Collins, London, 1950
Dodd Mead, NewYork, 1950
To Ralph and Ann Newman
at whose house I first tasted --- "Delicious Death!"
(from HarperCollins "The Agatha Christie Collection" cover)
The villagers of Chipping Cleghorn, including Miss Marple, are agog with curiosity over an advertisement in the local gazette which reads: 'A murder is announced and will take place on Friday October 29th, at Little Paddocks at 6.30 p.m..'
A childish practical joke? Or a hoax intended to scare poor Letitia Blacklock? Unable to resist the mysterious invitation, a crowd begins to gather at Little Paddocks at the appointed time when, without warning, the lights go out...
1. A Murder is Announced
2. Breakfast at Little Paddocks
3. At 6.30 p.m.
4. The Royal Spa Hotel
5. Miss Blacklock and Miss Bunner
6. Julia, Mitzi and Patrick
7. Among Those Present
8. Enter Miss Marple
9. Concerning a Door
10. Pip and Emma
11. Miss Marple Comes to Tea
12. Morning Activities in Chipping Cleghorn
13. Morning Activities in Chipping Cleghorn (continued)
14. Excursion into the Past
15. Delicious Death
16. Inspector Craddock Returns
17. The Album
18. The Letters
19. Reconstruction of the Crime
20. Miss Marple is Missing
21. Three Women
22. The Truth
23. Evening at the Vicarage
Epilogue
Miss Jane Marple, Miss Blacklock, Miss Dora 'Bunny' Bunner, Patrick Simmons, Julia Simmons, Phillipa Haymes, Colonel Easterbrook, Mrs Easterbrook, Edmund Swettenham, Mrs Swettenham, Miss Hinchcliffe, Miss Murgatroyd, Rev.Harmon, Mrs Harmon, Rudi Scherz, Det.Insp.Craddock, Rydesdale, Belle Goedler, Myrna Harris, Det.Sgt Fletcher, Rowlandson, Sister McClelland
| JULIA SIMMONS | Patricia Brake |
| LETITIA BLACKLOCK | Dinah Sheridan |
| DORA BUNNER | Eleanor Summerfield |
| PATRICK SIMMONS | Christopher Scoular |
| MITZI | Mia Nadasi |
| MISS MARPLE | Dulcie Gray |
| PHILLIPA HAYMES | Barbara Flynn |
| MRS SWETTENHAM | Nancy Nevinson |
| EDMUND SWETTENHAM | Gareth Armstrong |
| RUDI SCHERZ | Michael Dyerball |
| INSPECTOR CRADDOCK | James Grout |
| SERGEANT MELLORS | Michael Fleming |