A Murder Is Announced recap

A newspaper notice announces that a murder will occur at Letitia Blacklock's house. Curious neighbours gather; the lights fail, an armed man appears, and the intruder Rudi Scherz is shot dead. Further deaths show that the event concealed an old identity secret tied to an inheritance. Miss Marple discovers that the household's supposed Letitia is actually her sister Charlotte. The real Letitia died abroad, and Charlotte took her place to receive money due after Belle Goedler's death. Rudi recognized her, Bunny remembered too much, and Amy Murgatroyd recalled that she was absent during the staged shooting, so Charlotte killed all three. Miss Marple and Inspector Craddock trap her during another attempted attack. Charlotte is arrested, while Phillipa and Julia are identified as Pip and Emma, the alternative heirs.

The Chipping Cleghorn newspaper carries a notice stating that a murder will occur at Little Paddocks at 6:30 that evening. Letitia Blacklock denies placing it, but her neighbours arrive out of curiosity. Her household includes her old friend Bunny, the young relations Patrick and Julia Simmons, the lodger Phillipa Haymes, and the anxious cook Mitzi. At the appointed time the lights go out, a man shines a torch and orders everyone to raise their hands, and shots are fired. When the lights return, the intruder, hotel employee Rudi Scherz, is dead and Miss Blacklock has a wound to her ear. What looked like a prank or staged robbery has become a murder inquiry.

Inspector Craddock finds no simple explanation for the shooting. Rudi had a record of petty dishonesty and some contact with Miss Blacklock, but the room's layout, a recently oiled door, and the failure of the lights suggest advance preparation inside the house. Miss Marple joins the inquiry and studies the household's relationships. A large inheritance expected by Miss Blacklock depends on the death of the elderly Belle Goedler, while alternative heirs known only as Pip and Emma may be nearby under other names. Bunny's confused recollections of earlier years repeatedly unsettle Miss Blacklock, and small household incidents suggest that someone is increasingly afraid of what the old woman may remember.

Bunny dies after eating a poisoned birthday cake and taking medication from the wrong bedside table. Her death directs attention toward her habit of mixing past and present names. Meanwhile, Amy Murgatroyd works with Miss Hinchcliffe to reconstruct what she saw when the torch swept across the room. She realizes that one familiar person was not where everyone assumed during the blackout, but she is killed before she can report the name. Craddock investigates Miss Blacklock's life abroad and the history of her invalid sister Charlotte. Miss Marple concludes that the original shooting, the inheritance, and the household murders all depend on someone maintaining a false identity.

Miss Marple and Craddock reveal that the woman known as Letitia Blacklock is actually her sister Charlotte. Letitia died abroad, after which Charlotte assumed her identity to inherit Belle Goedler's fortune. Rudi Scherz had recognized Charlotte from a Swiss clinic; she arranged the supposed hold-up and shot him while using the darkness and a hidden route to preserve her role as victim. She later poisoned Bunny, whose memories exposed the name Lotty, and killed Amy Murgatroyd after Amy remembered her absence from the room. A staged confrontation involving Mitzi draws Charlotte into another attack, and she is caught trying to silence Miss Marple. Phillipa Haymes and Julia Simmons prove to be Pip and Emma, the alternative heirs, and Charlotte is arrested.

Miss Marple and Inspector Craddock expose the woman called Letitia Blacklock as Charlotte Blacklock, Letitia's sister. The real Letitia died abroad, and Charlotte assumed her identity so that she could inherit when the elderly Belle Goedler died. Rudi Scherz recognized Charlotte from a Swiss clinic and became part of a staged robbery that she converted into his murder. Bunny's old memories and habit of calling her Lotty threatened the disguise, so Charlotte poisoned her; Amy Murgatroyd was killed after recalling that Miss Blacklock had not been in the room during the shooting. A trap using Mitzi and Miss Marple provokes Charlotte into attacking again, and she is arrested. Phillipa Haymes and Julia Simmons are revealed as the heirs Pip and Emma, and they inherit after Charlotte's scheme collapses.