No one seems surprised when Colonel Lucius Protheroe, the most disliked person in St. Mary Mead, is found murdered in the local vicarage. Red herrings abound, especially when his widow and her lover both confess to the murder.

A detestable businessman is murdered while at work, and a handful of rye is found in his pockets. Soon after, members of his household fall victim to a killer intent on recreating scenes from a popular nursery rhyme.

While holidaying on the Caribbean island of St. Honoré, Miss Marple is drawn into a case of intrigue and black magic when a garrulous old major who bragged of owning a photograph of a known murderer dies under mysterious circumstances.