He finds the dead body of a young woman on the hearth rug in the library.

Dolly Bantry then wakes her husband, Colonel Arthur Bantry to go downstairs. Bantry, “There is a body in the library!” she cries. The novel features her fictional amateur detective, Miss Marple. The US edition retailed at $2.00 and the UK edition at seven shillings and sixpence. If you want a more wholesome, realistic Miss Marple, who is more like the Miss Marple of the books, I highly recommend that you watch this.The Body in the Library is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in February 1942 and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in May of the same year. The eventual solution will surprise you! This adaptation far surpasses the new ITV series featuring Geraldine McEwan, who, in my opinion, is far too racy nd modern to play Miss Marple. The costumes are realistic, as are the characters. The rest of the cast are good too, particularly, David Horovitch as Chief Inspector Slack, the zealous police officer who is always trying to outdo Miss Marple in detective skills, but rarely succeeds, much to his own chagrin! The period detail is also excellent, and really recreates a Britsoh sea-side resort in the years directly after WWII, with people gradually starting to enjoy themselves again, and really getting into the swing of leisure, dinner and dancing. Moray Watson (whom you may recognise from the Darling Buds of May) is also very good as the proud, military man Colonel Bantry, who appears very strong, but, as Miss Marple says, like most military men, is unusually sensitive.

Her dependence on Miss Marple, and the way that she acts as though Miss Marple were her nanny, always asking questions in a sweet, child-like way is quite charming. Gwen Watford is delightful as Mrs Bantry, in whose library the body is found. The supporting cast are really quite good, too.

Hickson truly shines as Miss Marple, able to convey a sense of depth in the character, and to really capture Miss Marple as Christie described her: on the outside, seemingly dotty - a fluffy, gentle old lady more concerned with knitting than murder but on the inside, a detective genius, but very modest, also. This is the first of the twelve adaptations made by the BBC between 19, all featuring the late, great Joan Hickosn, who is regarded as the definitive Miss Marple. She may look innocent, but her mind has plummeted the deaths of human inequity, and is as sharp as a meat cleaver. Just call Miss Marple, the elderly sleuth from St Mary Mead. So, who do you call in? Scotland Yard? The FBI? No. She can be traced to a sea-side hotel, and the list of suspects is endless.

A simple plot: a the body of a young woman is found in the library of a manor house in Kent.

Marple the body in the library