REVIEW | The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie
AUTHOR: Agatha Christie
ISBN: 9780062073617
FIRST PUBLISHED Feb 1942
EDITION RELEASE DATE: Sep 16th, 2003
PAGES: 224 PAGES
EDITION LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
★★★★★
I loved this book so much. This is the second full-length Miss Marple novel, and it’s everything great about Agatha Christie. And it’s exactly what I needed between heavy topic books.
Cover of one of the Chinese editions
Early in the morning, Mrs. Bantry vaguely remembered someone mentioned there’s a body in their library. When they went to check, The Bantrys indeed found a body of a young blonde girl, who they don’t recognize was strangled in their library. Questions were raised about this case right away: Who is this girl? Why is she in The Bantrys’ library? Mrs. Bantry invited her friend, our lovely Miss Marple to help her investigate, and they both went on a little trip in order to find out the truth.
Although the book started with the cozy town where Miss Marple lived, the case took part of a bigger stage this time, and Miss Marple had to deal with people who’s not familiar with her and won their trust. I loved the characterizations, and some comments on people’s traits are just so humorous, makes me laugh all the time.
As Miss Marple met new people, she often compared them to the townspeople she knew, to make her old friends from their town understand the personalities of the new people more. She gave out examples of things people did in their town and delivered clever comparisons. I just loved to read about the fun facts about the townspeople. Also, the vicar from the first book of the series, Murder at the Vicarage, made a cameo in this book too. And it was just very lovely to see him.
As a mystery, this was a complex and unpredictable case. Not only was the stage where the murder was related upgraded to a larger place, but the identity of the victim also became more complicated too. There are so many connections between people that were hidden so well from the readers, and there were many looming motivations that would keep you wondering too.
Miss Marple and Mrs Bantry, 1984 TV mini-series adaptation
This book was such a great read and has a weird, almost magical power that made me fully present in the reading experience. Once I opened this book, I forgot about the things I’m anxious about, I lost the urge to consistently move fast. I was fully emerged in the story and felt like I was at the town with Miss Marple together. So although it may not be the most rigorous mystery novel, it’s by far my favorite Miss Marple story.
I also watched the 1984 TV mini-series adaptation of this book features Joan Hickson as Miss Marple. It’s the TV series that stayed the most loyal to the original novel that I have ever watched, for any book. It’s great fun to watch after reading the book, although there are times I feel like the characters are mumbling and it’s hard for me to understand.
