"A Jury of Her Peers" is about the discovery of and subsequent investigation of John Wright's murder. The story begins on a cold, windy day in fictional Dickson County, with Martha Hale being abruptly called to ride to the scene of Wright's murder. In the buggy is Lewis Hale, her husband; Sheriff Peters, the county sheriff; and Mrs. Peters, the sheriff's wife. She rushes out to join them in the buggy, and the group sets off. They arrive at the crime scene: the Wrights' lonesome-looking house. Immediately, Mrs. Hale exhibits a feeling of guilt for not visiting her friend Minnie Foster after her marriage to Mr. Wright twenty years prior. Once the whole group is safely inside the house, Mr. Hale is asked to describe to the county attorney what he had seen and experienced the day prior.
Despite the serious circumstances, he delivers his story in a long-winded and poorly thought-out manner, tendencies he struggles to avoid throughout: The story begins with Mr. Hale venturing to Mr. Wright's house to convince Wright to get a telephone. Upon entering the house, he finds Mrs. Wright in a delirious state and comes to learn that Mr. Wright has allegedly been strangled.
The women's curious natures and very peculiar attention to minute details allow them to find evidence of Mrs. Wright's guilt and of her provocations and motives. Meanwhile, the men are unable to procure any evidence. The women find the one usable piece of evidence: a dead bird in a box. It's stated that Minnie used to love to sing, but her husband didn't allow her to, so instead, she brought a bird who sang instead. But now finding her bird dead with a broken neck, it is evident that Mr. Wright killed the bird, leading Mrs. Wright to strangle her husband in a similar manner. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters use their knowledge and experience as two "midwestern rural women" to understand Mrs. Wright's suffering when the only living thing around her has died.[5] The women find justification in Mrs. Wright’s actions and go about hiding what they find from the men. In the end, their obstruction of evidence will seemingly prevent a conviction.
