Welcome back to our series on Miss Marple, where we examine the art of adaptation through the lens of the original spinster sleuth.

We’re now at episode two, The Body in the Library, which features a more recognizable version of our protagonist. (As always, a blanket spoiler alert for the contents of The Body in the Library and its TV adaptations.) Agatha Christie finally returned to Miss Marple in 1942, twelve years after the first novel-length installment. In between the two novels, Christie wrote a series of short stories called The Thirteen Problems, which feature Miss Marple solving mysteries during a dinner party. These stories allowed Christie to focus the character, with Miss Marple relying on village stories as analogies for each puzzle. Only one of the stories features St. Mary Mead (Miss Marple’s village), demonstrating that Miss Marple’s detection relies on human expertise, not personal knowledge of the characters.

Each of these characteristics persists in The Body in the Library, with Miss Marple investigating a case involving her neighbors. When an unknown body appears in the Bantrys’ library, they ask Miss Marple to investigate. The case takes her to the nearby resort town of Danemouth, where the dead girl, Ruby Keene, worked as a dance hostess at a hotel. Miss Marple’s investigation centers around the other staff at the hotel and a family staying there, the Jeffersons. This focus on character development, along with Miss Marple’s increased cooperation and congeniality towards police investigators, are the two biggest differences from The Murder at the Vicarage. They establish The Body in the Library as the first recognizable Miss Marple novel.

Dramatis personae

Christie’s focus on this relatively tight cast of characters allows her to showcase Miss Marple’s keen human instinct. Christie introduces four groups of characters – the villagers (The Bantrys and Miss Marple), the Jeffersons (Conway, Adelaide / Addie and her son Peter, Mark Gaskell), the outsiders (Josie, Raymond, Basil, and Dinah), and the investigators (Inspector Slack, Colonel Melchett, Superintendent Harper, and Sir Henry Clithering). As these four groups interact, we see each change their stories and behavior based on the social and investigative context.

These character studies serve as the main data points for the reader – and for Miss Marple The narration omits no relevant information in these character studies (except a reference to Somerset House, which a modern reader may not pick up), allowing readers to “compete” with Miss Marple to reach a solution. When Miss Marple explains her final reasoning, she calls on her understanding of each character’s personality, motivations, and capabilities to unravel the mystery.

The success or failure of The Body in the Library, therefore, relies on the believability of each character. Every character in the story serves a specific purpose, and it’s worth exploring each group of characters in turn.

The villagers

Miss Marple and the Bantrys, the main perspective characters, represent the ideal English country existence. Their peaceful lives are threatened by the discovery of a body in the library at Gossington Hall. Each has a distinct reaction to the incident:

• Colonel Arthur Bantry seems confused by the proceedings at first. He starts to retreat into himself when faced with village gossip. The Colonel represents the truly innocent, victimized by the shadow of suspicion.
• Mrs. Dolly Bantry feels energized by the prospect of solving the case at first, treating it almost as a game. However, when she realizes the impact of the gossip on Arthur, she protectively focuses on lifting his spirits and clearing his name. There’s a wonderful scene where she encourages Arthur to return to the library and face the incident – truly Golden Age #couplegoals.
• Miss Marple, of course, anticipates the gossip from the minute she hears about the body. She gets involved to protect the Bantrys, even before they realize the potential impacts to their lifestyle and reputation.

Because of their social standing, Miss Marple and Dolly can interact with the Jeffersons more closely than the police investigators. Their feminine perspective also causes them to pick up details (clothing, nails, etc.) that the police ignore at first. And because they represent the status quo, readers can use their viewpoint to understand how other characters deviate from expectations.

The Jeffersons

The Jeffersons are a wealthy family staying at the Majestic Hotel, where they get to know the murder victim. They share a tragic past – Conway Jefferson’s family died in a plane accident, leaving behind Adelaide, Conway’s daughter-in-law, Peter, her son by a previous marriage, and Mark Gaskell, Conway’s son-in-law. While they’re not related by blood, Addie and Mark have stayed close to Conway over the years. Addie and Peter also rely on Conway for their home.

Conway is obsessed with his deceased children, and this can create challenges of control in the family. Miss Marple characterizes his in-laws well: Addie is “a devoted mother… the kind woman that everyone likes”, and Mark is “a downy fellow”, comparable to a village builder who was a notorious scam artist. Addie is followed around by Hugo, an old friend who’s always wanted to marry her, while Mark seems single. Their relationships with Conway (and the ultimate state of the inheritance) establish that family status can be earned via integrity and loyalty – to the family, its class, and its moral standards.

The outsiders

This group consists of both hotel staff, excluded based on class, and the Blakes, excluded for their own behavior. Both sub-groups have a similar relationship with the village characters and the investigators, and Miss Marple has to treat them in similar ways. Each also represents an encroachment (of a kind) on the upper-middle class lifestyle represented by the villagers and the Jeffersons.

The hotel staff, of course, knew the victim well. Josephine Turner, the bridge hostess at the Majestic, was Ruby’s cousin. Their relationship seems to have been tense at best, though Josie invited Ruby to take the dance hostess position. Then there’s Raymond Starr, Ruby’s dance partner, whose good looks and tennis skills make him popular with female guests. Both Josie and Raymond’s lives bring them tantalizingly close to the wealth enjoyed by the Jeffersons and the Bantrys. Raymond seems particularly aware of the potential life upgrades available to him, and list with Addie whenever he can.

Meanwhile, Basil Blake and “his platinum blonde” Dinah have just moved into the village of St. Mary Mead. While part of the upper-middle class, their actions reflect a new set of moral standards that threaten the village peace. The two throw wild parties that send cars “roaring” through the village, and get into very public shouting matches while living together “in sin”. When the body first shows up at Gossington Hall, troublemaking Basil is the first suspect.

Each of these outsiders represents a different threat to the way of life in St. Mary Mead. Josie and Ruby embody chance: an accident causes Josie bring Ruby to Danesmouth, upending the Jeffersons’ lives. Social-climbing Raymond represents “unearned” class mobility and the potential risk of class dilution. The Blakes represent the threat of modernity, with their cheap house, loud parties, and different set of moral standards. These characters’ ultimate outcomes suggest that chance may pose the biggest threat to the status quo.

The investigators

The final set of perspective characters are the investigators – Inspector Slack, Colonel Melchett, Superintendent Harper, and Sir Henry Clithering. All have long, established careers in police work, and are competent to varying degrees. (Anticipating readers’ low expectations for fictional police, Christie reminds them that, “Making fun of the police is very old-fashioned.”)

While four investigators may seem like overkill, each has a distinct role to play:

• Inspector Slack is not the brightest bulb, but he’s thorough. Deployed to collect evidence and witness statements, Slack gives the reader faith that the police have “fair” access to information.
• Colonel Melchett primarily serves the narrative function of ensuring that Slack doesn’t simply pin the murder on Arthur Bantry. His friendship with the Bantrys induces him to investigate outside Gossington Hall. He’s a bit unfriendly towards Miss Marple but warms up to her by the end of the inquiry.
• Superintendent Harper serves as the head of the official investigative team. He’s got good people instincts and recognizes Miss Marple’s skills quickly, drawing her into the investigation.
• Sir Henry Clithering, the retired head of Scotland Yard, involves himself at the request of his friend Conway Jefferson. He’s encountered Miss Marple before and immediately loops her in, treating her as an investigative partner. His respect for Miss Marple allows her to learn more about the official investigation and eventually to participate. (Faux feminists could learn a lot from Sir Henry.)

Superintendent Harper and the investigators serve as foils to Miss Marple. Because Harper is intelligent, his difficulty solving the case emphasizes the difficulty of the mystery (rather than police incompetence). And because Sir Henry has a similar level of access as Miss Marple, readers can understand how extraordinary her powers of deduction are.

A question of character

In The Body in the Library, Christie creates a series of character studies and invites the reader, via Miss Marple, to draw conclusions based on the personas therein. Christie’s characters support specific conclusions and themes:

• The villagers establish the status quo and a set of ideal moral standards
• The Jeffersons serve as the core of the thematic exploration, demonstrating both how families can be established beyond blood ties, and the risks in doing so
• The outsiders pose threats to the status quo, and the villagers’ interactions with them suggest potential outcomes for each. Ultimately, the story concludes (via Raymond and others) that “unearned” social climbing or betterment can be discovered and punished appropriately, while more modern principles (a lá Basil and Dinah) can be assimilated into prior social constructs.
• The investigators serve as foils to Miss Marple and demonstrate why facts alone cannot ensure investigative success. In fact, their journey suggests that human intuition (and feminine interest) are a valid option for solving cases – and that in experienced hands, they may be faster than the methodical alternative. (Christie states as much in “Does a Woman’s Instinct Makes her a Good Detective?”, a short essay published in 1928.)

Each of the major players serves a specific narrative purpose, and often a thematic one. Changing characters for an adaptation, without appropriately adjusting others, could have thematic “ripple” effects that change the story’s meaning.

The BBC and iTV each took a turn at adaption, and made different character choices in doing so. Digging into these choices will enable us to study the importance of character adaptation: How should we think about the narrative and thematic impact of changes made to different characters? And what, if anything, can make that impact “worth it?”

Until then – stay cozy, and stay curious!