A dancer named Ruby is found strangled in the library of Col. Bantry.

When the vicar in Miss Marple's village declares in exasperation that anyone who murdered Colonel Prothero would be doing the world a service, he does not realise his words will come back to haunt him. The Colonel's death at the vicarage throws up a long list of potential murderers. The unpopular local resident made many enemies. Miss Marple, temporarily incapacitated after an accident, is perfectly placed to investigate.

Two trains draw briefly alongside each other as they race past a country house. To her horror, Miss Marple's friend Mrs McGillicuddy witnesses a man in a passing carriage brutally strangling a mystery woman. With no body to be found, the police decide she must have dreamed the incident. Miss Marple is convinced the answer lies with the ill-fated family who own the mansion and persuades a bright young friend to pose as a housekeeper and gather clues for her.

A local advertisement announcing the date and location of a forthcoming murder has a small village buzzing with curiosity. Assuming it's a hoax, a crowd is nonetheless gathered at Letitia Blacklock's cottage at the appointed time when the lights go out and a gunman fires into the room. When the lights go up, Letitia is wounded and the mysterious gunman lies dead. Miss Marple, visiting an old friend in the village, can't resist joining the investigation.

When Gwenda Halliday moves in to the home of her dreams, she begins to see ghostly apparitions. Then it is discovered that Gwenda grew up in the house and the mystery becomes more sinister - and she and Miss Marple realise that an unsolved murder was committed there.

Lymstock is a town with more than its share of shameful secrets, a town where even a sudden outbreak of anonymous hate-mail causes only a minor stir. When Mrs Symmington commits suicide as a result of one of the letters, Miss Marple believes that there is more to this case. Was Mrs Symmington murdered? As the letters become even more deadly the village is thrown into turmoil. Someone in the village must be responsible - can anyone be trusted?