While on vacation at a resort hotel in the West Indies, Miss Marple correctly suspects that the apparently natural death of a retired British major is actually the work of a murderer planning yet another killing.
A newspaper advertisement suggests that a murder will occur at an address in an English village. Is it a joke? People assume so - until a man is killed.
A friend of Miss Marple's sees a woman being strangled in a passing train. When police cannot find a body and doubt the story, Miss Marple enlists professional housekeeper, Lucy Eyelesbarrow, to go undercover.
Miss Marple takes a well earned holiday at Bertram's, a Hotel she stayed in as a child. It seems familiar, but underneath the dainty teas and classy clientele, Bertram's hides a secret.