Miss Marple Tells a Story

Miss Marple is asked for help by an old friend who is about to be indicted for his wife’s murder. She was stabbed to death in a hotel room but he swears that he is innocent. Can Miss Marple save him from the gallows?

This story was published in Home Journal in 1935 under the title Behind Closed Doors. Miss Marple solved the puzzle from her dining room, rather than her drawing room, because “in early spring I think it is so wasteful to have two fires going.” It was unusual for an Agatha Christie story because it was initially commissioned for radio, before being printed in a magazine, and was read out by Agatha Christie (who hated public speaking) in 1934 on the BBC.

Miss Marple Tells a Story is included in collections The Regatta Mystery and Other Stories (US, 1939)and Miss Marple's Final Cases (UK, 1979).