The Murder at the Vicarage

Agatha Christie's 1930 debut of Miss Marple: when the universally disliked Colonel Protheroe is found shot dead in the vicar's study, half of St. Mary Mead had a motive. While the police chase alibis, the elderly spinster next door quietly outpaces them all.

This is a U.S. public-domain edition (entered the public domain in the United States in 2026, 95 years after first publication). It may still be under copyright in other countries.