The Body in the
Library by Agatha Christie
When I was young, probably in the seventh or eighth grade, I
saw one of Agatha Christie’s novels in movie format (for the life of me, I
cannot remember which). I enjoyed it enough that I picked up copies of a few of
her books at a booksale, but never got around to reading any of them. Recently,
looking through my shelves for something to read, I found The Body in the Library.
I suspect that for most of my generation, the classic
who-dunnit books no longer hold much interest, as we are so used to crime shows
and mystery theater that wrap up stories so concisely and beautifully. Actually
sitting down and reading a mystery novel in which there is no sex or steamy
relationship gossip between the detectives is a far different experience from
sitting down to this week’s episode of Criminal
Minds, Elementary, or the like. Reading Christie’s novels is really more a
practice in patience, for we do not see the truth until the very end. There are
no clips of the murder taking place, no visuals or scenes to help us figure out
the answer.
Bolstered by my identity as a crime show fan, I began the
novel expecting to be able to figure it out before the last chapter. I had
forgotten, of course, that Christie’s endings are almost always over-the-top
ridiculous and unlikely scenarios. The murderer was so obvious, but his alibi
so solid that you began to doubt his guilt and the means were so roundabout
that I found myself completely confused before the end.
The basic plot is this: Colonel and Mrs. Bantry are woken up
one morning by their very anxious maid, informing them that a dead body has
been found in their library. While the colonel calls in the police (Col.
Melchett and Inspector Slack), Mrs. Bantry calls her friend, Jane Marple, a
local sleuth that seems to figure out the most complex crimes long before the
police can work it out themselves. Finding that the young girl, identified by
her cousin as a Miss Ruby Keene, was an entertainer at a local hotel (think
Penny in Dirty Dancing, only nowhere
near as intelligent or talented), Miss Marple and Mrs. Bantry head to the hotel
as guests to do sleuthing of their own while the police do their own detective
work. Eventually, the former head of Scotland Yard, Sir Henry, gets involved.
With a great deal of digging around on the part of all four detectives (and
after yet body is discovered and a third murder attempted), it is—of course—Miss
Marple who puts the pieces together and clears the name of the framed suspect,
finding the real criminals right under their noses.
The writing, of course, is quite good—Agatha Christie was an
internationally renown writer for a reason (for she hails from the age when you
actually had to be a good writer to be internationally renown… ahem, Stephanie
Meyer). The dialect puts you in the time and you can easily imagine the voices
and picture the characters. The scenes are described well with just enough left
to the imagination that you can envision them in your head.
In spite of the high quality of the book, I did find myself
becoming impatient. I wanted to know the ending without having to do the work—I
actually considered finding a synopsis online, I was so eager to just know the
answer! But this, I think, is the genius of Christie’s writing. At the time it
was written (1942), there was no way of finding out the spoilers without simply
turning to the last chapter. For those purists who do not read the last chapter
first, the idea is to read through as quickly as possible, trying to piece the
clues together and figure it out before Miss Marple shows everyone the truth.
About Miss Marple, I do find her character absurdly
impossible, but in the same way that Sherlock Holmes (to whom she is compared
by Sir Henry) is both absurd and impossible (although, I cannot imagine a
modern version of a movie where Miss Marple is anywhere near as attractive as
Benedict Cumberbatch or Jonny Lee
Miller). She is, in her own way, a compellingly simple yet profound character.
I rather liked her a lot and perhaps should find more “Miss Marple Murder
Mysteries.”
I think I’ll give The
Body in the Library a solid 3.5 stars—a high praise. I probably won’t read
it again, but I definitely recommend it for the lover of detective stories.
What fun!
Kaitlyn’s Star Guide:
0 stars: Don’t
read it. A waste of your time. Worse than Twilight.
1 star: Read only
if you’re very tired and desperate for something to read. Will probably rot
your brain if you read it too much.
2 stars: Good for what it is or not my taste.
3 stars: Decent
book and worth reading, but not earth-shaking, much less earth-shattering.
4 stars: Really
good, definitely something I will re-read sometime. Earth Shaking.
5 stars: Earth
Shattering. Every single human being should read this. It should be required
for citizenship of the world. Seriously. Why aren’t you reading it yet? LIFE
CHANGING.