The Body in the Library

The Body in the Library (1942) Agatha Christie (Miss Marple)

The second Miss Marple book has both Miss Marple and Sir Henry Clithering.

One of the things I always loved Agatha Christie books is how descriptive they can be.

The gay, laughing expression on his face was wiped off as though by a sponge from a slate. He looked tired and worried.

Coming towards them, he said: ‘That’s over.’

Then the smile broke out again, that charming, boyish, expressive smile that went so harmoniously with his suntanned face and dark lithe grace.

‘But Jane, who is it? Tell me at once.’

Miss Marple shook her head very firmly and pursed up her lips. ‘I’m sorry, Dolly, but that wouldn’t do at all.’

‘Why wouldn’t it do?’

‘Because you’re so indiscreet. You would go round telling everyone – or, if you didn’t tell, you’d hint.’

‘No, I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t tell a soul.’

‘People who use that phrase are always the last to live up to it.’

‘I understand you, sir. You want me to speak quite frankly – to say things that in the ordinary course of events I should not say – and that, excuse me, sir, you wouldn’t dream of listening to.’

‘It has been said, you know (and, I think, quite truly), that you can only really get under anybody’s skin if you are married to them. When there is no – no legal bond, people are much more careful, they have to keep assuring themselves how happy and halcyon everything is. They have, you see, to justify themselves. They dare not quarrel! Married people, I have noticed, quite enjoy their battles and the – er – appropriate reconciliations.’

I love Miss Marple.

Publisher: William Morrow

Rating: 8/10

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