Miss Marple shares a story to a group of friends about how, years ago, she suspected a man was going to kill his wife. Later on, the wife is found dead, but the husband appears to be innocent of the crime, even to Miss Marple. Or is he? Another clever mystery by Agatha Christie. Not much Christmas in this, though. ( )

This short Miss Marple story (just 14 pages) manages to pack quite a lot into its mini-plot and is even quite slow to get going as well. Miss Marple stuns fellow dinner party guests with a story set in a Hydro hotel in the run up to Christmas (like the one in Harrogate where she was found after her famous "disappearance" in 1926, four years before this story was published). While there she solved a convoluted murder by a man of his wife involving triple-crossing Miss Marple with a false corpse. Quite good fun. ( )