skribe reviewed Body in the Library by Agatha Christie
The very-respectable Colonel and Mrs Bantry have awakened to discover the body of a young …
Review: Body in Library
3 stars
Despite reading a fair bit of Christie, this is my first Miss Marple. I can't say I'm impressed. The plot feels overly contrived, especially the lengths Christie goes to in order to manufacture the titular aspect (i.e. the body in the library). The fact that she needs to add a foreword explaining it says that there are problems with the concept.
For me, the biggest problem is that Miss Marple is barely in it. I'm not sure if this is typical or not for Miss Marple mysteries, but I found it annoying, especially in comparison to the Hercule Poirot stories. Poirot is central to the plot, leading the reader through the various discoveries and twists, and then POW, at the end, the grand reveal. In this, Miss Marple sits on the sidelines sipping tea with a smug look on her face because she solved the mystery half-way through the book, …
Despite reading a fair bit of Christie, this is my first Miss Marple. I can't say I'm impressed. The plot feels overly contrived, especially the lengths Christie goes to in order to manufacture the titular aspect (i.e. the body in the library). The fact that she needs to add a foreword explaining it says that there are problems with the concept.
For me, the biggest problem is that Miss Marple is barely in it. I'm not sure if this is typical or not for Miss Marple mysteries, but I found it annoying, especially in comparison to the Hercule Poirot stories. Poirot is central to the plot, leading the reader through the various discoveries and twists, and then POW, at the end, the grand reveal. In this, Miss Marple sits on the sidelines sipping tea with a smug look on her face because she solved the mystery half-way through the book, and she's waiting for you to catch up. As I said, annoying.
