Novel is set in a restored London hotel which continues to court a pre-World War II clientele to mix with guests who exhibit changing contemporary values. The plot centers on the efforts of Miss Jane Marple to uncover a gang of criminals who are using Bertram's as their home base and endangering the lives of innocent guests.

"The villagers of Chipping Cleghorn are amazed by an advertisement in the local paper which reads 'A murder is announced and will take place on Friday October 29th, at Little Paddocks at 6.30pm'. Unable to resist, a crowd begins to gather at the house at the appointed time. But when a man is killed in what looks like an attempted robbery, Miss Marple becomes involved."--Provided by publisher.

When a shrewish stage star is found strangled at a posh island resort, detective Hercule Poirot is called in to investigate.

Set in the summer of 1917, the story follows the war-wounded Hastings to the Styles St. Mary estate of his friend John Cavendish. The Cavendish household is wrought with tension due to the marriage of John's widowed mother to a suspicious younger man. In the village, Hastings runs into his old friend Hercule Poirot and, when the estate's trouble turns deadly, the friends unite to solve a most baffling case.

"For the first time in forty-five years, Agatha Christie's legendary sleuth Jane Marple returns to solve twelve baffling cases penned by a host of acclaimed authors skilled in the fine art of mystery and murder. In St. Mary Mead, a Christmas dinner is interrupted by unexpected guests; the Broadway stage in New York City is set for a dangerous improvisation; bad omens surround an untimely death aboard a cruise ship to Hong Kong; and a bestselling writer...