Mystery Review: The Body in the Library is the second novel featuring the delightful Miss Marple and is vaguely reminiscent of Dorothy Sayers' Whose Body? (1923), in which an anonymous corpse appears where no body should be. Unlike the first Marple novel, Murder at the Vicarage, written in the first person (of the vicar), The Body in the Library is presented by an omniscient narrator. The story is plot heavy more than character driven, Christie's people being described and expressed in a few words, often an identifiable quirk or trait. For instance one character is described as being "shrewd without being intellectual" by two different people. My only complaint is that Miss Marple appears far too little, as Christie is skilled at leaving us wanting more. One bit of fun is that a character who's an avid fan of mystery novels has read "Dorothy Sayers and Agatha Christie and Dickson Carr and H.C. Bailey." The Body in the Library is an enjoyable mystery that doesn't make the reader work too hard, without being too much more than that. [3★]
No comments:
Post a Comment