Returning to the Scene of the Crime!: The Body in the Library 2.0

(image from here)

"A knock came at the door. Automatically from the depths of her dreams Mrs. Bantry said: 'Come in.' ...Out of the dim green light Mary's voice came - breathless, hysterical: 'Oh, ma'am, oh, ma'am, there's a body in the library.'"

-The Body in the Library, p. 2

The Sum of It:

Much of the delight of The Body in the Library comes from its inclusion of two of my favorite Christie characters, Dolly Bantry and Miss Jane Marple. While we've met Dolly Bantry before (most notably as a mystery/riddle dinner party participant in perhaps the only Christie short story collection I actually enjoyed, The Thirteen Problems), in The Body in the Library, Dolly is at the same time a bit of a victim, suspect, and crime solver.

While enjoying a dream-filled sleep, Dolly Bantry is dramatically awaken by her maid with the info that there is a BODY IN THE LIBRARY. Like, literally. Initial investigation by Dolly and husband, Arthur, finds that there is indeed the body of a young woman in their library, but the Bantrys have no idea who she could be. After bringing in the police, the library body is identified as Ruby Keene, a young woman who worked at a nearby-ish hotel. It appears young Ruby had endeared herself to a rich hotel resident (gosh, I love these books with the people who are like "oh yeah I just live at this fancy hotel!" Like for real, no sarcasm, it sounds so fun!) named Conway Jefferson, who had just decided to leave Ruby a bunch of money in his will instead of his own family (*MOTIVE ALERT*)!

Although Mr. Jefferson turns out to be a pal of the Bantrys, it's still very unclear why Ruby's body should have turned up in their library. When suspicion of the Bantrys's involvement continues to pervade St. Mary Mead, Dolly brings in her old pal, Miss Jane Marple, to help with the investigation!

The YOA Treatment:

The Body in the Library has always been one of my favorite Christie stories, and so it was one of the first picks for my list of books to read for THIS year of Agatha! I love the meta-ness Agatha brings to this particular novel. She references her self-awareness in her forward where she talks about having stored up ideas about how to pull of the cliche storyline of a body in a library. She even has a character talking about HERSELF as a mystery author at one point. The overall effect is a bit whimsical for the first half as the police and Dolly Bantry and Miss Marple traipse around the village and the Majestic hotel, sussing out alibis riddled with letter writing and bridge playing and tennis partners and whatnot. However, in true Agatha fashion, she pulls out a twist and a half at the end, bringing back clues from early on that you had completely discounted, and ending somberly with a reminder that murder is always tinged with evil.

I left The Body in the Library with a solid opening to our third (!) Year of Agatha, and heartily recommend it for anyone looking to soak in a classic Christie whodunnit in 2018.

Cheers!

-A.