The Body In The Library (alkuperäinen julkaisuvuosi 1942; vuoden 1975 painos)

A review I wrote in 2010:

[This review is for the HarperCollins facsimile reprint edition, published in 2005]

First published in 1942, The Body in the Library is the second Miss Marple Mystery (after Murder at the Vicarage, 1930). It's very good - easy read, wry, witty, twisting plot, only takes a few hours to read - perfect for a holiday mystery, or a quick read when you want a good book, but not one that's too in-depth. I was guessing right up until the end in this Miss Marple and didn't manage to guess the right murderer at all, so hats off again to Agatha Christie.

A note on the edition: I love these HarperCollins facsimile reprint editions of the First Editions (the original Collins Crime Club editions). The dust jacket covers are so much more appealing and iconic than most of the paperback versions that came afterwards (1960s and 70s covers would often have a pool of blood, murder weapon, bottle of poison, or whatever else was relevant to the plot adorning the front cover). These covers are more suitable to the story - gentle Golden Age crime and mystery writing at its best - not gory, not graphic, just good old-fashioned honest detecting. ( )

Fast and quaint read. I particularly like how the investigation process goes, it's like as if you are also there and involved trying to guess who the culprit was. Miss Marple is endearing and her skills as an observer is well done. Storyline and plot was okay, with each character having something to hide. Good book for a light and pleasant read. ( )

Embarrassed to say I've never read an Agatha Christie novel. But since there are 80 of them and everyone I've spoken to says one is pretty much the same as the next, why not start here?

I didn't guess who the murder was. I was a little said there wasn't more Ms. Marple because the novel coasted brilliantly when she was onscreen. But mostly I was impressed as hell and how much ground AG covers in just 160 pages. A dozen main characters, a setting real enough to touch, a detective I'd follow into hell. It didn't change my life or even leave much to chew on. But I want to read more. From across an ocean and about 80 years of history. That's saying something. ( )

This was only the third Miss Marple book (and the second novel) in the first twenty years of Christie’s career. As Poirot waned in the 1940s, Marple became her preferred investigator, fitting Christie’s slightly more sedate style, and her gradual feelings of disconnection from the modern world. My preferences lie with Hercule Poirot, but a good Marple novel can be very socially astute, and – with the contrast between Marple’s personality and the more direct methods of the younger police – can be very wryly written.

"The Body in the Library" is an average Marple, and a slightly better-than-average Christie, buoyed a little by the moments that it plays with the detective story form. (The title comes from a fictional detective novel which Christie had referenced in an earlier work.) In spite of decades of the Golden Age detective tradition, Dame Agatha manages to make the idea of a body in a country house library somehow genuinely disquieting. The solution is interesting, in that it shies away from the usual revelations about citizens of a manor house, but it’s a bit hazy. As with many of the Marple books, it’s an enjoyable read, but isn’t one that will stay with you.

Marple ranking: 8th out of 14 ( )

England, ca 1942
Mrs Bantry drømmer behageligt men vækkes brat ved at deres unge pige meddeler at der ligger et lig i biblioteket. Det er en ung, smuk pige, som hverken Mrs Bantry eller manden Oberst Bantry har set før. Ruby Keene er meldt savnet og Josephine Turner identificerer liget som værende Ruby. En skolepige Pamela Reeves er også meldt savnet og en udbrændt bil med et helt ukendeligt lig bliver fundet.
Mr. Conway Jefferson er invalid efter en ulykke, hvor hans to voksne børn døde. Han bor sammen med datterens enkemand, Mark Gaskell og sønnens enke Addie Jefferson.
Han var blevet sympatisk indstillet over for Ruby og hans penge ser ud til at være motivet. Rubys lig er tydeligt blevet anbragt for at kaste mistanken på nogen, men hvem? Sjovt nok viser det sig at liget er blevet flyttet to gange, så selv morderen er overrasket, da liget bliver fundet.
Miss Jane Marple bliver inviteret af oberstinden og hun finder ud af at Mark Gaskell og Josie Turner er gift. De har myrdet de to piger for at få fingre i Conways penge og havde også gladeligt set en uskyldig blive dømt for mordene. Til sidst stiller Miss Marple en fælde for dem og de bliver taget på fersk gerning, da de forsøger at myrde Conway.

Udmærket Miss Marple mysterie. ( )