How much do you know about A Murder is Announced? | Quiz

Answer: Old school friends

Miss Blacklock and her sister hadn't seen Dora in many years. But then Dora wrote to Miss Blacklock out of the blue looking for help because she had fallen on hard times. Miss Blacklock immediately invited Dora to make her home with her in Chipping Cleghorn, an offer the destitute Dora gratefully accepted.

Answer: Sherry

When a 'forthcoming murder' was announced in the local paper, to take place at a house called Little Paddocks at a certain time and place, its owner Letitia Blacklock anticipated an influx of curious visitors, and had a bottle of sherry opened and ready. The visitors duly came, and the murder took place as announced.

Answer: Edmund

Edmund lived with his mother and liked to think of himself as a champion of workers' rights. However, he spent most of his time lazing around at home while supposedly writing a novel and trying to persuade Philippa Haymes to marry him.

Answer: Delicious Death

Mitzi was the cook at Little Paddocks. A refugee, she made a delicious chocolate cake, a particular treat given that war time rationing was still in place. Patrick Simmons invented the name 'Delicious Death', which Mitzi initially found insulting, until it was explained to her that he meant it was 'worthy dying for'.

Answer: Taking clothes off the line

Amy Murgatroyd lived in the village with her friend Miss Hinchcliffe. Because of where she was standing in the room on the night of the murder, she was the only person present who would have had a clear view of the room. Miss Hinchcliffe realised this and staged a re-enactment of the night with Amy.

However, she had to rush off in the middle of it to the train station, with Amy shouting after her 'but, she wasn't there'. The killer overheard and strangled Amy that afternoon as she was taking clothes off the line.

Answer: To bring details of the funeral from the vicar

Miss Marple was staying with her goddaughter Bunch Harmon, who was married to the vicar of Chipping Cleghorn. She had previously encountered the murdered man when she stayed at the hotel where he had worked, and noticed that he had tried to alter the amount on a cheque she had asked him to cash. As a result, she became involved in helping the police to solve the murder.

Answer: Colonel Easterbrook

The Colonel was an opinionated bore, with an empty-headed wife. He noticed his gun was missing from the drawer in which it was kept, but said nothing to the police as he was worried about becoming implicated.

Answer: The central heating was on

The central heating was switched on to avoid having a fire, which would have allowed light into the room. The murderer needed the room to be in complete darkness when the shooting took place, in order that those present would not realise who the real target of the shooting was.

Answer: Colonel Easterbrook

Philippa and Julia were really Pip and Emma, twins who had been separated as children and who stood to gain by Miss Blacklock's death. Letitia Blacklock was really her sister Charlotte Blacklock. Letitia had died suddenly a few years previously, and Charlotte had assumed her identity as Letitia was due to come into a sizable inheritance. Only Dora Bunner knew that she was really Charlotte and not Letitia.

Answer: Mitzi

Miss Blacklock believed that Mitzi had proof that she was the murderer, and tried to kill her by following her into the kitchen and pushing her head into a basin of water. The police, however, had her under surveillance. In addition, Miss Marple was hiding in a nearby cupboard, where she assumed the voice of the dead Dora Bunner, calling Charlotte by her proper name and causing her to break down and give herself away.