A young wife, Gwenda, starts to see images from the past in the Devon home she and her husband buy. With Miss Marple's guidance, she realises that she witnessed the murder of her stepmother there 20 years ago, as a child. Despite Miss Marple's advice to let sleeping murder lie, the newlyweds decide to investigate the crime, putting Gwenda's own life at risk by stirring a murderer into renewed action.

A young wife, Gwenda, starts to see images from the past in the Devon home she and her husband buy. With Miss Marple's guidance, she realises that she witnessed the murder of her stepmother there 20 years ago, as a child. Despite Miss Marple's advice to let sleeping murder lie, the newlyweds decide to investigate the crime, putting Gwenda's own life at risk by stirring a murderer into renewed action.

False identities, larceny and a crime ring are only the tip of the iceberg when Miss Marple stays at a very civilised London hotel (sometimes said to be modelled on Brown's Hotel), where nothing is what it seems. Miss Marple finds herself assisting the police. Murder naturally follows, leading to a thrilling chase and a tragedy before the facts are revealed.

False identities, larceny and a crime ring are only the tip of the iceberg when Miss Marple stays at a very civilised London hotel (sometimes said to be modelled on Brown's Hotel), where nothing is what it seems. Miss Marple finds herself assisting the police. Murder naturally follows, leading to a thrilling chase and a tragedy before the facts are revealed.

Miss Marple is sent by a dead millionaire on a coach tour to secure justice, although for whom is unclear. Vowing to find out the truth, and accompanied by her nephew, she links the millionaire to a dead girl, Verity Hunt, and a family of sisters who live in a ruined manor house. Another death takes place before Miss Marple discovers that love, as well as hate, can be a reason for murder.

Miss Marple's friend witnesses a murder in a railway carriage running parallel to her own, so Miss Marple engages a resourceful young woman to investigate. The search leads to a decrepit estate, where they suspect the body was dumped. But the seemingly innocent family who live there have secrets of their own.

While holidaying in Barbados, Miss Marple is told by an elderly major that he knows a murderer. The major is found dead, apparently of natural causes, but suspicion grows about the cause. A member of staff at the resort is murdered, and with a new ally, Miss Marple is on the trail of a manipulative and ruthless killer.

At an estate which has become a private reform institution for young criminals, Miss Marple visits her old school friend Carrie Louise. When Carrie Louise's stepson is killed, the police are faced with many suspects. A second killing takes place before Miss Marple helps to identify the murderer.

Hollywood comes to St. Mary Mead when faded movie star Marina Gregg buys Gossington Hall (the home of the Bantrys in The Body in the Library) and stars in a film being shot at a nearby studio. But when she narrowly escapes an attempt on her life and a local woman dies instead, followed by a later death, Miss Marple has to sift through the facts about Gregg's past to uncover a tragedy.