This was the first Miss Marple mystery I ever read, and though it isn't my favourite, I find that it is the one I return to most frequently when I want a well-worn, rainy-day read.

In the author's foreword, Christie tells us that she wanted to use the well-known theme of a dead body discovered in a library, but gave herself certain conditions on her use of this cliché: "the library in question must be a highly orthodox and conventional library. The body on the other hand, must be a wildly improbable and highly sensational body." Inspired by the sight of a crippled elderly man at a hotel she was staying in, who was surrounded by family members of the younger generation, Christie merged the two elements together, and arrived at: "The Body in the Library."

Arthur and Dolly Bantry awaken one morning, only to be told by a hysterical maid that there's a dead body in their library. The news is absurd, but the facts speak for themselves: a very young woman with platinum blonde hair and a sparkling party dress is lying strangled on the floor of their library. Naturally, Mrs Bantry calls up Miss Marple to cast her eye over the crime-scene, and keeps her informed when the police follow their leads to a seaside hotel.

The deceased is Ruby Keene, a young woman who was the protégée and about-to-be adopted daughter of the wheelchair-bound Conway Jefferson, a wealthy business magnate. This was to the discreet displeasure of his son-in-law Mark Gaskell and daughter-in-law Mrs Jefferson (the respective widow and widower of Jefferson's deceased son and daughter), who both had an excellent motive to kill the girl...but impeccable alibis. Throw in a dance hostess, a tennis instructor, a film director, and you have a fascinating little formula and a water-tight mystery.

Whereas Christie's slightly-more-famous detective Hercule Poirot relied on cold, hard logic in the face of baffling mysteries, Miss Marple's techniques involve the study of human behaviour. One of her most famous characteristics is to take a crime and compare it to a domestic issue that took place in her village of St Mary Mead, in this case, she takes one look at the body in the library and makes mention of little Tommy Bond, who put a frog in his teacher's clock. It's not until much later that you realize the significance of this rather incongruous statement (and sometimes it can be a *little* hard to believe that she reaches these conclusions so quickly - the woman sometimes seems clairvoyant. But then again, Miss Marple IS much more intelligent than I am!) How she can tell that a couple is married, how a girl is lying, how a dancer wasn't wearing what she should have; all have solutions that will leave an awed sort of smile on your face.

Christie herself had a razor-sharp mind, a cynical outlook and a great sense of humour, which means the characters and the human relationships they're involved in ring impeccably true, even by today's standards. For example, there is a moment in which a relative of Jefferson wishes that he'd chosen a girl of a higher social standing to be his protégée, and Miss Marple gently points out that this would defeat the very purpose of the exercise. The fact that Ruby Keene was poor meant that as her benefactor, Jefferson would enjoy the way in which she was dazzled by his wealth and generosity. Marple compares the situation to King Cophetua and the beggar maid, and on reading the passage I remember marveling at the human truth of this situation: how the ego of an old man could colour what may initially appear to be simple altruism.

In many ways, this is a comedic book: many of the characters are played for laughs, there is a shrewd eye turned to the portrayal of the upper and lower classes, and Christie even manages to name-drop herself when a young detective fan rattles off a list of his favourite mystery-writers. And yet, the tragic death of two girls lingers in the mind well after the book is finished. To a point, one can sympathize with the killer's disposal of common gold-digger...but in order to do so, he/she also had to snuff out the life of an innocent. The cunning of one life and the blamelessness of the other are held up in comparison; two lives that are linked only in death and a person's greed for fifty thousand pounds.

I have been an Agatha Christie fan for years. Ms. Christie's writing style & novels are fantastic as she is truly a master of the mystery genre.

"The Body in the Library" is a wonderful example of Ms. Christie's writing technique. The characters, the plot, and dialogue are all wonderfully developed in "The Body in the Library". And as with most Agatha Christie novels, I am always left guessing who the true killer is until it is revealed at the very end of the novel.

Miss Marple's second outing seems a trifle tired. The writing appears forced at times, even repetitious, and there is too much foreshadowing. The ending is a long time in coming and stretches credulity. Not a bad book but certainly not in the same league with Agatha Christie's best works.

But I found her irritating in this book. Overall I'd summarize it as a rather interesting, if dry, story. I was interested in the basic storyline, but the characters were utterly flat and did very little to peak my interest. I seemed to recall I used to like Agatha Christie, but that was a long time ago, back when I was...younger. I would say her story are okay for a quick, light read, but if you really want depth and good character development, steer clear.

Also, Miss Marple doesn't hold a candle to Poirot!

What "improvements" have been made for the Black Dog & Leventhal edition? There are already major differences in punctuation, word choices, and scene breaks between the original Collins and Dodd Mead editions of this novel. There are further differences between the Dodd Mead editions republished by Random House/Avenel and the Dodd Mead editions republished by Simon & Shuster/Pocket. There are further additions still in the Signet, Bantam, and Berkley editions. For every publishing house putting out her works, there seem to be a new batch of editors altering Agatha Christie's words and the sound of her voice. What's the matter with these publishers? Whose voice do they think we want to hear when we sit down to a novel by Agatha Christie? And what will she sound like twenty years from now? It's frightening that her estate has failed to see the importance of guarding her words as she wrote them. Please tell me I'm not the only one here who senses that a crime has been committed.