"A Murder, a Mystery, and a Marriage" is a short story written by Mark Twain in 1876.

Initially Twain proposed to William Dean Howells that they entice twelve authors, including himself, to each write a short story to the same plot.

[1] A similar project was proposed later, resulting in the 1908 collaborative work The Whole Family, though Twain declined the offer to participate.

[2] The scheme for "A Murder, a Mystery, and a Marriage" failed, and Twain was the only one to flesh out the plot.

The case went all the way to the U.S. Court of Appeals before it was determined that "Ownership of a manuscript does not include the right of publication".