First appearing as a serial in "The Chicago Tribune," "A Murder is Announced" (1950) takes place in Chipping Cleghorn, whose inhabitants are agog over an astonishing ad that announces a murder. Unable to resist the invitation, a crowd gathers at the appointed place and time, when, without warning, the lights go out. "4:50 From Paddington" (1957) - originally published in the U.S. as "What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw!" - begins as two trains run side by side. In that frozen moment, Elspeth McGillicuddy watches helplessly as a man throttles a woman to death. Then the trains draw apart. With no other witnesses - and no corpse - Miss Marple must ask her smart young friend Lucy to help her unmask a murderer.