Miss Marple si trova a Londra presso il Bertram Hotel un elegante albergo. Il suo spirito di osservazione la porta a notare alcuni fatti strani che poi si rivelano importanti nell'indagine che Scotland Yard sta conducendo su alcune grosse rapine avvenute a Londra negli ultimi anni.

At Bertram’s Hotel the intrepid Miss Marple, on holiday in London, must solve a deadly mystery at the end of a chain of very violent events. An old-fashioned London hotel is not quite as reputable as it makes out to be.… When Miss Marple comes up from the country for a holiday in London, she finds what she’s looking for at Bertram’s Hotel: traditional decor, impeccable service, and an unmistakable atmosphere of danger behind the highly-polished veneer. Yet, not even Miss Marple can foresee the violent chain of events set in motion when an eccentric guest makes his way to the airport on the wrong day.…

Miss Marple thinks Bertram's is a little too proper and maybe a little sinister. And then Bess Sedgwick and her daughter check in and the doorman turns up dead.

Hotel Bertram tampak anggun, penuh daya tarik, dan mengundang nostalgia bagi orang-orang yang pernah mengenalnya berpuluh-puluh tahun lalu. Para tamu yang berdatangan pun tetap dari kalangan yang sama: pejabat gereja, janda kaum ningrat yang kaya raya, gadis-gadis yang berlibur dari sekolah-sekolah mahal, sampai dengan para pensiunan jenderal. Siapa yang mengira di tempat seperti itu ada kejahatan yang mengancam? Siapa yang mengira bahwa di antara orang-orang itu ada yang tidak mengenakan identitas aslinya? Hotel Bertram penuh misteri tak terduga. Tapi, bagi Jane Marple, tak ada yang dapat disembunyikan dari pandangannya yang tajam. Kesenangannya mengamati segala sesuatu yang terjadi di sekelilingnya ternyata secara tidak langsung membantu Inspektur Kepala Davy dalam memecahkan misteri di Hotel Bertram ini.

A grand old London hotel A series of alarming coincidences Danger lurking down every corridor

Something is going on behind the closed doors of Bertram's Hotel, where few of the aristocratic guests are who they seem. And when a sudden murder shatters the hotel's peaceful atmosphere, Miss Marple goes into action to crack a ruthless crime syndicate and unmask a cold-blooded killer.