"A Jury of Her Peers" is a short story written by Susan Glaspell that was first published in 1917. It is a mystery story that revolves around the investigation of a murder case involving a farm wife named Minnie Wright.
The story begins with the arrival of two men, the sheriff and the county attorney, at the Wright farmhouse. They are accompanied by two women, Minnie's neighbor Mrs. Peters and the county attorney's wife, Mrs. Hale. The men are there to investigate the murder of John Wright, Minnie's husband, who was found strangled in his bed the previous night.
As the men search the house for clues, the women begin to notice things that the men do not. They notice that Minnie's kitchen is very untidy, with dirty dishes and a cluttered stove. Mrs. Hale also notices that Minnie's rocking chair is broken and that there are patches on her apron. These observations lead the women to conclude that Minnie must have been under a lot of stress and that something must have happened to cause her to snap and kill her husband.
The men, however, do not seem to understand the significance of these clues. They are more focused on finding physical evidence, such as a weapon or fingerprints, and they do not consider the emotional state of the suspect.
As the women continue to observe and speculate, they discover a small box hidden in the pantry. Inside the box, they find a jar of preserves that has been opened and then sewn shut with a needle and thread. Mrs. Peters recognizes the needle as one that Minnie used to mend her quilts, and this leads the women to believe that Minnie used the needle to strangle her husband.
Despite this discovery, the men still do not seem to understand the true meaning of the clues. It is only when Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale confront Minnie directly and ask her about the preserve jar that she finally confesses to killing her husband. She tells them that her husband had been controlling and abusive towards her, and that she killed him in self-defense after he threatened to kill her.
In the end, it is the women, not the men, who are able to piece together the events leading up to the murder and understand the motivations behind it. They serve as a "jury of her peers" and are able to see the crime from Minnie's perspective, rather than simply looking for physical evidence. As a result, they are able to uncover the truth and bring justice to the case.