Iola Reads is indulging readers with a chance to read one of the world’s greatest writers. That’s no hyperbole. Renowned author Agatha Christie’s books, all 66 mystery novels and 14 short story collections, are outsold only by the Bible and her compatriot William Shakespeare.
“The Body in the Library,” Christie’s engrossing work of detective fiction published in 1942, is this year’s community selection for Iola Reads. It features one of Christie’s most beloved characters, amateur detective Miss Marple, as she works to solve the murders of two teenage girls.
Christie is the most widely published author of all time and in any language. Her books have sold more than a billion copies in the English language, and another billion in a hundred foreign languages. Nicknamed the “Queen of Crime,” Christie first began writing while working in a hospital dispensary during World War I. At the end of her career, Christie was awarded one of Britain’s highest honors when she was made a Dame of the British Empire in 1971. She died in 1976 at the age of 85.
The protagonist of “The Body in the Library,” Jane Marple, first appeared in the 1930 novel “The Murder at the Vicarage.” She’d go on to be the beloved main character in 12 more novels by Christie. Miss Marple’s shrewd knowledge and creative thinking allow her to solve crimes and lay intricate traps to catch villains.
Such is the case in “The Body in the Library,” which begins in a panic. Dolly Bantry and her husband Colonel Arthur Bantry are awakened by their maid Mary, who enters hysterically: “Oh, ma’am, oh, ma’am, there’s a body in the library.”
The book’s pace doesn’t slow down from there, as another body, that of a 16-year-old girl is later found in a scorched automobile.
Only Miss Marple is crafty enough to solve the crimes, using a careful line of thinking to outwit the criminal and beat the dull-witted police at their own game. But don’t try to out-think Miss Marple — just when one solution becomes all too obvious, the fast-paced story takes a sharp turn to leave you lurching.
“The Body in the Library,” at 207 pages, is a quick read. But it almost didn’t happen. As Christie wrote in the book’s foreword, she initially was vexed by the easy cliché of “a body in the library.” It wasn’t until Christie stayed at a fashionable seaside hotel that inspiration struck, as she was stirred by an elderly man. He “became the pivot of the story,” wrote Christie. “Colonel and Mrs. Bantry, those old cronies of my Miss Marple, had just the right kind of library. In the manner of a cookery recipe add the following ingredients: a tennis pro, a young dancer, an artist, a girl guide, a dance hostess, etc., and serve up à la Miss Marple!”
“The Body in the Library” books are free and can be found in the Iola Reads book tubs around town, at Iola school libraries and the Iola Public Library.
TO CELEBRATE such a fantastic read, Iola Reads has two events planned. On Friday, Feb. 21, is a Miss Marple movie night at the Iola Public Library meeting room. The film, starring legendary English actress Joan Hickson as Miss Marple, will begin at 6 p.m. Refreshments and prizes will be provided. And the mystery of paying for such a treat has already been solved: this event is free!
Then, on Saturday, March 1, a Murder Mystery Evening at the Iola Public Library will be held. Including soups, desserts, and mystery theater, the event will start with dinner in the library’s meeting room and then move to the main library for mystery theater.
While Saturday evening’s entertainment is a ticketed event, prices are almost at 1942 levels, with one ticket at only $3 and two for $5. Tickets are available at the Iola Public Library.
“The Body in the Library” is a thrilling “whodunit” mystery. Join Iola in reading one of the English language’s classics!
Iola Reads is a project of Iola Public Library, USD 257 and the Bowlus Fine Arts Center. Funding is provided by the Sleeper Family Trust.
