consciousness, making it doubtful she ever knew he was there. Despite his intense dislike of Parker, he does care for him, especially when Professor Cartwright is murdered, and all the evidence appears to point to Parker as the murderer. From the very start of the case, Patterson insists that Parker has been framed, and he works hard with the team to find the real culprit.
• New Old Flame: The season 11 finale introduces his ex-wife, Maggie Harper. It doesn't take long for them to reignite the flame and spend the night together, although the fact that she hides evidence from the police quickly disrupts this.
• Not So Above It All: He does occasionally join the team in Catherine’s Bar from time to time.
• Obstructive Bureaucrat: Patterson takes this form during most of his appearances in Poole's era, though this tapers off beginning with Humphrey. Several times, he and Poole butt heads over Poole investigating inquires that implicate powerful political figures or risk damaging the tourism trade for the island, which Patterson would prefer he not do unless he has rock-solid evidence to make it worthwhile.
• Officer and a Gentleman: He's able to get information from a crook (who'd previously chased Dwayne off with a vicious dog) by politely asking the crook's mother and having her beat the information out.
• Outranking Your Job: He's in charge of a police force that's apparently large enough to justify him wearing the rank insignia of a chief constable. However, he seems to spend all his time overseeing a single four-person police station, personally overseeing promotion tests, and even involves himself in day-to-day policing when the Honoré cops are short staffed.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Much as he enjoys teasing his staff, he's firmly on their side.
• Secret Test of Character:
  • Implied during Camille's last episode. Humphrey is conflicted about Camille leaving due to his love for her, when Patterson pulls him aside and notes that as Camille's immediate superior officer, he has final say on if Camille can leave or not and if he rejects, Camille will simply be told the offer for her has been rescinded. When Humphrey immediately rejects the idea despite his affection for her, Patterson approvingly hands him the sheet, implying he'd have taken it back had Humphrey cancelled the transfer on selfish grounds.
  • Does a more obvious one in the first episode of Season Ten; with the team short-staffed during an investigation, Patterson works with J.P., but deliberately acts in a casual manner that verges on slacking off to confirm that J.P. is even willing to tell his superiors that they're wrong rather than just accept Patterson's attitude because the other man outranked him.
• Supreme Chef: Series 10 reveals that he's Saint Marie's reigning crab callaloo champion for three years running. He's annoyed when he doesn't win for a fourth time and even more angry that Parker did well enough to get a special mention from the judges. When reminiscing his marriage with his ex-wife, they both remember how he used to do all the cooking.
• Time-Shifted Actor: He's played in flashbacks by Jason Yeboa in the 2022 Christmas Special, and Marson Francisco in the first episode of series 13.
• Trickster Mentor: He loves messing with the head of whatever Inspector is on the island at the time. He’s also this to Ruby on occasion.

Former Regular Characters

Warning: Major spoilers for the first part of the series below.

Detective Inspector Richard Poole

Played by: Ben Miller (ep. 1.1 to 3.1)

An uptight British inspector assigned to the island to investigate the previous inspector's murder, Poole was instructed to remain on the island as the new police detective, much to his dismay. He held a distaste for the island and inexperience with tropical weather to the point where he continues to wear his old suits and drink almost nothing but tea.

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• Agent Scully: Poole is determined to dismiss any hint of the mystical or supernatural, instead preferring to rely on scientific analysis and logic.
• Awesomeness by Analysis: He relies heavily on science to solve crimes, which inevitably leads him to a "Eureka!" Moment. He’s so good he effectively solved his own murder by having the key evidence exposing the relevant suspect sent to his shack before his death.
• British Stuffiness: The stuffiest Briton who ever stuffed a shirt. He's outright appalled by expressions of affection or sentiment.
• Brits Love Tea: He spends one of his first episodes combing the island in desperate search of one, even skipping out on work to do it! In another episode he immediately recognises the tea belonging to the victim as being "the most expensive tea in the world", which he promptly confiscates as, erm, evidence.
• Bully Hunter: Having been on the receiving end of bullying himself, Poole is quite motivated to take any bully down a few pegs.
• Character Death: He's mysteriously stabbed with an ice pick at a party; the investigation of his death serves as the introductory case for DI Goodman.
• Deadpan Snarker: Poole talks almost exclusively in sarcasm and put-downs, regardless of whether or not he likes the person he is speaking to.
• Defective Detective: Averted. Poole is often uptight and sometimes has difficulty properly expressing his emotions, but overall is a nice, perfectly mature person simply trying to come to grips with his somewhat frustrating situation.
• Embarrassing Nickname: Season 2 reveals that as part of his tactics to bully Poole, Doug Anderson gave him the nickname "Dick." Even after Anderson's departure, the name stuck.
• "Eureka!" Moment: More or less his case-solving M.O. After all the science, that is!
• Fish out of Water: He spends a lot of time on Saint Marie fumbling around in total ignorance of the local culture. When he first arrives, another officer has to explain to him that Guadeloupe is a completely different island from the one he's on.
• The Finicky One: Poole at one point spreads his jacket out on a rock before sitting down. He also refuses to take his shoes off, even while walking on the beach.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: As the series goes on it becomes clear that Poole didn't gel well with his fellow officers back in England; even in the first episode, it was noted that Poole's colleagues had thrown a party because he was leaving rather than just to say goodbye. Doug Anderson, a visiting officer whose wife is murdered during season 2, implies it's due to Poole's stuffiness making it hard to befriend him (while Anderson also mocks him for his morality and following the law to the letter). Poole later notes when talking about Anderson that he initially was popular with his fellow officers, but Anderson singled him out and bullied him with an Embarrassing Nickname, tanking his reputation even after Anderson was sent elsewhere.
• Friendless Background: When trying to comfort Camille after a friend of hers is poisoned, he admits to not having had many friends growing up beyond his grandparent's dog.
• Funny Foreigner: With his suits and uptight attitude, he sticks out like a sore thumb on the island and, at the very least, is considered to be odd by the locals.
• Hero of Another Story: Since Poole's replacements in Humphrey, Mooney and Parker, showrunner Robert Thorogood has written several novels focusing on other cases Poole and the original team tackled.
• Hilariously Abusive Childhood: His home life was so dysfunctional, he was relieved to be sent away to boarding school... where the House Mother terrorised and abused him day and night, leaving him with a crippling fear of nuns.
• I Am Very British: Yes. Yes he is.
• Improbable Aiming Skills: In "Death in the Clinic", he overarm bowls a round float at Paul Vincent and nails him in the forehead after Dwayne gets dunked in the harbour. Lampshaded by him immediately afterward.
  Richard: I honestly didn't expect that to work.
• Inspector Javert: Becomes this to Doug Anderson in the first half of "A Dash of Sunshine" to the neglect of the rest of the case, but his team snap him out of it. He was right in the end, though.
• Irony as She Is Cast: Richard is a devoted rational skeptic, and openly contemptuous in belief in anything superstitious. While Ben Miller shares his character's interest in science, he's also known for believing in a number of esoteric practices like astrology.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He comes off very rude and abrasive to the officers of Saint Marie at first, but it's soon revealed to them that he's actually quite a nice person, and that he's simply a bit uptight and rough around the edges, a condition which is exacerbated by his Fish out of Water / Reassigned to Antarctica status.
• Lack of Empathy: A heroic example — Poole is a dutiful servant of law and justice, but he needs a long run-up to understand others' emotions. His offers of condolences to grieving families sound like he's commenting on the weather, and it takes him a full episode to work up a proper expression of sympathy when Camille loses a friend.
• Leitmotif: Has a character theme.
• Limited Wardrobe: He almost exclusively wears a black suit, white shirt, and black tie.
• The Lost Lenore: Not explicit, but as part of the Ship Tease he had with Camille, she admits that she still thinks of him whenever she's having trouble with a case even years after his death.
• No Social Skills: His Lack of Empathy usually leads to him looking like he has none, including some instances of being Sarcasm-Blind or not understanding turns of phrase.
• Not So Above It All: Although he tends to remain somewhat aloof of his team's antics, he not infrequently gets on board, much to their delight. There's also his embracing of The Summation at the end, where despite his demeanor he gets very into them and even scripts them out in advance.
• Phone-In Detective: He spends one episode ill in bed — so he orders a whiteboard sent to his room, gets updates from Dwayne and Fidel, and solves it all from the sickroom. Of course, this might have been a bit easier for him if he wasn't sometimes delirious.
• Politically Incorrect Hero: While a completely sympathetic character and generally a nice person, Richard is quick to degrade the French. He is initially prejudiced toward Catherine's restaurant based on its French appearance, and when Camille points out that she is half-French, he insists that "there's no such thing as half-French!" Getting to know and trust Catherine, Camille, and Fidel, all characters with French backgrounds, is part of his Character Development.
• Rage Against the Heavens: Is reduced to this in a late season 2 episode when he needs the sun to shine on a weather-box.
  Poole: Oh for God- 300 days a year, you shine. TEN HOURS A DAY! AND THE ONE TIME I ACTUALLY WANT YOU TO SHINE, YOU GO IN!
• Reassigned to Antarctica: He views his assignment to Saint Marie as this, and furiously tries to get out of it. It doesn't work, and he eventually adjusts and even begins to enjoy some aspects of his new life.
• Science Hero: He often displays what appears to be an extensive knowledge of chemistry, and puts it to good use with forensic methods his team is sometimes completely unfamiliar with.
• Servile Snarker: Poole hates Commissioner Patterson and resents his involvement in his cases, but can rarely bring himself to say so outright, so he expressed his frustration through snarky requests and reports.
• Sharp-Dressed Man: Played with. He wears nice dark suits that would probably look great at a Croydon station — on the steaming island of Saint Marie where he's sweating and constantly complaining about the heat... eh, not so much. His own actor eventually couldn't tolerate the heat, and where possible Poole is shot from the waist-up to hide that he'd change into shorts and sandals.
• Ship Tease: With Camille. While the two are initially Vitriolic Best Friends owing to the awkward conditions they met in, the two become closer during Poole's seasons and come close several times to admitting there may be something more than sarcasm there, only for Poole's stuffiness or Camille's temper to kill the mood.
• The Summation: How he leads up to The Reveal. He even scripts them, and gives the other officers cues to present evidence for maximum dramatic impact.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: He has a potent snake phobia, which becomes a plot point when dealing with a snake-fancying suspect.

Detective Inspector Humphrey Goodman

For tropes related to DI Goodman, see here.

Detective Inspector Jack Mooney

Played by: Ardal O'Hanlon (ep. 6.5 to 9.4)

An Irish London inspector and recent widower who acted as liaison the Honoré team when they came to England to investigate a murder. After the case, he goes to Saint Marie for a holiday with his daughter, Siobhan, but ends up taking up DI Goodman's position on the island when Humphrey decides to stay in London. Jack tries to use this as an opportunity to move on from his wife's death.

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• Ambiguously Bi: Jack seems to have no issue being physically close to other men, such as hugging J.P. when excited, walking in on Dwayne in the shower, or practising calypso dancing with another man. He’s also accidentally implied that he’d like to see the commissioner without his uniform, stated he “could kiss” a male suspect after the latter provided some new information, and told Florence her fiancé is handsome (among other things) and that if she doesn’t want him, he’ll have him.
• Contrasting Replacement Character: He's much more mature than his two predecessors and had a happy family life before his wife's passing, unlike Poole (single and difficult to get along with) or Humphrey (who came to realize that he was in an unhappy marriage). He's also more paternal towards the younger members of his team.
• Cloud Cuckoolander: He comes across as being easily distracted by tangential matters and lax with the rules, but these traits always end up playing a vital role in catching each episode's killer.
• Determinator: His instinct to solve cases overrides nearly everything else, to the point where he'll jump off a ferry and swim back to shore in order to make his summation.
• Like a Duck Takes to Water: Unlike his predecessors, Jack completely throws himself into life on Saint Marie and quickly establishes an extensive network of local friends.
• Loophole Abuse: He sets up a regular get-together at his shack where locals can enjoy a beer while crab racing and placing friendly wagers (a popular local pastime) to get around rules about gambling at bars.
• The Mourning After: His wife passed away not long before his introduction and his attempts at putting on a cheerful front can't hide how much it devastated him. Part of his motivation for staying on Saint Marie beyond his planned holiday is because the island gives him distance from London and all the places he associates with his wife.
• Oireland: Pointedly averted on his first appearance: he's an Irishman who can't stand Guinness.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: When Jack goes to interview some suspects again for the second time, he has a habit of either starting a "Shaggy Dog" Story tangent or pretending to look for a reminder about what he needed to ask before he starts to question them seriously.
• Put on a Bus: In Series 9, he departs Saint Marie and heads back to London as he feels that he's ready to rebuild his life after his wife's death.
• Sweet Tooth: He puts at least six sugars in his tea.

Detective Inspector Neville Parker

Played by: Ralf Little (episode 9.5 to 13.8)

A detective with the Greater Manchester Police who came to Saint Marie expecting to stay for just a few hours and sign off on a death. He ends up extending his stay by much longer than anticipated.

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• Apologises a Lot: Whenever something bad happens that he's partially or fully responsible for, Neville will generally apologise repeatedly. Lampshaded by the Commissioner in the fourth episode of series 10.
• Cassette Craze: One of Neville's quirks is his constant dictating of his observations and case notes into his Dictaphone.
• Character Development: Series 12 sees him start coming out of his shell and make tentative steps at becoming more adventurous.
• Contrasting Replacement Character: He's the first lead to not be from the London Met as well as the first Commissioner Patterson doesn't want on the island. Also, unlike his most recent predecessors, he's not on Saint Marie willingly; unlike Poole, however, who was assigned to Saint Marie permanently, Neville was originally just meant to sign off a case as a senior detective, only to end up staying longer due to needing to lead an investigation and later due to illness. Also unlike Poole, when Neville is given the all-clear to return home, he decides to stay on the island rather than leave.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The responsible sibling to his sister Izzy. She is a childish Hard-Drinking Party Girl and her abrupt arrival in Saint Marie to run away from committing to marriage with her long-time partner is very unwelcome and disruptive to Neville.
• Hopeless Suitor: Neville is this to Florence. When he eventually plucks up the courage to ask her out, she ultimately rejects him as she only considers him to be a good friend. Subverted at the end of Season 13
• Nervous Wreck: He's even more neurotic than Poole ever was and is convinced that being on Saint Marie will be the death of him. As time goes on, he gets better: while still neurotic, he does work on enjoying life in the Caribbean, even if some parts of it don't agree with him.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
  • David Cartwright outwitting him and escaping justice is the only time on the show Neville has been genuinely angry, to the point where he genuinely believed he might have murdered a man.
  • When the investigation into who shot the commissioner reveals that a friend of the commissioner's learned that his wife was having an affair, Neville makes it clear that, even though he shouldn't share such information about an ongoing investigation, the commissioner is a good and honourable man who was not having an affair with the other man's wife.
• Open Mouth, Insert Foot: Due to his lack of tact, Neville sometimes says a few comments that are taken the wrong way, particularly regarding the Commissioner.
• Picky Eater: He doesn't like unfamiliar foods, so the only thing he'll eat is chicken and chips, which have to be cooked especially for him because it's not on the menu at Catherine's bar.
• Put on a Bus: After multiple failed attempts at a relationship, Neville decides to go out in the world to find what he's missing in episode 7 of series 13, though it's delayed when he has to solve a murder in episode 8. Sets off once again this time with Florence once he solves the case and finally plucks up the courage to go with her.
• Secret Test of Character: Ends up giving one to Florence when she's contemplating moving on from her fiancé's death by throwing away her engagement ring; Parker takes the ring and pretends to throw it away to make Florence realise that she doesn't want to do something that drastic.
• Ship Tease: With Florence, although he Cannot Spit It Out. Finally is able to admit his feelings and goes travelling with her.
• Sickly Neurotic Geek: He has a delicate constitution, ranging from asthma to sensitivity to sunlight, and fusses over his health.
• Walking Disaster Area: Destruction and injury seems to follow him around. He's almost burned down his shack, got himself and Commissioner Patterson stranded on a remote island, and caused an accident bad enough to put the commissioner in the hospital.

Detective Sergeant Camille Bordey

Played by: Sara Martins (ep. 1.1 to 4.4, 10.5 to 10.6 and 13.1)

Daughter of Catherine Bordey and a former undercover investigator. She was assigned as Detective Sergeant after her cover was blown when she was arrested during Poole's first investigation. She was the team's best investigator after Poole, often handling the computer work. Initially, she and Poole did not get along due to culture clash, but over time the two got along better and their friendship showed hints of romance.

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• Action Girl: She's been a Detective Sergeant for over two years, been shot twice, and is almost certain she can beat Richard in a fist fight. And if you think you don't have to listen to murder allegations, you're wrong; you do; sit back down.
• Babies Ever After: Off-screen, the Series 12 finale reveals that she and her new boyfriend Leo have a baby on the way in Paris.
  • Seen on-screen midway through the Series 13 premiere, as she's in labor right when Parker calls her to get her input on the case the team is working on and at the end when we see her child post-birth.
• Disappeared Dad: Raised by her mother, Catherine. We finally discover why this was and meet her father in series 3.
• Hot-Blooded: In contrast to Poole's more emotionally reserved persona. Goodman calls her "fiery" in series 3, and hurries to get in the jeep before she leaves without him.
• Imaginary Friend: She confesses to Catherine that she frequently thinks about Poole and that his imaginary voice often helps her solve cases. At a particularly low point, her imaginary Poole provides her with his uniquely awkward brand of comfort.
• The Lost Lenore: Poole serves as this for her. While any romantic feelings between them were only implied, it's clear that she deeply valued their friendship and respected his skills as an investigator, conversing with her memories of him to help her solve cases many years after his death.
• Number Two: The second most senior officer after the D.I. Dwayne and Fidel take orders from and report to her if the D.I.'s not currently around.
• Put on a Bus: In her departing episode, Camille is last seen on a ferry to the mainland, on her way to a new career in Paris.
  • The Bus Came Back: Returns in Series 10 to assist in solving a case after Catherine is attacked during the investigation and Florence is chasing up a lead in England.
  • While Camille doesn't appear directly, the Season 12 finale has Catherine reveal that Camille is pregnant.
  • Appears again in the Season 13 premiere when Neville video-calls her for help in a case, though she's in the middle of giving birth to her child when he does.
• Ship Tease: With Poole, and later with Humphrey.
• Silent Snarker: Much of her exasperation about Poole's or Goodman's antics is conveyed through facial expressions, and if the current target is attentive enough to take notice, it's usually sufficient to shut him up or at least give him pause. That said, she's just as capable at snarking verbally.

Detective Sergeant Florence Cassell

Played by: Joséphine Jobert (eps. 4.1 to 8.6, 10.1 to 11.4, 13.6 to 13.8)

Cassell joins the team to replace Fidel as Sergeant and is quickly promoted to Detective Sergeant when Camille Bordey leaves for Paris. She works efficiently and gets along well with the whole team, establishing a strong connection with Goodman and often reigning in his eccentricities.

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• Action Girl: After a suspect tried to escape by boat, Florence was the only one who ran at the harbour and managed to leap onto the roof of another boat in order to reach the one she needed.
• Chekhov's Gunman: Early in the first episode of series 4, Dwayne talks to her at a bar, and tells her about his frustrations with the Chief Commissioner. At the end of the same episode, she is officially inducted into the team. Cue the look of horror on Dwayne's face.
• Cloud Cuckoolanders Minder: With Humphrey, she took a more proactive approach to his idiosyncrasies than Camille did by not letting him ramble on without explaining himself to the team. Mooney didn't need any real minding (in fact, he ended up taking a paternal role for her). With Parker, she finds herself needing to prod him to enjoy life on Saint Marie more while trying to deal with all his maladies, both real and imagined.
• Commuting on a Bus: She's had three distinct runs on the show, the first being Series 4 through 8, when she departs after her fiance is murdered and she wants to escape the memories. The second was Series 10 through 11, when she goes into witness protection after taking down a major criminal figure. The third was in Series 13 to help close out Neville Parker's story arc.
• Number Two: Easily steps into this position after Camille's departure, and manages to adapt her style to serve Humphrey, Mooney and Parker as a capable second despite their contrasting styles of detective work.
• Ship Tease: With Parker. Finally sets sail both figuratively and literally in Episode 8 of Series 13.

Detective Sergeant Madeleine Dumas

Played by: Aude Legastelois (ep. 8.7 to 9.8)

Initially an internal affairs investigator from France, sent to assess Mooney's competence and actions leading up to the shooting of Florence. After he is cleared, she gets assigned to his team as replacement Detective Sergeant.

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• City Mouse: Having lived in a Paris flat, she struggled to get used to a relatively rustic life on Saint Marie, with cockerels waking her up at dawn.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: An example born of professional detachment. She arrived on San Marie to investigate Jack over a disciplinary matter and so couldn't be very friendly with the team. After deciding to stay as a member of the team she was able to relax and show a much warmer personality.
• Internal Affairs: In her first appearance, after which she became a regular investigator.
• Master of Unlocking: She taught Jack how to unlock a hotel safe using nothing more than a well-timed blow with her fist.
• Put on a Bus: At the start of series 10, it is mentioned that Madeleine had left Saint Marie for Paris.
• Replacement Flat Character: She has the least distinct characterization out of all the characters introduced later in the show's run.

Sergeant Fidel Best

Played by: Gary Carr (ep. 1.1 to 3.8)

A young and hard-working officer, Fidel is married to a woman called Juliette, and his daughter - Rosie - is born in the Series 1 finale. He is put forward for his sergeant's exams by DI Richard Poole in recognition of his hard work, which he passes and earns the promotion. Fidel often gets stressed and sticks to protocol, whereas Dwayne is the complete opposite. Nevertheless, the two were great friends.

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• Action Dad: His wife is pregnant during the first series and, as the youngest member of the team, he is the go-to guy for chasing criminals and other active pursuits.
• Donut Mess with a Cop: He regrets not taking doughnuts on a stakeout.
• Happily Married: To his wife, Juliet.
• Helping Granny Cross the Street: One of Fidel's first scenes has him actually helping an old lady cross the road. Dwayne, meanwhile, is chatting up a wealthy tourist.
• Odd Friendship: With Dwayne. He had one with the local gigolo, but broke it off when he decided to become a cop, since he felt it was awkward. He regrets that.
• Phrase Catcher: Everyone tells Fidel he needs to learn to relax. Dwayne, Juliette... even the criminals he arrests tell him he needs to relax.
• Put on a Bus: Between Series 3 and 4, he has transferred to the neighboring island of St. Lucia.
• Those Two Guys: With Dwayne.

Sergeant Jean-Pierre "J.P." Hooper

Played by: Tobi Bakare (ep. 4.5 to 10.8)

A fresh-faced new police officer who is taken under Dwayne's wing. He eventually passes his sergeant's exams and follows in Dwayne's footsteps by trying to behave as a mentor figure for the younger uniformed officers like Ruby and Marlon.

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• Big Brother Instinct: After Dwayne's departure, he becomes the senior uniformed cop and takes firstly Ruby and then Marlon under his wing. He even takes the blame for a serious infraction made by Marlon to save the younger officer's career.
• Character Development: Becomes a lot more serious and competent as the series goes on, especially when he has to mentor Ruby and Marlon.
• Establishing Character Moment: In his first scene, J.P. is early and decides to water the flowers growing outside the station. He's holding onto a watering can when he meets Humphrey for the first time, and doesn't realise he's pouring water all over Humphrey's shoes until the latter points it out.
• The Ditz: In his debut episode, he's shown to accidentally pour water over Humphrey's shoes, and almost has a repeat situation later in the episode. He also follows Dwayne's instructions to a T, and bags everything from the murder victim's hotel room.
• Fourth-Date Marriage: He and his wife Rosie have a "whirlwind romance" (Dwayne's words), with him proposing not long after they began dating (although it should be noted that they had a prior relationship rather than this being their first time as a couple).
• Heroic Sacrifice: In the Season 10 finale, J.P. claims responsibility for assaulting a suspect when that assault was actually committed by Marlon, as Marlon would have been sent to jail if he was fired because of that accusation. In contrast, J.P. only receives a two-week suspension from the police, which marks the amount of time left until he moved on to his next job anyway, and a mark on his permanent record (and it's all but explicitly stated that the Commissioner knows what he's doing anyway).
• New Meat: In his first few episodes, Dwayne takes advantage of his naivete while showing him the finer points of police work. By the end of series 4, J.P. has settled in enough to know when Dwayne is taking advantage of him.
• Odd Couple: With Dwayne. This is particularly emphasised in the final episode of series 4, when J.P. is not happy with Dwayne's more relaxed methods, and insists on performing a stakeout alone.
• Only Known by Initials: J.P.'s full name is Jean-Pierre.
• Put on a Bus: At the end of Series 10, JP departs Saint Marie to take a job overseeing police training for multiple Caribbean municipalities, after proving himself with his training of Marlon.
  • The Bus Came Back: Reappears in Episode 5 of Season 13 to help Selwyn procure a job for Marlon in Jamaica. He even joins the team back on Saint Marie for celebratory drinks and to deliver the good news to Marlon that he will have a job waiting for him when he lands in Jamaica.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: In the third episode of Series 9, J.P. assumes that he'll be in trouble for returning a bag to a young boy rather than logging it as evidence, but since the boy needed the bag to sell things to support his family, Mooney assured J.P. he understood and approved of the younger man's reasons.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: J.P. can't swim and becomes nervous whenever he has to work on cases involving large bodies of water. Lampshaded by Dwayne, who reminds him that they are on an island in the middle of the Caribbean. At the end of the episode, however, Florence is shown to be teaching J.P. how to swim; and by series 6, he has no problem with swimming anymore, even diving into the sea to retrieve crucial evidence.

Officer Ruby Patterson

Played by: Shyko Amos (ep. 8.2 to 9.8)

A rookie officer who joins the Honoré team straight out of training. She happens to be the niece of Commissioner Selwyn Patterson.

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• Genki Girl: Ruby is very energetic, as seen in her Establishing Character Moment when she furiously shakes J.P.'s hand. She even cheerfully applauds Jack when she witnesses his first summation.
• Jack of All Trades: Ruby had worked in 12 other jobs in the past before becoming a police officer. The knowledge she picked up from her previous jobs has been handy quite a few times, like when she was able to identify a suspect's fingernail colour accurately, or when she was able to distinguish whether a designer watch was real or fake.
• New Meat: Completely inexperienced and over-enthusiastic to the point where J.P. considers her hazardous to be around.
• Noodle Incident: Ruby was once cautioned by the police following an incident with a goat.
• Put on a Bus: At the start of Series 10, when Madeleine is given a new position in Paris she secures an indefinite secondment there for Ruby too.

Officer Marlon Pryce

Played by: Tahj Miles (ep. 10.2 to 13.5)

A teenage criminal who's managed to tread a fine line to avoid actual jail time, to J.P.'s annoyance. He claims to want to turn over a new leaf and enters a training/rehabilitation program and becomes a member of the Honoré Police Station. By the time of series 11, he's graduated from a trainee to a fully fledged officer.

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• Character Development: When Marlon is first introduced, he's cynical and clearly using the police training program as a way to stay out of jail, even stating outright that after a year, he's quitting as he'd be free. But as time goes on, Marlon starts to love his new job, mostly thanks to J.P. acting as both his tutor and role-model. By the time J.P. sacrifices his job to let Marlon keep his, Marlon is fully committed to staying on the police force. When he makes plans to move to Jamaica to look after his sister when she gets a scholarship, he affirms that he will miss being a police officer as there is initially no job openings available, with his colleagues all affirming that he's come a long way since he started.
• Contrasting Replacement Character: Ruby, J.P., and Fidel were all introduced as bright-eyed rookies all earnestly trying to enforce justice. By contrast, Marlon is much more cynical and introduced as a local petty criminal who started training to be a police officer to avoid going to jail.
• Forgotten First Meeting: Downplayed in the Christmas special, when Marlon meets Dwayne for the first time as a police officer. Dwayne remarks that he's arrested Marlon before in the past, but it's clear that neither of them can remember too clearly what happened.
• Innocently Insensitive: Crosses over with Green-Eyed Monster. After Darlene completes her first set of training to becoming an officer, Marlon finds himself having to act as a senior officer to her, something that he is not used to, which, combined with his jealousy that Darlene got better scores than him during training, causes him to initially start to try and keep Darlene on the sidelines in order to show off, something that Darlene calls him out on.
• Jack of All Trades: Due to his background as a petty criminal, he's picked up a lot of skills that can come in handy as a police officer, such as knowing how to pick a lock and what to look for to see if has been tampered with.
• Promotion to Parent: Marlon's move to Jamaica is basically a minor version of this; his younger sister has received a scholarship to a school in Jamaica, and since Marlon's mother has to stay in Saint Marie to care for his grandmother, Marlon will have to go to Jamaica to care for his sister.
• Put on a Bus: In Episode 5 of Season 13, Marlon transfers from Saint Marie to Jamaica after his sister Jocelyn is accepted to a school in Kingston so that he can be there for her while she continues her education.
• Trading Bars for Stripes: His petty crimes were starting to catch up to him and he was facing actual prison time when he was given the choice to enter a rehabilitation program to become a cop. He decided to take the offer and comes under J.P.'s tutelage.

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Other Characters

Warning: Major spoilers for certain parts of the series, particularly Seasons 8 and 12, below.

Siobhan Mooney

Played by: Grace Stone

DI Mooney's daughter who appears in Series 6 and then re-appears in a few episodes in seasons 7 and 8.

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• The Bus Came Back: Siobhan goes off to university at the start of series 7; she returns at the end of series 8 and again in series 9 for her father's final episode.

Patrice Campbell

Played by: Leemore Marrett Jr (ep. 8.1 to 8.6)

Florence Cassell's fiancé, who appears in Series 8.

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• Boom, Headshot!: How he is murdered.
• The Lost Lenore: To Florence.

Sophie Chambers

Played by: Chelsea Edge (2022 Christmas special, ep. 12.1 to 12.8)

A British woman holidaying on Saint-Marie who becomes a love interest for Neville.

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• Bad People Abuse Animals: Serves as a Five-Second Foreshadowing of the reveal of her true agenda, as she aggressively waves Harry away when he's perched on her bag as she prepares to leave.
• Becoming the Mask: After her arrest, when Neville asks her if anything in their relationship was real, Sophie admits that there were times when she was so caught up in pretending that Neville did make her happy.
• Dirty Coward: Confesses to Neville of being this, which is why she never came forth to confess her drug crimes and thereby save her sister from being imprisoned for crimes she did not commit.
• Intentional Heartbreaker: The nature of The Reveal around her - she came to Saint-Marie and intentionally set up a relationship with Neville solely so that she could find some way to punish him for his role in the arrest and suicide of her sister back in Manchester.
• My Greatest Failure: Blames herself and Neville for the death of her sister; she was a drug courier for a time, but one night she was ill and her sister took her place. This resulted in her sister killing her drug dealer in self-defence and then being arrested when Neville found out what she'd done, as lack of evidence caused Neville to conclude the sister was the 'real' drug courier. Her sister received a 25-year jail sentence, which drove her to suicide the following year.
• The Reveal: She's actually Rebecca Walmslow, the sister of a woman Neville got convicted of murder back in the UK, and murdered David Cartwright intending to frame Neville as revenge.
• Walking Spoiler: It is hard to talk about her without revealing her real identity and the fact that she deliberately came to Saint-Marie to set up a relationship with Neville and find some way to destroy him as punishment for his role in the arrest and suicide of her sister back in Manchester.
• What You Are in the Dark: When her sister was arrested for killing her drug dealer in self-defence and was also charged for being the dead man's drug courier, there was no evidence to prove that Sophie was the real drug courier, and her sister was never going to rat her out. As Neville pointed out to her, she could have come forth and confessed to being the drug courier at any time during her sister's trial and afterwards, only her cowardice kept her from doing that until it was too late.

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