Magda Quest

Magda Quest is another of those throw-away characters who was only ever supposed to make a walk-on appearance in one of my books. 

In The Pixie Grip, which traces the lives of two cousins and their descendants, the throw-away moment came when Peter, who had modeled for Thaddeus' Appledore's final painting Swansong in 1950, returns six years later to the area to purchase a car. On the way, he unexpectedly meets Judit, who also posed for Appledore. Peter is accompanied by his wife and Judit by her husband, so the two couples decide to attend the retrospective of  the artists' work. 

The retrospective brings renewed interest in Appledore's oeuvre, so Peter and Judit find themselves fielding offers of work. On his way out of the venue, Peter is waylaid by an agent who introduces herself as Magda Quest. She was a correspondent of Appledore's and she advises Peter to check with her before accepting any work. I expected Magda to be no more than a one-off appearance, but she keeps popping back into my mind, and since this series has quite a few more books to go, she will probably reappear at least a couple of times.