Death is only steps from Miss Marple when odious Col. Prothero is murdered in her idyllic village of St. Mary Mead. And in the Vicar's study, no less!

A young wife believes her house is haunted. She comes to realize she witnessed the murder of her stepmother there 20 years ago as a child. To help the newlyweds, Miss Marple risks her life solving the crime, stirring a sleeping murderer in the process.

Gwenda and Miss Marple are closer to understanding the mystery of a seemingly perfect crime from many years previously.

False identities, larceny, and a crime ring are only the tip of the tenticle when Miss Marple stays in a posh London hotel (modelled after Brown's Hotel) where nothing is what it seems. Murder naturally follows, leading to a thrilling chase after the vibrant Lady Sedgewick.

Miss Marple concludes her stay at Bertram's Hotel by solving the complex case.