The Body in the Library

by Agatha Christie

Colonel Bantry and his wife Dolly live in a grand old house outside a small village. Nothing ever happens there.
Imagine their surprise when one morning they are woken by their maid who tells them that the body of a girl has been found in their study. Who is she? And how did she end up on their rug?
Dolly asks her friend Miss Marple to help discover the truth – can she help explain this mystery and clear Colonel Bantry’s name?

Collins brings the Queen of Crime, Agatha Christie, to English language learners.

Agatha Christie is the most widely published author of all time and in any language. Now
Collins has adapted her famous detective novels for English language learners. These readers have been carefully adapted using the Collins COBUILD grading scheme to ensure that the language is at the correct level for an intermediate learner. This book is Level 3 in the Collins ELT Readers series. Level 3 is equivalent to CEF level B1 with a word count of 11,000 – 20,000 words.

Each book includes:
• Full reading of the adapted version available for free online
• Helpful notes on characters
• Cultural and historical notes relevant to the plot
• A glossary of the more difficult words
• Free online resources for students and teachers

Genres: Mystery, Agatha Christie, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Classics, Audiobook, Adult Fiction

96 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2018

About the author

Agatha Christie also wrote romance novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott, and was occasionally published under the name Agatha Christie Mallowan.

Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, the murder mystery The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End of London since 1952. A writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Christie has been called the "Queen of Crime". She also wrote six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.

This best-selling author of all time wrote 66 crime novels and story collections, fourteen plays, and six novels under a pseudonym in romance. Her books sold more than a billion copies in the English language and a billion in translation. According to Index Translationum, people translated her works into 103 languages at least, the most for an individual author. Of the most enduring figures in crime literature, she created Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. She atuhored The Mousetrap, the longest-running play in the history of modern theater.

Associated Names:
Agata Christie
Agata Kristi
Агата Кристи (Russian)
Агата Крісті (Ukrainian)
Αγκάθα Κρίστι (Greek)
アガサ クリスティ (Japanese)
阿嘉莎·克莉絲蒂 (Chinese)

Reviews

[Barbara K · Rating 5 out of 5]

In my quest to re-read all the Miss Marple novels I nearly forgot The Body in the Library, possibly because I’ve read it a number of times and am very familiar with it.

It was published in 1942, about 10 years after the first Marple, and is written with many of the elements that are present in my favorites in the series.

There’s the delightful opening, where first Dolly Bantry and then her husband are reluctant to believe, as they gradually awaken, that the body of a young woman has been found in their library. It’s an effective way to characterize this couple and set the stage for why Miss Marple must become involved, since Dolly is her dear friend.

The plot unfolds primarily in a resort hotel 20 miles from St. Mary Mead. Dolly takes Miss Marple there to continue her sleuthing on site. There are a handful of possible suspects, and Christie does her typically clever job of setting up a counterpoint between the efforts of the police and Miss Marple’s quiet observations. There is the requisite supply of red herrings to keep the police (not to mention the reader) engaged.

Miss Marple solves the mystery using a combination of those Holmes-like observations of detail and her insights into human nature. She is less “twittery” in this book than in some, more confident of her ability to explain her process, for instance.

OK, so NOW I only have two more to go. This certainly is a fun undertaking.

[Joseph Sciuto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderfully entertaining. The second in "The Miss Marple Mysteries" that I have read and simply delightful with a wonderful plot, quirky recurring characters and new and devious characters. It's Agatha Christie and it's great.

[Chelsea · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was pretty good. I liked the mystery of the murder itself. This is my first Miss Marple mystery though, and I was a bit surprised to find she wasn't really the main character. She was the one who solved the murder in the end, but she got a lot of her information from what other people found out. And I know that in this time period she couldn't have been a real detective or anything, but I still thought she would have had a more prominent role in the book. The narration follows a lot of other people as well. Anyway, I also didn't feel that "aha moment" in the end, I just sort of felt like "ok, guess that answers it." Not enough dramatic build, I guess. Maybe Agatha Christie isn't for me, though. I still thought the murderer made sense, and I did like a lot of the characters. It was just not quite good enough for me to be really impressed, I guess.

[Noella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Een boek met Miss Marple. Zoals meestal in de boeken met MM die ik al gelezen heb, komt ze in het eigenlijke verhaal niet veel voor.
Een verhaal met een goede plot, vele verdachten, maar de eigenlijke dader blijft in het hele onderzoek erg op de achtergrond. Tot Miss Marple weer eens een analogie ziet met een gebeurtenis uit haar eigen dorpje, St. Mary's Mead. En dan moet ze alleen nog uitzoeken hoe de vork nu precies aan de steel zit.
Een boek om van te genieten!

[Larissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have been a fan of Agatha Christie since I was a kid, but I haven't read anything of hers in a long time. Cracking this one open, did not disappoint ... at first. I loved this book, right up until the end. I believe that a murder mystery should present all of the facts of the case to the reader, so that they have a chance to solve the crime along side the detective. That doesn't mean that you will solve the crime, but when the big reveal of the killer happens, you are able to put together all of the pieces, because you have been given all of the pieces. It drives me insane when you get to the big reveal of the killer and it's Clarence the Butler! Yet you flip back through the pages confused, since you don't ever remember meeting a butler, much less one named Clarence who had a secret grudge against the victim. The book has a "butler." I even went back to re-read sections in case I had missed something. I hadn't. Thus, everything that had been laid out so cleverly became cheapened. So I went from loving this book, to being disappointed with this book.

[Rod Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first Miss Marple novel & it was a satisfying read. Much better than an earlier short story I read (can’t recall the title @ the moment). Clever enough story to have me consider reading more Miss Marple novels (might skip the short stories).

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE BODY IN THE LIBRARY by AGATHA CHRISTIE - an oldie but a goodie. (Disclaimer: No women were harmed in the making of this illustration)

Summary: Colonel and Dolly Bantry awake to the maid announcing there is a dead body of a woman found in their library.

Mrs. Bantry calls down to Miss Marple in St. Mary Mead, because she realizes the importance of solving the murder of this mysterious woman or the gossip and speculation will be thrown toward she and the colonel. Mrs. Bantry persuades Miss Marple to inhabit the hotel where the murdered woman was employed.

Miss Marple and Mrs. Bantry observe the suspects and speak to the officers in charge of the investigation.

As always Miss Marple is ahead of the team and quickly solves the mystery.

Review: Miss Marple is my all-time favorite sleuth. When she uses her observations of people she knows and applies these opinions to situations, she gets that knowing twinkle in her eye, and nothing gets passed her. This is my second reading of THE BODY IN THE LIBRARY and I found it to be as entertaining as the first. DAME AGATHA CHRISTIE was definitely the master of a dialogue-driven whodunit. I loved how she name-dropped her own name as an author in the middle of this book. 5⭐️/5

[Anup · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have finally read a book by Agatha Christie. I hope it's not the last one. I liked the book. I found it interesting. I was able to finish it quickly.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I figured it out! I knew whodunnit!
I was smugly chuckling and congratulating myself on finally beating Agatha Christie at her own game as I listened to the end of the book drawing near, knowing that I had beaten the Queen of Mystery.



Goddammit.
She fooled me again.
I was all like, wait...whatthefuckjusthappened?! - as I listened to the actual murderer get hauled off to the pokey.
sighs



Anyway.
The gist is that Miss Marple's friend, Dolly, finds a body in her library. <--I know, right?
Yeah, some random chick (a dancer, no less) pops up all dead and sprawled out in her house, and if she doesn't figure out the who, what, & why, everyone will just assume that it was some floozy her husband was banging on the side.
There are a whole lotta extra characters (several with something to hide), a fat inheritance, and another dead girl (this one a gullible teenager) that gets thrown into the mix to make this an interesting story.

Stephanie Cole was the narrator of the version I listened to and (as always) she did an admirable job.

Recommended for fans of Agatha Christie mysteries.

[Jedimelinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fast, fun read of one of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple novels. My goodness, Miss Marple is shrewd, and has such a good head on her shoulders. Plus, she knows human nature -- all too well. :-)
Happy Reading! :-)

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just a bit too convoluted. Seemed to be for the sake of surprise.

[Erika · Rating 2 out of 5]

The plot is very complicated, this is a whodunit if ever there was one. Miss Marple is present mainly in the end, which I didn't find very satisfactory. The story wasn't quite as cutting as Christie stories tend to be. Audio book.

[Anamary Perez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Libro cargado de intriga q mantiene al lector atento hasta el final. Fascinante la manera en la q la autora teje el hilo de los acontecimientos q t hacen cambiar de parecer constantemente hadta llegar a un final inesperado pero bien justificado.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good Christie mystery. A girl’s body is found in the library of a wealthy home. Surprisingly, no one in the house recognizes the girl. The story goes on from there, with another body found in the same area. I didn’t guess the murderer!

[Amanda Engelking · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic Agatha Christa. Timeless quality and intrigue. This was a gift from Once Upon A Book Club, associated with Serious Moonlight. Awesome!!

[Robert Crouch · Rating 5 out of 5]

There’s so much to enjoy and admire about Agatha Christie’s writing. It goes without saying that her plots are intricate, complex and beautifully constructed, so much so that techniques she used in the 1930s and 40s are still being used in today’s murder mysteries.

If you accept that attitudes and language were quite different in the 1942, you can appreciate her direct style of writing that hasn’t lost any of its appeal over the decades. With minimal description and digression, she delivers the twists and turns of the plot with skill, deftness and confidence, leading the reader astray with red herrings and enough suspects to satisfy the stingiest critic. Add in sharp characterisation, lots of dialogue, and social comment that will raise a few smiles, and this is a superb whodunit that will keep you guessing until the reveal.

Miss Marple isn’t the fluffy character you see in some TV adaptations. She has a backbone of steel, an incisive mind and a sharp tongue. Where the police and the village see scandal when a young woman is found dead in the library of Colonel and Dolly Bantry, Miss Marple sees a puzzle with no obvious explanation.

While the police follow their own investigations, she seizes on the small clues, the little details they don’t fully appreciate, weaving it all together into an excellent and believable climax.

Agatha Christie’s books never fail to entertain me or inspire me as a mystery murder writer.

Highly recommended.

[Lynne Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't read an Agatha Christie in a sow's age, and after having ploughed through a couple of giant, dense reads, I decided to give my brain a break with a murder mystery canter. You certainly can't go wrong with Agatha Christie and I chose one that I was certain I hadn't read.

This is a Miss Marple mystery, but Jane is not the major protagonist in this tale. There are two murders that occur in different counties, but happened during the same time frame, so the police know that they are connected. Our Miss Jane figures out what happened pretty quickly but she lacks the evidence, so she has to let the police take the lead on the case. There are constables from two counties interviewing the suspects and collecting evidence, along with a retired Scotland Yard head who is informally consulting. Miss Marple is brought in to help with interviews and to give her opinion, but it isn't until the end of the book that Jane finds what she needs in order to close the case.

I enjoyed the tale even more than I thought I would. Christie could be very astute about human nature and Miss Marple has no delusions about the human condition. The mystery puzzle was fun to figure out and just what my mind needed as far as reading goes (I read ALL the time). Time to add more Christie to the TBR pile!

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Murder mysteries are not really my thing. I often avoid them. This year one of my books was supposed to be a mystery and I decided to give Mrs.Christie a try. I was not disappointed.

The story unfolds and we learn more about the clues and characters in a fascinating mix of dialogue and circumstances. I appreciate that Miss Marple works with Sir Henry and the detectives.

What was fun about this book was I picked a suspect at the beginning and tried to see as the book went along if it fit with the crime. I was delighted when I reached the end and was right!

While I am not a murder mystery convert, I will probably read more of Christie’s books.

[Parvathi Sai · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very short but fast paced novel from Agatha Christie. I went in expecting not alot and was pretty satisfied with the book. The characters were many but I was not confused. I enjoyed reading it very much as it wwas pretty enticing and engaging. The ending was satisfactory and believable. It was a classic read and pretty satisfying. I had my doubts on almost every character in the book but was not able to actually guess whodunit until I actually read it.
The switching of the girl's bodies to cover alibis was very new and the twist was pretty unexpected and the motive was very believable. I felt really sad for the girls though!

[Priya Carter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, this is my second Agatha Christie book and I was a bit disappointed with the ending.

My first Christie book was “And then there were none!” I loved it! So complex yet realistic. So I was excited to read this one. It was a easy read, finished in a day. It was engaging and I enjoyed the journey but honestly I felt the ending/reveal was a bit of a reach and let down! Like, I could believe the murderer but why was Pamela Reeves killed? I’m so confused! What was the point? It was so complex that I just accepted it and closed the book.

It was a good read overall. I enjoyed the journey and the characters but not a fan of the ending. Three stars from me!

[Grace Bott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Agatha Christie really is the queen of the plot twist.

The Body in the library is a part of Christies Miss Marple series. We open with a couple finding the body of a blonde, dead in their library. As the local police are called in, so too is Miss Marple – a figure known well in the town for her shrewdness – to help solve this murder. When the young woman is connected to a local hotel, a large inheritance, and another grisly murder, things become complicated. It is up to Miss Marple and the faithful detectives to find out the truth.

Where I struggled a bit during my first Agatha Christie novel, I felt that this one was easier to read and follow. In comparison to her other main character Hercule Poirot I find Miss Marple much more sympathetic – she is wise and sharp but humble about her abilities. I loved her relationship with Mrs. Bantry, one call and Miss Marple is ready to dive headfirst into a murder investigation.

It's interesting getting a taste of morals and values of that time, what a good girl did what a lower class girl did were two vastly different things. Something that I find interesting with Christie is she always writes children in to be fascinated by murder, maybe this a sign of the times (now we just watch documentaries) but I don’t remember being seven and interested in death.

Not a super long review, I liked this more than the last one but for the life of me can’t find a whole lot to say. It’s a good book, it interesting and despite my best efforts, I couldn’t clearly pick the killer at the end. So I’ve got to give it up to the queen, she sure knew how to write a twist. I would recommend for a fun murder mystery.

[Joel Bartlett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Agatha Christie's "The Body in the Library" is the second entry in her Miss Marple series which offers an enjoyable dose of intrigue, vivid imagery, and character development that are reoccurring solid foundational pieces in Christie's collection of work. This novel starts out with a strong premise that provides an intriguing and fresh angle to a Christie murder mystery, however the momentum gained by the promising first and second act falter late into the third act as the plot is made too complicated for its own good which makes for a more disappointing rather than clever final reveal. I particularly have enjoyed Christie novels where you are rewarded as a reader for paying attention to the little details that are scattered throughout her books, details that are there to be found and that can be traced back for the validation of a satisfying conclusion. Some of these details are found in this book to be sure, however major crucial details are almost completely hidden from the reader which makes for a disappointing feeling in the end as the reader. I still got a lot of enjoyment from the novel however, as Christie's characterization work is incredible and I feel that I got to really know Miss Marple more as a character in this entry. Taken altogether this is still a solid entry by Christie however it doesn't quite measure up to the brilliant first entry in the Miss Marple series. I can definitely still recommend this book to returning Agatha Christie fans, however for newcomers I would highly suggest the first book as your starting point into this series.

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

“What I feel is that if one has got to have a murder actually happening in one’s house, one might as well enjoy it, if you know what I mean.”

I obviously had to try Christie’s original after reading The Bodies in the Library, which played with its premise as well as its title. We open on a country estate, where the maid has just discovered a bottle-blonde in a cheap dress, lying in repose in the library. She’s unknown to everyone in the house, and some investigation by both Miss Marple (a friend of the family) and the county constable reveal that she’s a missing dancer from a hotel some thirty miles away. Although there are a handful of suspects, none of them have opportunity or much motive, and the truth-seekers are flummoxed until a second body is discovered – this one a young girl, left in a burning car. Although there’s no direct evidence, the investigators have a hunch that both of these senseless deaths are related, and from their reading of the facts and of human nature, the truth comes out. I found The Bodies in the Library much more entertaining than say, Hallow’een Party, with some choice quotations and a good curve at the end.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I chose this book as A Cozy Mystery for the 2019 Read Harder Challenge. Generally for this challenge, if I don't have something immediately in mind, I'll do a Google search of "the best..." and insert the topic for the prompt. Agatha Christie is clearly the queen of the cozy mystery, so I decided to go with one by her. Discovering I'd already read most of her most popular, and arguably, best novels, I chose from the remainder of the top 10 best list I'd found, and ended up choosing The Body in the Library.

I'd rather not be able to guess who the killer is, because usually when you can figure out the ending half way through, the book is probably not written very well. But when you aren't presented with all of the information, as with this book, it feels as if the author could have come up with anything just to keep the mystery unsolvable by the reader, and the characters alike. In this case, Miss Marple's uncanny intuition reaches a tad too far. Which isn't to say it isn't an enjoyable cozy mystery, it's just kind of a flimsy one.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I loved about this was how we get to know Miss Marple. She has a knack for remembering things in her past, and pulling them forward to apply to the current situation. I love how the policemen are starting to get her number. And I loved Dolly!
There was so much here about how people were taught to treat gentry, and how the classes were separated. There is talk of how to dress (a lot), the cold shoulder, how to talk, and so on. I found that very interesting.
The mystery itself was a puzzle. I mean, how did that body get in the library? And I love how that was referred to as 'something that happens in books'! Here is Agatha poking fun at herself, I think. My edition has a preface by her that says just that.
This was a very sticky situation. I do think that I figured it out in the end, but Miss Marple didn't quite explain it all, did she?
But this is a definite must for #AYearwithMissMarple that helps us get to know her better. Now I have to come up with some discussion questions!

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who doesn't love a good "who dun it"? In true Agatha Christie form, Miss Marple is on the case to solve not one, but two murders. Colonel and Mrs. Bantry are awakened by a frantic house maid who has found find the body of a young murdered woman in their library. Almost immediately, Mrs. Banty calls her good friend, Miss Jane Marple, to come help her solve the case (along with the local constabulary).

Many in the cast of characters have secrets and more than a few have their reasons for wanting the young girl out of the way. Of course, Miss Marple knows early on who the murderer is, but has to follow clues and interview suspects before she can sort out all of the details. In the meantime, there is a second young woman murdered who might just be an unlikely target of the murderer.

I love the twists and turns Agatha Christie, a true "queen of crime", used in writing her many mysteries that so many of us grew up reading. Her works really never get old and are of great interest through the generations of readers who love a good mystery.

[Suellen Rubira · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sempre adorei histórias de mistérios, não a toa meu desenho favorito (um dos) era Scooby Doo - sim, um desenho muito detetivesco que você ficava até o fim querendo saber quem havia cometido o crime.

Com Agatha Christie não é diferente: estamos o tempo todo querendo descobrir o assassino e ela acaba deixando todas as pessoas muito suspeitas, de modo a ser difícil descobrir mesmo o criminoso.

No caso desse livro, temos a presença de Miss Maple, uma mulher bastante sagaz que desvenda mistérios, pois ela nunca confia cegamente naquilo que a realidade, os fatos, as histórias lógicas lhe oferecem.

Agatha se complicou ali no meio de campo, achei que sei lá... era pra ser um puta plot twist e ficou confuso.

Comecei a ler esse livro por conta do podcast Leia como uma garota, agora estou pronta para ouvir o episódio sem riscos de spoiler! :)

Vou tentar ler mais Agatha Christie, apesar da trama misteriosa, é algo que flui legal.

[Sasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since I've been on a Miss Marple kick, I've noticed I've been comparing them. Particularly since the last one I read wasn't my favorite. Luckily, it is rather easy to read them out of order. Definitely a bit more typical of a Miss Marple mystery. I like that Miss Marple is involved from the get go, you don't have to wait for half a book to happen and then somebody calls her.

The mystery is pretty straight forward. There are some things that are a bit twisty, but I wasn't able to guess the murderer. That's usually a pro, but maybe parts were too on the nose. It's not a con at least, but I don't find the ending particularly spectacular. I usually find in Christie's books that the audience doesn't get to the see the full hand, so it's not surprising to me that we didn't see it all here. Also, something I find usual in Christie novels is there is usually something that has not aged well.

Still, I love the interaction between Sir Henry and Miss Marple.

[Maddy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I placed a hold on The Body in the Library at my library and when I went to pick it up was this tiny book less than 100 pages long. With a glossary at the back and a bunch of words underlined throughout for English-learning purposes. Alright, I thought, I guess it's a short story? A novella? And I got an educational edition? Sure. Chugged through it today and enjoyed the intricacy of the plot. For a tiny little book, it packed in a twisty reveal and some slick little character observations by Miss Marple. Very simply told, but some quaint charm. I thought that was that. Then I come here to rate it and find that there is a proper version, apparently a good 200 pages? So there is seemingly a version out there is a much less simply told version, the original! And my library just led me up the garden path... Que sera, sera, oh well, swings and roundabouts!