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    The Body in the Library: B1
    The Body in the Library: B1
    The Body in the Library: B1
    Audiobook (abridged)2 hours

    The Body in the Library: B1

    Written by Agatha Christie

    Narrated by Gabrielle Glaister

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Collins brings the Queen of Crime, Agatha Christie, to English language learners.

    Agatha Christie is the most widely published author of all time and in any language. Now Collins has adapted her famous detective novels for English language learners. These carefully abridged versions are shorter with the language targeted at learners of English.

    Colonel Bantry and his wife Dolly live in a grand old house outside a small village. Nothing ever happens there.
    Imagine their surprise when one morning they are woken by their maid who tells them that the body of a girl has been found in their study. Who is she? And how did she end up on their rug?
    Dolly asks her friend Miss Marple to help discover the truth – can she help explain this mystery and clear Colonel Bantry’s name?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins Publishers
    Release dateOct 5, 2017
    ISBN9780008254629
    The Body in the Library: B1
    Author

    Agatha Christie

    Agatha Christie is known throughout the world as the Queen of Crime. Her books have sold over a billion copies in English with another billion in over 70 foreign languages. She is the most widely published author of all time and in any language, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. She is the author of 80 crime novels and short story collections, 20 plays, and six novels written under the name of Mary Westmacott.

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    Reviews for The Body in the Library

    3.5/5

    1,465 ratings73 reviews

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    • 3/5
      It isn't one of my most favorite Agatha Christie books but it was nice to hear it again I didn't like how the reader read quite slowly
    • 4/5
      The ending was quite surprising. Miss Marple always seems to be able to deduce so much based on so little she has observed!
    • 3/5
      The Body in the Library presents Miss Marple in a diminished role. Miss Marple appears in very few scenes and in these scenes she acts like the Greek chorus explaining the events. This older citizen presents her observations of human character to solve murders. Dolly Bantry, Jane Marple’s friend, discovers the body of a blonde, young woman in the library she immediately asks Mis Marple to come to the house. The police arrive, as does Jane Marple, to investigate the murder. Why is the woman in the Bantry’s house? And who is the woman? A co-worker identifies the body. Not long after this death, a woman is found in a burned car. Two women killed and are the deaths related. So begins the journey to determine what has happened and to catch the murderer. What motives are driving the killings? Greed, money, love, and jealousy. The journey to discovery thrills the mind and plays a little theme of Shakespeare’s mistaken identity.
    • 4/5
      The third Miss Marple book, The Body in the Library, begins with the Bantry's (first introduced in the short story, The Blue Geranium) waking up to find their household staff in disarray upon discovering a dead body in the library. A strangled body of a woman unknown to them. The police are called but seeing the difficulty involved in solving this sort of crime, Mrs Bantry takes matters into her own hands and calls their friend Jane Marple to help investigate. Similarly to The Murder at the Vicarage, Miss Marple plays a rather small part in the matter, with a lot of the chapters following the combined efforts of the various police officers and retired former Scotland Yard Commissioner Sir Henry Clithering. I'm rather a fan of the format with Miss Marple popping in and out with her insights. I really like all the cast of characters and the fluid viewpoints give a greater depth to them. The mystery was interesting, although I felt the final reveal about killing the young girl, Pamela and doing her up to look like Ruby so as to provide an alibi was a bit too convoluted and rather dramatic - even if it did work well to tie up the loose ends. Fun read, 3.5 stars, rounded to 4.
    • 3/5
      Well written but endibg is a bit far fetched
    • 4/5
      As this is my third Agatha Christie, and also the third detective/series I’ve sampled, I’ve come to the conclusion that my enjoyment of her work is not just a fluke as exemplified by my delight in Murder on the Orient Express and And Then There Were None. Now I just need a Tommy & Tuppence book and I’ll have read one of each of her series and a stand alone. Though I’ve been greatly struggling with The Secret Adversary so we’ll have to see if I’m a fan of the T&T series as well.

      The Body in the Library follows a similar structure to Orient Express in that the crime is committed before the book even starts (as opposed to None) and the book is spent trying to solve the crime. Miss Marple is lovely and funny and charming, as are her friends who often enlist her help to solve crimes, as Mrs. Bantry does in The Body in the Library. As a character, despite not actually getting too much “page time,” readers get a sense of who she is and what she values.

      Christie’s plot and pacing are masterful as ever, the twists abound, and while you may think you’ve solved the mystery as quickly as Miss Marple, I promise you there is always still one more twist lurking in the shadows that you probably missed. I recommend The Body in the Library just as highly as Murder on the Orient Express and And Then There Were None.
    • 4/5
      Even though I’ve read this before, I was unable to remember / work out who-done-it, & the answer was more fiendishly complicated than I had guessed. A body is found in the library of a friend’s house, and Miss Marple is co-opted by Dolly her gung-ho friend & the police to do some sleuthing.
    • 4/5
      I listened to this, as read by Stephanie Cole, this time around. I first came to Miss Marple in my early teens, so I have certainly read this before, and seen the TV adaptation, probably more than once. The thing about listening to a mystery when you already know whodunit is that you can see the way that the clues as the the actual solution are scattered through the book, and how they are missed in the first instance. the first time through, the clues are missed as you are following along with the detection, such that the solution is a surprise. the second time through you already know the end point, so can pay more attention to the journey.Miss Marple, as ever, manages to put her finger on the nub of the problem, even if she does need a little prompt from an unlikely source to the solution.
    • 3/5
      Always fun to read an Agatha Christie mystery! In this one, a young woman is found, dead, in the library of Colonel and Mrs. Bantry's estate. In trying to crack the case, the police begin to investigate around a dance-filled hotel, and Mrs. Bantry lets her old friend Miss Marple know about the goings-on.Definitely fun, and kept me guessing! I don't know if this was my absolute favorite of the Agatha Christies I've read, but it was an enjoyable and quick read.
    • 3/5
      Decent story and writing, but it's a bit old fashioned and straightforward for my taste.
    • 5/5
      Miss Marple's friend is shocked to find a young woman's body in the library of her home & she calls in Miss Marple to unravel a most complicated mystery. Her sleuthing leads to a hotel & a family that seems to have a strange shadow hanging over them. Of course, there are plenty of possible suspects who had motives but the discovery of a stolen car & a charred body of a teenager proves that time was running out. Miss Marple sets a trap for a killer who is perfectly willing to commit a 3rd. Will Miss Marple catch the killer in time?
    • 4/5
      A perfectly good Marple novel, even if not one of the most complex.
    • 5/5
      I feel like there is not a lot to say about this book apart from that I enjoyed it a lot. It is a classic case with a suitable amount of twists and red herrings. I liked the settings alternating between a grand house, a hotel and the more modest homes of various villagers. The characters are very interesting and it was great to see Miss Marple on the case. Her characterization was a little different from the first book in that she was a more respected character, and I preferred that. I still would have liked to see a little more of her as there were long parts she didn't appear in.
    • 3/5
      Fast and quaint read. I particularly like how the investigation process goes, it's like as if you are also there and involved trying to guess who the culprit was. Miss Marple is endearing and her skills as an observer is well done. Storyline and plot was okay, with each character having something to hide. Good book for a light and pleasant read.
    • 4/5
      Embarrassed to say I've never read an Agatha Christie novel. But since there are 80 of them and everyone I've spoken to says one is pretty much the same as the next, why not start here?

      I didn't guess who the murder was. I was a little said there wasn't more Ms. Marple because the novel coasted brilliantly when she was onscreen. But mostly I was impressed as hell and how much ground AG covers in just 160 pages. A dozen main characters, a setting real enough to touch, a detective I'd follow into hell. It didn't change my life or even leave much to chew on. But I want to read more. From across an ocean and about 80 years of history. That's saying something.
    • 3/5
      I love Miss Marple, and the audiobook that was a full cast recording by the BBC was really a wonderful listen.
    • 4/5
      This was fun. I liked the Bantrys and the precocious child Peter. Miss Marple was assisted by a whole range of very senior police officers. The solution was ingenious.
    • 4/5
      When Rugby Keen, a young professional dancer is found murdered in St. Mary Mead, Miss Marple steps up to find out what happened to her. With patience, knowledge of human nature and observational skills she manages to carve out information to solve the crime.I listened to the CD Audio edition of The Body in the Library (Miss Marple #3) by Agatha Christie. I found it a great option to listen to The Body in the Library as an audio book. Miss Marple is the famous Agatha Christie character who aids police investigators with her gossipy ways, yet with a keen eye for complexities in human nature. This is story #3 about her. The Miss Marple character seems to vary slightly from story to story, but mainly she keeps to her gossipy, shrewd sleuthing manner which I so much enjoy and which makes the story work so well as a standalone.Main character June (Miss) Marple, is famous for sleuthing out information while under some kind of unsuspicious cover. In this story she raises money for a good cause locally in St. Mary Mead. I find it impressive the way she gets access to people and manages to get them to open up and give her information they would be too afraid to give the police.Secondary character, Basil Blake, is the party boy connected to film industry that seems very rude and has a dodgy attitude. I find him to be a very unsympathetic person who is easy to suspect of having committed some kind of criminal offence. I don’t think he would be anyone’s idea of a hero. -Certainly not mine. He is my least favorite character.My favorite part of The Body in the Library (Miss Marple #3) by Agatha Christie was the setting of the plot. I really enjoyed the parts describing village life in St. Mary Mead and the feeling that Miss Marple very much enjoys living there.The plot consists of all the well tested elements. The plot was intricate. Plenty of suspects, and well laid out clues for Miss Marple to investigate. The identity of the murderer was so well disguised. It felt like a surprise, as I had been looking in a completely different direction.The writing is excellent in the trademark way of The Queen of Crime. Readers get pulled into life in a sleepy little English village where nothing much happens.The Body in the Library (Miss Marple #3) is the exiting story of Miss Marple set in her home town St. Mary Mead. The writing is excellent and the plot expertly crafted in the way of Agatha Christie. Fans of Agatha Christie will love The Body in the Library (Miss Marple #3) with all the trademark ingredients. As will readers of crime fiction. Similar authors to explore might be Arthur Conan Doyle.All opinions in this review are completely my own.My rating: 4 stars / 5Main reasons: Expertly crafted plot, interesting characters, surprise ending
    • 5/5
      The Body in the Library is one of my favorite Agatha Christie mysteries, one that truly reveals the genius of Miss Marple. The mystery itself is perfect- it has glamorous movie people and the village staples plus a healthy dose of suspicious characters. In addition, it has a deft psychological discussion of guilt and innocence and the power of gossip to ruin lives that would not be out of place in a modern conversation about crime. Highly recommended!
    • 3/5
      Mr. and Mrs. Bantry have a surprise one morning, a body in their library. If that isn't enough, the dead person is not known to them. They do however know Miss Marple, a good friend to have when someone with extraordinary skills of detection are needed. An enjoyable though not particularly memorable read.
    • 4/5
      Reading these short stories is like spending time with an old friend. The stories are intriguing, complicated, and completely obvious if you stop to think about it. Some of the stories remind me of the stories of Miss Seeton.
    • 4/5
      A classic a rainy day read. Agatha Christie set herself the challenge of using the trope of "a body in a library" and planted a highly sensational dead blonde into the library of Miss Marple's friends the Bantrys. The fluffy cosy atmosphere hides some very nasty goings on that only Miss Marple's experience can correctly interpret (and as always with classic Aggies, we get an interesting insight into culture and class in the UK in the early 20th century).
    • 4/5
      This is only the second Christie novel I've read, but I'm definitely hooked. The mystery was enjoyable, with a colorful cast of characters. The body of a young platinum-dyed blonde is found in the library and the Lady of the house calls in Miss Marple to help solve the crime. Though Miss Marple appears cliche in a post Murder She Wrote world, Marple came first! This was a very quick read.
    • 4/5
      This is the first of Christie's Miss Marple Mysteries that I've read and I think I liked the character of Miss Marple more than the mystery itself, although that didn't disappoint either. The way that Christie managed to write mysteries that were both simple and complex makes reading them satisfying in a way that contemporary mysteries just can't fulfill. I enjoyed this one & look forward to discussing it with my book club.
    • 4/5
      Another great Agatha Christie novel featuring Miss Marple. Loved it.
    • 4/5
      A dead young girl is founded out liying in the Colonel Bantry library. Nobody in the house knows who is she and why she has been dropped there... except miss Marple
    • 4/5
      Once again Christie astounds as she leads us all on a merry ride amongst red herrings, dummy killers and the most suspicious group of characters possible. I have to say truthfully that this genre is not my favourite, however, when seeing this book in the local charity store, I couldn't help buy it as my next read and it didn't disappoint.
      Agatha Christie has a special way of creating characters and situations completely unpredictable until the end and you don't see much unpredictability nowadays! She has a charm throughout her writing which is, though simple, entrancing. I read the book cover to cover in one sitting.
      If you like a mystery with a hint of murder, Christie is the woman for you.
    • 4/5
      Another Christie novel, another murder I couldn't solve. I love Christie's stuff to bits.
    • 5/5
      That's an engaging reading. A mystery full of surprises and hard to solve. One must love Miss Marple, her cleverness and capacity to stick to details. The story flows naturally, always claiming the reader's attention. Like it a lot!
    • 3/5
      Colonel and Mrs. Bantry wake up to the maid's cry that there is a dead woman in the library. Mrs. Bantry calls in her friend Jane Marple, the local village sleuth. to assist in finding out who the girl is and who killed her. There are the obvious suspects and then those who seem innocent until details start to come out. Am important character in the novel is Conway Jefferson who is handicapped and is supported emotionally by his son-in-law and daughter-in-law while doing likewise for them financially. He has plans to adopt a young woman to lift her from her low station but this angers people who feel they are entitled to the money.Marple is a Christie regular and in this novel she really only makes an impression on the story in the latter portions of the novel.