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The Body in the Library
(Miss Marple #3)
by
When the Bantrys wake up to find the body of a beautiful young stranger in their library, Dolly Bantry knows there's only one person to call: her old friend Miss Marple.
Who was the young girl? What was she doing in the library? And is there a connection with another dead girl, whose charred remains are discovered in an abandoned quarry?
Miss Marple must solve the mystery, ...more
Who was the young girl? What was she doing in the library? And is there a connection with another dead girl, whose charred remains are discovered in an abandoned quarry?
Miss Marple must solve the mystery, ...more
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Paperback, 272 pages
Published
2011
by HarperCollins
(first published February 1942)
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Last year the reading the detectives group read through Agatha Christie's Miss Marple mysteries as a yearly challenge. Having joined the group late, I did not have a chance to read all of the Queen of Crime's cases featuring her famous spinster sleuth. As I participated in the challenge when I could, I came to appreciate Miss Marple as an everyday detective who is a champion for the average person. Using her quality of reading human nature to solve cases, Miss Marple became a favorite crime
...more
Jul 07, 2016
Mansuriah Hassan
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
classics,
agatha-christie
I confess to absolutely loving Dame Agatha Christie's books. I find the coziness of them very soothing. Miss Marple's character becomes more rounded as we see her interact with her friends. Even though there were less action in this book, but I don't think that dooms it to being a bad book, it's just a change of pace, which is often refreshing.
In the author's foreword Christie writes: "I laid down for myself certain conditions. The library in question must be a highly orthodox and conventional ...more
In the author's foreword Christie writes: "I laid down for myself certain conditions. The library in question must be a highly orthodox and conventional ...more
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 ...more
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 ...more
The Body in the Library (Miss Marple #3), Original Publication Year 1942
Characters: Miss Jane Marple, Inspector Slack, Colonel Arthur and Dolly Bantry, and …
Abstract: Bleached blonde girl clad in not-new spangled evening gown is found strangled in the library of old Colonel Arthur and Dolly Bantry, best friends to Miss Jane Marple. The village spinster, expert in human nature and motivations for murder, notes closely clipped nails, commonly bitten at that age, unlike talons usual to Josie's job ...more
Characters: Miss Jane Marple, Inspector Slack, Colonel Arthur and Dolly Bantry, and …
Abstract: Bleached blonde girl clad in not-new spangled evening gown is found strangled in the library of old Colonel Arthur and Dolly Bantry, best friends to Miss Jane Marple. The village spinster, expert in human nature and motivations for murder, notes closely clipped nails, commonly bitten at that age, unlike talons usual to Josie's job ...more
Sep 04, 2013
Barry Pierce
rated it
liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
20th-century,
read-in-2015
There's a small note to the reader at the very beginning of this novel in which Agatha Christie basically writes, "the trope of the body in the library is very common throughout detective fiction so I wrote this novel to fuck shit up". Good old Agatha. This is a Miss Marple story... well... I think it is, because our beloved Miss Jane Marple is in fact missing from quite a lot of this novel. Thankfully the crime is exciting enough for us to overlook that minor setback. It's a classic Christie,
...more
Someone here on Goodreads has a shelf called "cozy mysteries" and I think this is a perfect description of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple series.You can't get much cozier than a tea-drinking elderly spinster in a tiny English village. The Body in the Library is a clever little book. Miss Marple is called in to investigate when her friend finds a dead body (in the library). What I enjoy about Christie is she doesn't take her mysteries too seriously. There's lots of room for humorous little bits. I
...more
Rating: 4 solid stars of five
The novel, surprisingly, holds up well to a 21st century re-read. I was so pleased not to find anything shouting at me, "oh dear gawd please don't say that!" Slut-shaming, a huge component of the novel, isn't something unique to the times it is set in. It was a pleasure not having anything other than that and class snobbery to overlook!
But goodness me, what a lot of it there was. The "film people" were ever so louche, my dear, just Not Our Sort, so...American, you ...more
The novel, surprisingly, holds up well to a 21st century re-read. I was so pleased not to find anything shouting at me, "oh dear gawd please don't say that!" Slut-shaming, a huge component of the novel, isn't something unique to the times it is set in. It was a pleasure not having anything other than that and class snobbery to overlook!
But goodness me, what a lot of it there was. The "film people" were ever so louche, my dear, just Not Our Sort, so...American, you ...more
What a pleasure it was to reread this book. The first time I read a Miss Marple mystery story,l I was in my early teens and did not appreciate just how smart the woman is. She's very observant, and remembers little things about people, and draws parallels between different people to figure out who could have done it (the murder, that is.)
And I don't remember Agatha Christie being quite so funny the first time I read this; I found myself laughing out loud at the dialogue between Mrs. and Mr. ...more
And I don't remember Agatha Christie being quite so funny the first time I read this; I found myself laughing out loud at the dialogue between Mrs. and Mr. ...more
When a peroxide blonde is found dead in the library at Gossington Hall, Colonel and Mrs Bantry are perplexed. However, Mrs Bantry is determined that the crime should be solved, aware that suspicion will fall on her husband ("no smoke without fire...") and wisely calls in Miss Marple. When the body is identified as Ruby Keene, a dance hostess at the Hotel Majestic in Danemouth, Dolly Bantry and Miss Marple head off for a short break to do a spot of sleuthing.
This is a classic Christie novel and ...more
This is a classic Christie novel and ...more
Miss Marple is called to Gossington Hall after a maid discovers a dead body of a young flashily dressed woman has been strangled.
This is only the second full length novel featuring Jane Marple, it’s a great little puzzle mystery with all the fun Christie tropes.
One of the shortest novels in the cannon, it’s a really quick read.
I really like Marple, I can’t wait to read more from this delightful character.
This is only the second full length novel featuring Jane Marple, it’s a great little puzzle mystery with all the fun Christie tropes.
One of the shortest novels in the cannon, it’s a really quick read.
I really like Marple, I can’t wait to read more from this delightful character.
4.5
“Downstairs in the lounge, by the third pillar from the left, there sits an old lady with a sweet, placid, spinsterish face and a mind that has plumbed the depths of human iniquity and taken it all as in the day's work....where crime is concerned, she's the goods.”
Another excellent story! Having read it previously, I still remembered the key points, but on the other hand it allowed me to look at all the clues in a different way, and weirdly I ended up enjoying it more than the first time. ...more
“Downstairs in the lounge, by the third pillar from the left, there sits an old lady with a sweet, placid, spinsterish face and a mind that has plumbed the depths of human iniquity and taken it all as in the day's work....where crime is concerned, she's the goods.”
Another excellent story! Having read it previously, I still remembered the key points, but on the other hand it allowed me to look at all the clues in a different way, and weirdly I ended up enjoying it more than the first time. ...more
You're Dolly, wife of the respectable Colonel Bantry, living in the lovely little village of St. Mary Mead. You live a charmed if a bit boring life. Isn't it rather frustrating when even winning first prize at the flower show is just a dream?
They say, you should be careful what you wish for, but how could you be anything but excited when your very own library becomes the scene of a gruesome murder? If this isn't the news of the decade, you don't know what is. In any case, it's definitely prime ...more
They say, you should be careful what you wish for, but how could you be anything but excited when your very own library becomes the scene of a gruesome murder? If this isn't the news of the decade, you don't know what is. In any case, it's definitely prime ...more
Agatha Christie books are timeless! I always love reading her books when I want something entertaining, light and well written for a mystery. I’m always amazed at her writing but also her understanding of psychology and how good her books continue to be after all these years!
The Body in the Library did not let me down. Once again, I was surprised by the ending and enjoyed the ride. I enjoyed Miss Marple more in this book then the 1st one of the series, Murder at the Vicarage. She outwits ...more
The Body in the Library did not let me down. Once again, I was surprised by the ending and enjoyed the ride. I enjoyed Miss Marple more in this book then the 1st one of the series, Murder at the Vicarage. She outwits ...more
3.5
“My nephew Raymond tells me [...] that I have a mind like a sink. He says that most Victorians have. All I can say is that the Victorians knew a good deal about human nature.”
“My nephew Raymond tells me [...] that I have a mind like a sink. He says that most Victorians have. All I can say is that the Victorians knew a good deal about human nature.”
This book will hold your attention from the first chapter, it will impress you with the brilliantly crafted lines and take you straight into the murder scene. It’s a short book, but I assure you it will not affect the quality of it and you’ll enjoy this mystery which leaves you hanging until the end when all is explained.
Colonel and Mrs. Bantry, wealthy and upright citizens of St. Mary Mead, wake up one day to find the dead body of a mysterious young blonde woman in their library. This ...more
Colonel and Mrs. Bantry, wealthy and upright citizens of St. Mary Mead, wake up one day to find the dead body of a mysterious young blonde woman in their library. This ...more
Agatha Christie is one of my favourite authors when I want to read something light, entertaining and always well written. This book did not let me down. Miss Marple was at her very best, guessing who the murderer was quite early in the piece but of course not letting the reader know who it might be. As usual I had no idea but just kept happily reading, letting her do all the detective work and enjoying how smart she is.
The dead body of a murdered girl is found in the library of Colonel Bantry.Another very entertaining Christie mystery.Once again,money is the motive,and the fortune of a rich old man is at stake.Then,another girl is killed.This is a very quick read,a page turner.It is a Miss Marple mystery,though her appearance is rather brief.The ending is pretty good,with some unexpected twists.
This was my first foray into the Miss Marple series of Agatha Christie mysteries, and I have to admit first and foremost that this story has one of the best setups I've ever read in a detective novel: one morning Colonel and Mrs Bantry, the owners of a big English country house, are woken by their staff and informed that a dead body is in their library. It's a young blond woman in a cocktail dress, strangled to death and sprawled on the library rug. No one recognizes her, or has any idea how she
...more
This is the third instalment in the amateur detective encounters of Miss Marple and makes use of the great cliche of crime fiction - the “body in the library”. An author’s foreword explains the conditions that Christie imposed on herself to add to the intrigue; namely that the library is question would need to be a highly orthodox and conventional location and that the body, on the other hand, must be a wildly improbably and highly sensational victim. When Gossington Hall, home of Colonel Arthur
...more
You can rely on Christie to deliver a convoluted murder with wit and an understated charm.
"...there sits an old lady with a sweet, placid, spinterish face and a mind that has plumbed the depths of human inquity and taken it all as in the day's work....where crime is concerned, she's the goods."
When the body of a blonde young woman is found strangled in the library of Colonel Bantry, rumours start spreading rapidly. Colonel and Mrs Bantry are part of the upper class elite and considered with the upmost respect. Concerned for her husband (who assures her that he has never seen the ...more
When the body of a blonde young woman is found strangled in the library of Colonel Bantry, rumours start spreading rapidly. Colonel and Mrs Bantry are part of the upper class elite and considered with the upmost respect. Concerned for her husband (who assures her that he has never seen the ...more
Another great Christie read. I love her writing style, love her characterisation and the mystery she weaves. Sometimes I'm just really in the mood for an Agatha Christie novel!
3.5 rounded up to 4
...more
Overall a good mystery. But the final twist lacks the punch of many other stories by Agatha Christie. Miss Marple is absent for major part of the story and several loose ends were never explained. But it's a quick read (probably Christie's shortest book). 3 stars
not one of her best i personally believe, but it was okay
An excellent and very enjoyable read. Despite reading the book many moons ago and seeing at least one version on TV I still didn't guess who did it. (SPOILER alert sort of " although I did get the clue about the fingernails eventually")
And so it's onto the next which I think is The Moving Finger which I believe is a quote from the Wine of the Mystic: The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam: A Spiritual Interpretation. I must admit I don't know why, but I'm sure I shall find out.
Anyway 3 down and 11 to go, ...more
And so it's onto the next which I think is The Moving Finger which I believe is a quote from the Wine of the Mystic: The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam: A Spiritual Interpretation. I must admit I don't know why, but I'm sure I shall find out.
Anyway 3 down and 11 to go, ...more
#5 book in the Agatha Christie Challenge
Most defintely a thrilling tale from Agatha Christie and my first Miss Marple mystery. Just when I thought I had it all figured out, the rug was pulled out from under me and there was one person I had overlooked. I absolutely loved the dialogue between Miss Marple and the other characters, but I felt Jane Marple was regulated more to the background than I have witnessed Hercule Poirot experience in his books. Overall, I loved it and am glad that my library ...more
Most defintely a thrilling tale from Agatha Christie and my first Miss Marple mystery. Just when I thought I had it all figured out, the rug was pulled out from under me and there was one person I had overlooked. I absolutely loved the dialogue between Miss Marple and the other characters, but I felt Jane Marple was regulated more to the background than I have witnessed Hercule Poirot experience in his books. Overall, I loved it and am glad that my library ...more
Oct 16, 2011
Bonnie
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
mystery,
classics-modern
This was my first Agatha Christie novel. It's kind of a random one to start with. It's not Murder on the Orient Express or And Then There Were None or any of her other famous works. I chose it purely because I liked the cover. But you know what? I think it was a perfect choice.
Miss Marple is absolutely delightful. No ego, just a keen insight into the human psyche. She's also far more clever than me; I didn't spot the killer until it was too late.
It's almost a quintessential British village ...more
Miss Marple is absolutely delightful. No ego, just a keen insight into the human psyche. She's also far more clever than me; I didn't spot the killer until it was too late.
It's almost a quintessential British village ...more
Cozy mystery? Yes. Cozy library? Not so much.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agatha Christie L...: December 2020 - The Body in the Library | 4 | 13 | Oct 31, 2019 01:16PM | |
| Mission Marple Bo...: General Discussion - Library | 11 | 37 | Feb 10, 2019 12:13AM | |
| CMLE Librarians E...: * March 2018 Book: The Body in the Library | 1 | 4 | Mar 02, 2018 01:26PM | |
| Goodreads Librari...: Please correct the cover | 1 | 15 | Aug 14, 2017 12:59PM | |
| Goodreads Librari...: Please add cover | 1 | 17 | Aug 04, 2017 07:22AM | |
| Kindle English My...: Facts behind fiction | 2 | 9 | Mar 15, 2017 03:17PM |
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Agatha Christie also wrote romance novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott, and was occasionally published under the name Agatha Christie Mallowan.
Agatha Christie is the best-selling author of all time. She wrote 66 crime novels and story collections, fourteen plays, and six novels under a pseudonym in Romance. Her books have sold over a billion copies in the English language and a billion in ...more
Agatha Christie is the best-selling author of all time. She wrote 66 crime novels and story collections, fourteen plays, and six novels under a pseudonym in Romance. Her books have sold over a billion copies in the English language and a billion in ...more
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Miss Marple
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“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.”
—
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“Downstairs in the lounge, by the third pillar from the left, there sits an old lady with a sweet, placid, spinsterish face and a mind that has plumbed the depths of human iniquity and taken it all as in the day's work....where crime is concerned, she's the goods.”
—
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