History Literature / AMurderIsAnnounced

* CelibateHero: When Detective Craddock implies that Letitia Blacklock had been Randall Goedler's mistress, Belle Goedler is quick to set him right, explaining that Letitia acted like Randall's big sister. According to Belle, Letitia had no use for men, never saw the point of getting romantically involved with anyone, and missed out on "all the fun" of being a woman. [[spoiler:Oddly enough, this also applies to Charlotte, who stayed shut away for mot of her youth due to a disfiguring goiter.]]

** [[spoiler:Exploited as part of Miss Marple's plan -- Mitzi is to pretend she saw the murder through the kitchen keyhole to [[TheBait bait the killer]] into trying to trying to [[HeKnowsTooMuch silence her]] -- with Miss Marple and Sergeant Fletcher lying in wait to catch the murderer in the act.]]

* UnreliableNarrator: All of the other characters flat-out call Mitzi a liar and accuse her of making up stories in order to gain sympathy for being a war refugee, and Mitzi unwittingly provides several red herrings. While Letitia Blacklock thinks Mitzi likely did see some of her family killed, Letitia also states that she thinks the stories are greatly exaggerated--although she also says she understands the exaggeration, because English people are prejudiced against refugees and only feel sympathy for the ones with the worst possible sob stories. However, [[Letitia herself is an UnreliableNarrator, as she has a good reason to want Mitzi seen as a liar: Letitia is an imposter and the murderer, and can't be sure what Mitzi has actually seen.]]

-->'' 'In an English village, you turn over a stone and have no idea what will crawl out.' ''

* DarkAndTroubledPast: Described as a "Mittel Europa" refugee with a heavy German accent, Mitzi had seen her entire family executed during the war by the Nazis, and suffers extreme PTSD from her experiences. She reacts with fear to the police being outside the house, breaks down into hysterical screaming when she hears gunshots, and sees Phillipa as a Nazi because Phillipa is a cold, fair-skinned blonde. While the rest of the cast call her a "liar" and either make fun of her fears or dismiss them entirely, it's heavily implied that Mitzi's Jewish, especially with her references to the concetration camps.

* ScreamingWoman: Mitzi, frequently, on what seems to be very little provocation, until you realize that she's a survivor of the Nazi atrocities who has seen her entire family killed and that her reactions to are due to extreme PTSD.

* UnreliableNarrator: All of the other characters flat-out call Mitzi a liar and accuse her of making up stories in order to gain sympathy for being a war refugee, and Mitzi unwittingly provides several red herrings. While Letitia Blacklock thinks there might be a grain of truth in Mitzi's stories & that she likely did see some of her family killed, Letitia also states that the stories are greatly exaggerated--although she also says she understands the exaggeration, because English people are prejudiced against refugees and only feel sympathy for the ones with the worst possible sob stories.

* WorthlessForeignDegree: In her former country (presumably East Germany), Mitzi was an intellectual and complains about being stuck working as a cook.
* YankTheDogsChain: [[spoiler: Letitia's sudden death of pneumonia, preventing Charlotte from enjoying the inheritance]] that would have, in her eyes, made up for the years of affliction she suffered.

* ScreamingWoman: Mitzi, frequently, on very little provocation. Luckily, she is also a brilliant cook.

* DarkAndTroubledPast: Mitzi had seen at least one of her relatives being executed during the war.

* HypocriticalHumor: In the 1985 version, the exchange in which the sulky waitress Julia hears Bunch Harmon quoting the line "Julia, pretty Julia is peculiar" and tells her she's not a peculiar and has always been a good C of E ends with Julia saying "Thank you very much, [[AccidentalMisnaming Mrs Marple]]." Miss Marple does a double take.

* InheritanceMurder: It is suspected that the person who attempted to kill Miss Blacklock may have been the mysterious Pip or Emma, who were next in line after her to inherit a fortune from Belle Goedler. [[spoiler:This trope is indeed played straight, but it is actually Miss Blacklock herself who murdered Rudi Scherz to stop him from exposing the fact that she was posing as her deceased sister, who had actually been the one in line to inherit.]]

* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: [[spoiler: Charlotte Blacklock.]] Embittered by suffering for the entirety of her young life from [[spoiler:a disfiguring goitre and a terrible father who didn't believe in having it operated on]], she finally has it removed with [[spoiler:her sister Letitia's help.]] [[spoiler:Letitia]] is in line to inherit a fortune that [[spoiler:Charlotte]] believes will make up for all her suffering, but then [[spoiler:Letitia dies, meaning the fortune will instead go to Belle Goedler's next of kin, her sister-in-law Sonia's children Pip and Emma. Charlotte,]] unwilling to give up on the inheritance, takes her sister's identity, and ends up resorting to murder to prevent her secret from being exposed.]] Miss Marple notes that people who feel like the world owes them are very dangerous.

* INeverSaidItWasPoison: Twofold, when Phillipa is presented with Mitzi's claim of overhearing a suspicious conversation with Rudi Scherz. She responds that she "was nowhere near the house that morning", and while she's quick to explain that she was working elsewhere ''every'' morning, Craddock doesn't remember ever bringing up the time of day. It doesn't amount to much, however, as he reasons that several people might have mentioned when Rudi stopped by. [[spoiler: It turns out that she ''was'' talking to a man that morning, but it was her supposedly-dead husband. He wasn't actually killed in action, he deserted, so she tells everybody he's dead and doesn't want the ruse exposed.]

* GenderBlenderName: The source of a big RedHerring. [[spoiler: Everyone assumes that Pip Stamfordis must be a man, leading them to suspect Patrick (and then pretend to suspect Edmund) of being "him". But Pip ''also'' works as a shortening of ''Phillipa'' ("Pippa" would be more common for a girl, which is why Julia, who already knows her twin is female, is the only one who figures it out).]]

** TheSummation then reveals [[spoiler:the original murder was Miss Blacklock's reaction to Rudi Scherz attempting to cadge money off her. Though in all likelihood, Scherz wasn't aware he had any basis on which to blackmail her -- to most people the two sisters were more or less interchangeable, so the idea that Charlotte was impersonating Letitia was unlikely to occur to him. Scherz was very likely a caddish young man simply trying to charm money out of an old woman, but Miss Blacklock was suspicious nonetheless, worried he might figure something out if he didn't simply reveal her secret by accident, so she killed him to be sure.]]

* INeverSaidItWasPoison: Twofold, when Phillipa is presented with Mitzi's claim of overhearing a suspicious conversation with Rudi Scherz. She responds that she "was nowhere near the house that morning", and while she's quick to explain that she was working elsewhere ''every'' morning, Craddock doesn't remember ever bringing up the time of day. It doesn't amount to much, however, as he reasons that several people might have mentioned when Rudi stopped by.

* UnreliableNarrator: All of the other characters flat-out call Mitzi a liar and accuse her of making up stories in order to gain sympathy for being a war refugee, and Mitzi unwittingly provides several red herrings. While Letitia Blacklock thinks there might be a grain of truth in Mitzi's stories & that she likely did see some of her family killed, Letitia also states that the stories are greatly exaggerated.

* ActionGirl: In their backstories, at least. Hinch was an Air Raid Precautions warden during the war, while Emma Stamfordis [[spoiler:a.k.a. Julia]] was in the French resistance.

* CelibateHero: When Detective Craddock implies that Letitia Blacklock had been Randall Goedler's mistress, Bel Goedler is quick to set him right, explaining that Letitia acted like Randall's big sister. According to Bel, Letitia had no use for men, never saw the point of getting romantically involved with anyone, and missed out on "all the fun" of being a woman.
* ClothingConcealedInjury: [[spoiler:The reason why Miss Blacklock always wore either a string of pearls or a necklace of cameos - to conceal the operation scar that marked her as Charlotte rather than Letitia.]]
* CrimeAfterCrime: [[spoiler:Charlotte went from forging a death receipt to committing three murders and attempting a fourth]].

* TheDitz: Miss Murgatroyd and Dora Bunner. Mrs Easterbrook plays up to the trope, but is quickly revealed as a shrewd gold-digger using it as a facade.

** Subverted when Inspector Craddock accuses [[spoiler: Edmund]] of going after [[spoiler: Philipa, who's really "Pip", one of the missing twin daughters of Sophia Goedler]] in order to get at the fortune she will inherit after Bel Goedler's death, but [[spoiler: both are playing parts to trap the murderer.]]

** Close to the end, it's revealed that [[spoiler:Miss Blacklock's niece Julia Simmons is really Emma Stamfordis, one of the prime suspects in the case.]] After that, Patrick Simmons does talk a bit about the character of his real sister, but the latter never makes an appearance.
** It is also revealed that [[spoiler:the "Letitia" we have gotten to know is really Charlotte impersonating her sister, and the real Letitia never makes an appearance as she died before the story began.]]

* LaResistance: [[spoiler:Emma was involved with the French version]].

* LittleOldLadyInvestigates: Miss Marple is of course the TropeCodifier, but she's also aware about it: "A policeman asking questions is open to the grave of suspicion, but an old lady asking questions is just an old lady asking questions."

* OneSteveLimit: A minor aversion that is PlayedForLaughs. While dining with Miss Marple, Bunch Harmon mentions Julia Simmons and quotes a line of poetry, "Julia, pretty Julia is peculiar", at which instance the sulky waitress, who is also called Julia, assumes Bunch is talking about her and takes offense, before Bunch clears up the misunderstanding.

* SolomonDivorce: the above mentioned SeparatedAtBirth: is caused by [[spoiler: Pip and Emma's]] parents separating if not actually divorcing.

* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: [[spoiler:Charlotte's father, whose refusal to let her have an operation for her goitre was largely to blame for her becoming a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds and ultimately a multiple murderess. Miss Marple lampshades this.]]
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: [[spoiler: Charlotte Blacklock. Embittered by suffering for the entirety of her young life from a disfiguring goitre and a terrible father who didn't believe in having it operated on, she finally has it removed with her sister Letitia's help. Letitia is in line to inherit a fortune that Charlotte believes will make up for all her suffering, but then Letitia dies, meaning the fortune will instead go to Belle Goedler's next of kin, her sister-in-law Sonia's children Pip and Emma. Charlotte, unwilling to give up on the inheritance, takes her sister's identity, and ends up resorting to murder to prevent her secret from being exposed.]] Miss Marple notes that people who feel like the world owes them are very dangerous.
* WorthlessForeignDegree: In her former country, Mitzi was an intellectual, and she complains about being stuck working as a cook.
* YankTheDogsChain: [[spoiler: Letitia's sudden death of pneumonia, preventing Charlotte from enjoying the inheritance that would have, in her eyes, made up for the years of affliction she suffered.]]

* NeverOneMurder: The mystery begins when an advertisement is placed in the local ''Gazette'' announcing a murder that evening. Small-time crook Rudi Scherz seemingly attempts to shoot Miss Blacklock, then kills himself. Miss Blacklock's companion Dora is poisoned after taking aspirin left at Miss Blacklock's bedside, and as the investigation continues, neighbor Miss Murgatroyd is strangled when [[SheKnowsTooMuch shortly after realizing]] [[spoiler:she saw a key moment in the original murder attempt -- or rather, she didn't see the killer where they were supposed to have been at the moment when they actually shot Rudi Scherz]]. The killer also makes one final attempt at [[spoiler:drowning Mitzi]] when the latter suggests that they witnessed more than they had previously said.

* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: [[spoiler: Charlotte Blacklock. Embittered by suffering for the entirety of her young life from a disfiguring goitre and a terrible father who didn't believe in having it operated on, she finally has it removed with her sister Letitia's help. Letitia is in line to inherit a fortune that Charlotte believes will make up for all her suffering, but then Letitia dies, meaning the fortune will instead go to Sonia Goedler's next of kin. Charlotte, unwilling to give up on the inheritance, takes her sister's identity, and ends up resorting to murder to prevent her secret from being exposed.]] Miss Marple notes that people who feel like the world owes them are very dangerous.

* SummationGathering: [[spoiler:Subverted -- it's a decoy to 'frame' a willing Edmund and put Miss Blacklock off guard. A real [[TheSummation summation]] follows after Miss Blacklock is caught attempting to drown Mitzi in the kitchen sink.]]

** TheSummation then reveals [[spoiler:the original murder was Miss Blacklock's reaction to Rudi Scherz attempting to cadge money off her. Though in all likelihood, Scherz wasn't aware he had any basis on which to blackmail her -- to most people the two sisters were more or less interchangeable, so the idea that Charlotte was impersonating Letitia was unlikely to occur to him. Scherz was simply a caddish young man trying to charm money out of an old woman, but Miss Blacklock was suspicious nonetheless, worried he might figure something out if he didn't simply reveal her secret by accident, so she killed him to be sure.]]

** Not actually innuendo in-universe, but given the rather ridiculous placement [[spoiler:(delivered by Patrick immediately after being almost caught == or actually caught, depending on the production -- apparently passionately kissing his own sister)]] "feeding the ducks" has been known to become a production in-joke.

* BreakTheCutie: The murderer's sympathetic backstory involves a lot of tragedy: [[spoiler: Charlotte Blacklock]] suffered from a disfiguring deformity most of her life, isolating her with an emotionally abusive father who refused to let her obtain corrective surgery and turning her into a near-hermit with few friends. Then, when her father died and she could finally get the surgery, war broke out, and she waited out the war in Switzerland, where [[spoiler:her beloved sister, the real Letitia Blacklock]] died of pneumonia. Although as Miss Marple points out, [[FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse many had it much worse without resorting to murder]].

* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: [[spoiler: Charlotte Blacklock. Embittered by suffering for the entirety of her young life from a disfiguring goitre and a terrible father who didn't believe in having it operated on, she finally has it removed with her sister Letitia's help. Letitia is in line to inherit a fortune that Charlotte believes will make up for all her suffering, but then Letitia dies, meaning the fortune will instead go to Sonia Goedler's next of kin. Charlotte, unwilling to give up on the inheritance, takes her sister's identity, and ends up resorting to murder to prevent her secret from being exposed. Miss Marple notes that people who feel like the world owes them are very dangerous.]]

* AccidentalInnuendo: In the Leslie Darbon stage adaptation -
-->We'll just go and feed the ducks or something, then.
** Not actually innuendo in-universe, but given the rather ridiculous placement [[spoiler:(delivered by Patrick immediately after being almost caught - or actually caught, depending on the production - apparently passionately kissing his own sister)]] "feeding the ducks" has been known to become a production in-joke.

* AdaptationalWimp: In the stage play, Patrick's Navy service isn't mentioned; nor is [[spoiler:Emma's time with the French Resistance and resulting excellent marksmanship.]] There is no mention of Edmund finally getting published, as he did in the book; he remains stuck in the stereotype of "useless rich boy with writing hobby".

* BlackmailBackfire: [[spoiler:Exploited as part of Miss Marple's plan -- Mitzi is to pretend she saw the murder through the kitchen keyhole to [[TheBait bait the killer]] into trying to trying to [[HeKnowsTooMuch silence her]] -- with Miss Marple and Sergeant Fletcher lying in wait to catch the murderer in the act.]]

* SummationGathering: [[spoiler:Subverted -- it's a decoy to 'frame' a willing Edmund and put Miss Blacklock off guard.]]

* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: [[spoiler: Charlotte Blacklock. Embittered by suffering for the entirety of her young life from a disfiguring goitre and a terrible father who didn't believe in having it operated on, she finally has it removed with her sister Letitia's help. Letitia is in line to inherit a fortune that Charlotte believes will make up for all her suffering, but then Letitia dies. Charlotte, unwilling to give up on the inheritance, takes her sister's identity, and ends up resorting to murder to prevent her secret from being exposed. Miss Marple notes that people who feel like the world owes them are very dangerous.]]

* AccidentalMisnaming: Bunny accidentally named once Letitia Blacklock "Lotty" instead of "Letty", [[spoiler:as part of her confonding both nicknames and knowing she was really named Charlotte]].

* BlackMarket: Due to England maintaining rationing after the end of World War II, most of the village of Chipping Cleghorn have an illegal barter system to obtain rare foodstuffs from the nearby farmers. Hinchliffe trades her pigs' bacon to obtain surplus butter to trade to the villagers for their surplus supplies; Edmund uses honey as exchange for Phillippa's vegetable marrows (zucchini and squash). Their reluctance in talking of this around the police results in minor red herrings, cleared up when Bunch explains the system to Detective Craddock.
* BreakTheCutie: The murderer's sympathetic backstory involves a lot of tragedy: [[spoiler: Charlotte Blacklock]] suffered from a disfiguring deformity most of her life, isolating her with an emotionally abusive father who refused to let her obtain corrective surgery and turning her into a near-hermit with few friends. Then, when the father died and she could finally get the surgery, war broke out, forcing her into exile in another country, where her beloved sister died of tuberculosis. Although as Miss Marple points out, [[FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse many had it much worse without resorting to murder]].

* DirtyCommunists: Edmund Swettenham suscribes to the ''Daily Worker'', much to the dismay of Mrs. Finch.

* FunnyForeigner: In what now reads as cringeworthy ValuesDissonance, Patrick and Julia treat Mitzi, the high-strung Eastern European refugee cook suffering PTSD, like one.

* NeverOneMurder

* SummationGathering: [[spoiler:Subverted - it's a decoy to 'frame' a willing Edmund and put Miss Blacklock off guard.]]

* WorthlessForeignDegree: Mitzi complains about being stuck to work as cook, since, in her former country, she used to be an intellectual.
* YankTheDogsChain: [[spoiler: Letitia's death, preventing Charlotte from enjoying the inheritance that would have, in her eyes, made up for the years of affliction she suffered.]]