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Helen Reynolds

The Body in the Library Review

No innocent person ever has an alibi.

The Body in the Library

by Agatha Christie

Genre: Murder Mystery

Mini Review


This book has such a fantastic atmosphere. Agatha Christie describes snippets of a place and really takes you there. I loved the shock of this young, absolutely out-of-place, woman being discovered dead in a old country library. Then getting to know the suspects at the nearby hotel and how the glamour of the film industry was weaved in.


When you hear a person tell you their alibi, you can visualise exactly the scene. This read very cinematically while at the same time being one of those books you keep turning the pages to because you're totally stumped by the whole mystery.


I had my suspicions, as I always do, but I didn't figure out the motive or see some of the twists. Of course, once all is revealed, it seems very obvious (and completely ruthless!) but it was a genuine mystery to me right up until the reveal, which I really enjoy about Christie's novels.


The only downside I found with this, is that it doesn't feel like a Miss Marple. While Miss Marple does solve the crime, she isn't very present in the investigation and there were just too many detectives buzzing around that I didn't really feel like I was following any particular character, which I like to do when solving a murder.


But definitely I enjoyed this one and thought that the setting was especially memorable.

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