When Miss Marple comes up from the country for a holiday in London, she finds what she's looking for at Bertram's Hotel: traditional decor, impeccable service and an unmistakable atmosphere of danger behind the highly polished veneer.

Yet, not even Miss Marple can forsee the violent chain of events set in motion when an eccentric guest makes his way to the airport on the wrong day.

"A joy to read from beginning to end, especially in its acute sensitivity to the contrasts between this era and that of Miss Marple's youth."  --- 'New York Times'

"Miss Christie's pearly talent for dealing with all the words and pomps that go with murder English-style shimmers steadily in this tale of the noisy woe that shatters the extremely expensive peace of Bertram's famously old-fashioned hotel."  --- 'New Yorker'