Ruth Van Rydock asks her old friend Jane Marple to look into some strange happenings at her sister's home. Miss Marple knows the sister, Carrie Louise Serrocold, quite well and is soon staying with them. Carrie Louise has a complicated history. Now on her third husband, she has an adopted daughter, Gina, as well as a biological daughter, Milfred. A recent fire in her study destroyed most of her private papers, but she dismisses any thought that someone may be out to do her harm. When her stepson from her first marriage, Christian, is stabbed in the back, they find a note warning Carrie Louise that someone is trying to poison her. After a second member of the household is murdered however, Miss Marple realizes they have all been the victims of a very clever ruse.
—garykmcd