The Body in the Library

Today I’ve been reading Agatha Christie’s The Body in the Library. I’ve been reading it carefully, concentrating on the characters and trying to work out who killed Ruby and deposited her body in the Bantrys’ library at Gossington Hall. I’ve got up to the point where Miss Marple has decided she knows who the murderer is, but has not let on, because she says there’s a long way to go yet and there are a great many things that are quite obscure. She must be a most frustrating friend – Mrs Bantry is desperate to know who it is because everyone is saying it must be Colonel Bantry because the body was found in their house.

I have no idea who the murderer is – all the likely suspects have alibis for the time that the murder was committed, so either I’ve missed someone, or the timing is wrong, or something! The only thing to do is to read on and find out. I dislike it when it turns out that a new person is the murderer. I feel cheated, having spent time working it all out, so I hope this isn’t one of those books!

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Eva and Alessandra that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library.

I haven’t written about my Library Loot for a few weeks as I’ve been trying to catch up on reading my ever-growing piles of books. I have of course been visiting the library but not adding much to their issue figures. In fact I’ve returned more recently than I’ve borrowed.

But here are four more library books I’ve acquired in the last few weeks, none of which I’ve started to read (descriptions from the library on-line catalogue):

The Island That Wasn’t There by Rita Snowden. “One day, Rosie finds a mermaid, Anemone, tangled in the seaweed. The mermaid is too scared to swim back. But when Rosie tries to get help, no one believes her – except for an old man called Yan Eye.” This children’s book is Rita Snowden’s first novel. So far I’ve only looked at a few pages but it is obviously drawn from folk-lore and myths.
Doctored Evidence by Donna Leon. When the body of a wealthy elderly woman is found, brutally murdered in her Venetian flat, Commissario Brunetti decides – unofficially – to take the case on himself. I keep reading about Donna Leon’s books – how good they are etc, but I’ve never read one. I like the map of Venice on the inside covers of the book.
Plum Spooky by Janet Evanovitch. Stephanie Plum is back in town, along with her sidekick Lula, her Grandma Mazur, and an ever-widening cast of freaks, criminals, deranged felons, and lunatics looking for love. And just when Stephanie thinks her life can’t get any more complicated, in walks the mysterious Diesel. Janet Evanovich is another author I’ve never read, but seen reviews on some blogs. I thought I’d try this one.
The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie. No library description, but then the title says it all. From the back cover – “The Bantrys have awoken to find the body of a young woman in their library. … But who is she? How did she get there? And what’s the connection with another dead girl, whose charred remains are later discovered in an abandoned quarry?” I must have read this years ago, but as I’m taking part in the Agatha Christie Reading Challenge I decided to read it again. Have a look at the Agatha Christie Reading Challenge Carnival for reviews of Christie’s books.

Here are two more phtos of my library – the Children’s Section and the little reading area where my husband sits and reads the paper whilst waiting for me to choose books – he chooses his much more quickly than I do.