No one in St. Mary Mead liked Colonel Protheroe, not even the vicar. But when the man is found shot to death—in the vicar's own study, no less—only the intrepid Miss Marple could possibly untangle the web of suspects and clues. This first Jane Marple novel, from 1930, is a dazzling opening act for the singular sleuth, and this handsome new edition should be in everyone's mystery library. The star of a dozen novels and twenty short stories, the shrewd and curious Jane Marple was inspired by Agatha Christie's grandmother and her cronies in the leafy London suburb of Ealing. Miss Marple's independent mind and acute sense of human nature—not unlike Christie's own—have made her an enduring prototype in detective fiction.

"The Murder at the Vicarage was my gateway drug into crime fiction at the age of nine and I've never regretted the addiction."—Val McDermid