When Jane Marple receives an unusual letter from Jason Rafiel, a week after his death, she is led into a web of suspense

The placid village of Lymstock seems the perfect place for Jerry Burton to recuperate from his accident under the care of his sister, Joanna. But soon a series of vicious poison-pen letters destroys the village's quiet charm, eventually causing one recipient to commit suicide. The vicar, the doctor, the servants -- all are on the verge of accusing one another when help arrives from an unexpected quarter. The vicar's houseguest happens to be none other...

Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple join up to match wits, nerve, and guile with the most cunning of killers and the most elusive of evildoers.

After wealthy financier Rex Fortescue's sudden death, grains of rye are inexplicably found in his pocket. The coroner's verdict is death by poisoning, yet only one of the dead man's relatives seems upset. The others all have motives to want the old man dead. When two more members of the Fortescue household are murdered, Miss Marple enters the case. But is one bizarre clue--the pocket full of rye--enough to solve the strangest case of her career?