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A review by booriley
The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie
4.0
Now this was a fun read, a solid Miss Marple.
It had a lot of Christie's favorite tropes, lots of kooky characters, misdirection, lots of bodies, greedy villains, and dysfunctional families.
Miss Marple is on the case, joined by her friend Dolly Bantry. To see them investigating together was a hoot. Though it probably didn't help their case that Dolly kept telling everyone that they met that they came down to do some sleuthing. But they were a charming team as they went about talking to people and investigating who had a motive to kill Ruby Keene.
The killer and motive were pretty easy to spot, but like in Christie's other works, it was entertaining to see the investigators solving the crime and coming to the correct conclusion.
It is also one of the most bloody and violent of Christie's works.
Conway Jefferson did bother me, how he was possessive over his in-laws and wanted to keep them frozen in place as the family he lost. Maybe it was just me, but he seemed to see Ruby as more of a pet project. Understandably he missed his daughter and wanted a replacement, but she wasn't a child. She was a young woman who had her own hopes and dreams. Would he still have doted on her if she chose a job or male companion he didn't approve of? It was like he was a rich man buying a new daughter that would dance to his tune. A rich man who used his money to buy things and people. And yet he was looked upon with respect and admiration. It was just one part of the book that didn't age well.
Overall it was an entertaining fun read and one of my favorite Marple.
It had a lot of Christie's favorite tropes, lots of kooky characters, misdirection, lots of bodies, greedy villains, and dysfunctional families.
Miss Marple is on the case, joined by her friend Dolly Bantry. To see them investigating together was a hoot. Though it probably didn't help their case that Dolly kept telling everyone that they met that they came down to do some sleuthing. But they were a charming team as they went about talking to people and investigating who had a motive to kill Ruby Keene.
The killer and motive were pretty easy to spot, but like in Christie's other works, it was entertaining to see the investigators solving the crime and coming to the correct conclusion.
It is also one of the most bloody and violent of Christie's works.
Conway Jefferson did bother me, how he was possessive over his in-laws and wanted to keep them frozen in place as the family he lost. Maybe it was just me, but he seemed to see Ruby as more of a pet project. Understandably he missed his daughter and wanted a replacement, but she wasn't a child. She was a young woman who had her own hopes and dreams. Would he still have doted on her if she chose a job or male companion he didn't approve of? It was like he was a rich man buying a new daughter that would dance to his tune. A rich man who used his money to buy things and people. And yet he was looked upon with respect and admiration. It was just one part of the book that didn't age well.
Spoiler
Poor Pamela, she was just a kid and she was murdered because they needed a "fake Ruby" to provide alibis for them. They used her as a sacrifice and didn't seem to have any remorse for her murder. Ruby's death was sad as well, but she was killed because she stood in the way of the money. Pamela was killed because they needed an alibi's protection for their crimes. She wasn't tied to the crimes, she knew no information, she didn't stand in the way, she was simply a kid who was used, abused, and spit out.Overall it was an entertaining fun read and one of my favorite Marple.