In the quiet village of Chipping Cleghorn, every resident loves to read the local newspaper, The Gazette. It's chock full of village gossip and on one particular Friday morning, there is even an advertisement for a murder!
The mistress of the home known as Little Paddocks reads the advertisement in amazement. Lettie Blacklock hasn't a clue as to who could have placed such an absurd invitation in the newspaper. She knows nothing about a party, an event or a murder happening at her house that night, or on any other.
Miss Blacklock is retired from many years of service as a personal secretary to an industrialist. She had worked hard, side by side with her wealthy employer until she had to retire to care for her invalid sister. Following her sister's death, Lettie moved to the countryside and into her new home, Little Paddocks, where she enjoyed tending her garden and raising a flock of ducks. She wondered if someone else in her household could be playing a trick on her by placing such a silly, but really rather sinister, advertisement in the newspaper.
Living in Little Paddocks with Miss Blacklock is her old school chum, Dora Bunner; her niece and nephew, Julia and Patrick, Phillipa Haymes, a young female boarder; and the cook and housekeeper, Mitzi, a war refugee from Europe. When confronted by Miss Blacklock, all of them steadfastly deny having anything to do with placing the 'invitation to murder'. Miss Blacklock begins to wonder what her neighbors will think when they read the paper and fears that they might truly think it is some sort of legitimate invitation to a murder mystery party and come to her house that evening to find out just what is happening.
Her fears are validated when, one by one, a corps of friends stop by, sheepishly claiming that they were 'just in the neighborhood'. None, it seems, are willing to admit that the possibility of a murder was drawing them to the scene of a yet-to-happen crime. As Miss Blacklock and her curious guests sip glasses of sherry and nibble on olives, cheese straws and pastries, there is an awkward silence until the last guest arrives. Bunch Harmon, the Vicar's wife whirls into the living room at Little Paddocks and asks, "I'm not too late, am I? When does the murder begin?"
Bunch, like the other guests at Little Paddocks, believes that there is going to be a murder mystery game hosted by Miss Blacklock and she can't wait until the fun begins. However, within minutes, there is an audible gasp as the lights suddenly go out within the entire house. Then a bright light from a flashlight shines round and round the room, blinding each guest's eyes in turn. A deep voice threatens in the darkness, "Stick em up! Stick em up, I tell you!" Suddenly two shots from a revolver blast the party atmosphere. A third shot rings out and then, amid the panic and screams of the guests, the flashlight goes out and the terrified guests are thrown into pandemonium.
When the lights are at last restored, they find a dead man, a stranger to them all, sprawled in the doorway of the living room at Little Paddocks. The man had been wearing a mask and beside his lifeless body is a gun, still warm from its recent firing. That's just the beginning of a frightful puzzle because it appears that the man must have been attempting to murder Lettie Blacklock. She has been grazed by a bullet and is bleeding. Who would have wanted to kill this quiet and intelligent woman? Why would the masked stranger announce his intentions of committing murder ahead of time by placing an announcement in the local newspaper?
The answers to these, and many other questions (not to mention a few extra murders along the way) are found in A Murder is Announced. It will take Miss Marple, of course, to discover the true identity of the killer and to explain to everyone, from her own niece, Bunch Harmon, to the inquisitive Inspector Craddock, just how the murders were committed. Agatha Christie is in fine form with this book. She sets out all the clues for the reader to discover, along with plenty of red herrings, and still manages to mystify even her most avid fans, with this clever whodunit.
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