Publisher's Synopsis
Award-winning actress Geraldine McEwan stars as Miss Marple in this set of murder mysteries. In 'The Body in the Library', the Bantrys wake to find the body of a young woman in their library. But who is she? How did she get there? And what is the connection with another dead girl, whose remains are discovered in an abandoned quarry? The Bantrys invite Miss Marple to solve the mystery. In 'The Murder at the Vicarage', when the Parson of Miss Marple's village St. Mary Mead declares rather carelessly that 'anyone who murdered Colonel Protheroe would be doing the world at large a service' he does not realise his words will come back to haunt him. From several potential murderers the venerable detective must find the real killer. In 'The 4.50 from Paddington', Elspeth McGillicuddy (Pam Ferris) witnesses a murder as she stares out of a window on her train. But who, apart from Miss Marple, would take her story seriously? In 'A Murder is Announced', the villagers of Chipping Cleghorn, including Jane 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? In 'The Sleeping Murder', soon after Gwenda (Sophia Myles) moved into her new home, odd things started to happen. Despite her best efforts to modernise the house, she only succeeded in dredging up its past. Worse, she felt an irrational sense of terror every time she climbed the stairs. In fear, Gwenda turns to Miss Marple to exorcise her ghosts. Between them, they attempt to solve a 'perfect' crime committed many years before. In 'The Moving Finger', after a serious motorcycle accident, the dashing Jerry Burton (James D'Arcy) arrives in the sleepy village of Lymstock with his sister Joanna (Emilia Fox) to recuperate. Their expectations of peace and quiet are quickly dashed when they discover a poison pen-writer is at large in the village. Together Miss Marple and Jerry set out to stop the malicious messages before they result in another tragedy. Little do they know that they will ultimately unveil a murderer. In 'By the Pricking of the Thumbs', when Tommy (Anthony Andrews) and Tuppence (Greta Scacchi) visit an elderly aunt in Sunny Ridge nursing home, Tuppence is concerned by one resident, Mrs Lancaster (June Whitfield), who rambles about a dead child behind the lounge fireplace. When Tuppence is introduced to one resident's friend, Miss Marple, she finds herself joining forces with her to follow the clues which lead them to the Norfolk village of Farrell St Edmund where there they find a community guarding a number of deadly secrets. Finally in 'The Sittaford Mystery', in a remote house in the middle of Dartmoor, six shadowy figures huddle around a small table for a seance. Tension rises as the spirits spell out a chilling message: 'Captain Trevelyan...dead...murder'. Is this black magic or simply a macabre joke? The only way to be certain is to locate Captain Trevelyan. Unfortunately, his home is six miles away and, with snow drifts blocking the roads, someone will have to make the journey on foot.