The Body in the Library (1942) Match Quiz | Literature

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Close friend of Miss Marple's who lives at Gossington Hall with her husband; she has a fondness for gardening and detective fiction.

Answer: Dolly Bantry

The novel opens with Dolly Bantry enjoying a dream about a flower show. She and her husband were awakened by their maid, Mary, rushing into the bedroom to advise there was a body in the library. Once she ascertained that she wasn't dreaming and there really was a body in the library, Dolly telephoned Jane Marple to ask her to "help me find out who did it and unravel the mystery and all that".

2. An 18-year-old professional dancer who is murdered; her real name is Rosy Legge.

Answer: Ruby Keene

Rosy Legge was known professionally as Ruby Keene. She was a dancer at the Majestic Hotel. One of the hotel guests, Conway Jefferson, took a liking to her because she reminded him of his deceased daughter, Rosamund. Ruby was quick to take advantage of this. Jefferson was planning to adopt Ruby and made a will leaving her 50,000 pounds in trust.

3. The real body in the library; a schoolgirl who is murdered and switched with another murder victim to provide a false alibi for the murderer(s).

Answer: Pamela Reeves

Pamela's friend, Florence, told Miss Marple that Pamela had been approached by a stranger, a film producer, who persuaded her to undergo a screen test for a possible role in a movie. The last time Pamela was seen alive was when she was on her way to meet the alleged producer. Subsequently, Pamela was murdered and later misidentified as Ruby Keene to provide an alibi for the timing of Ruby's murder.

4. The object of considerable gossip in St Mary Mead due to his flamboyant lifestyle; he found a body in his house and moved it to Gossington Hall.

Answer: Basil Blake

Bail Blake returned home from a party and found the dead body of a young girl on his hearth rug. He had been drinking and so was not thinking clearly. He assumed the police would think he had killed the girl so he dumped the body in the library at Gossington Hall, partly to be rid of it and partly as a bit of a joke on Arthur Bantry, with whom he had had an altercation in the past.

5. A country squire who lives at Gossington Hall with his wife; when a body is discovered in his library, people begin to gossip, assuming that he was involved.

Answer: Arthur Bantry

Poor Arthur Bantry. When the body of a young blonde was discovered in his library, village gossip was rife, with people thinking that there's "no smoke without fire". People began to snub him and rumours abounded that the dead girl was his mistress, or his illegitimate daughter, or that she was blackmailing him.

6. A rich elderly widower who is confined to a wheelchair; he takes an interest in Ruby Keene and wants to adopt her.

Answer: Conway Jefferson

Conway Jefferson was involved in a plane crash. As a consequence, his wife, son Frank and daughter Rosamund were killed and Conway had to have both legs amputated. He lives with his daughter-in-law Adelaide, Adelaide's son Peter, and son-in-law Mark Gaskell. Mark and Adelaide were not pleased that Conway proposed to settle 50,000 pounds on Ruby Keene, whom they considered a gold-digger.

7. A professional dancer and tennis coach at the Majestic Hotel.

Answer: Raymond Starr

Raymond Starr is a professional dancer and tennis coach at the Majestic Hotel. He is the proverbial tall, dark and handsome man who is very popular with the ladies -- but not particularly popular with the men. He was attracted to Adelaide because she was a nice person with the potential to inherit a significant amount of money, but unfortunately for Raymond, Adelaide decided to marry her old friend, Hugo McLean.

8. The young son of Adelaide Jefferson by her first marriage; he takes a keen interest in the murder.

Answer: Peter Carmody

Peter Carmody is Adelaide Jefferson's son by her first husband, Mike Carmody. Mike died shortly after they were married and Peter was born posthumously. Frank Jefferson, Adelaide's second husband, was a friend of Mike Carmody and was Peter's godfather. Poor Adelaide was widowed twice when Frank died in a plane crash.

Like most boys of his age (he is said to be "about" 9 years old), Peter was very interested in the murder of Ruby Keene. He was thrilled to have a souvenir of the murder: "See, it's a fingernail. Her fingernail. I'm going to label it Fingernail of the Murdered Woman and take it back to school".

In this novel, Agatha Christie "name-dropped" her own name. In Chapter 6, Peter Carmody approached investigators Colonel Melchett and Inspector Harper to enquire about the murder. He asked them, "Do you like detective stories? I do. I read them all and I've got autographs from Dorothy Sayers and Agatha Christie and Dickson Carr and H.C. Bailey".

9. A hostess at the Majestic Hotel; she identified the body in the library as her cousin, Ruby.

Answer: Josie Turner

Josie Turner was Ruby Keene's cousin. After Josie injured her ankle, she asked Ruby to come and work at the hotel, covering Josie's role as a dancer. Josie was afraid that the hotel might replace her if she was unable to perform her exhibition dances with Raymond. Instead Josie focused on her role as a hostess, playing bridge with the guests, particularly the Jefferson family.

10. An elderly resident of St Mary Mead; the first person Dolly Bantry calls after the discovery of the body and the one who solves the crime.

Answer: Jane Marple

Miss Jane Marple solves crimes by means of "village parallels". The people involved in the crimes inevitably remind her of someone she knows from village life. For example, when Sir Henry Clithering asked Miss Marple about his own village parallel, she tells Sir Henry Clithering that it was Briggs, the head gardener at the Old Hall:

"(Briggs) was...quite the best man they ever had. Knew exactly when the under-gardeners were slacking off, quite uncanny it was! He managed with only three
men and a boy, and the place was kept better than it had been with six. And took several Firsts with his sweet peas. He's retired now."
"Like me," said Sir Henry.
"But he still does a little jobbing, if he likes the people."
"Ah," said Sir Henry. "Again like me."

Source: Author MotherGoose

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The Body in the Library (1942) Quiz

Match the major characters in this Agatha Christie novel with their descriptions. (NO SPOILERS)

Questions		Choices
1. Close friend of Miss Marple's who lives at Gossington Hall with her husband; she has a fondness for gardening and detective fiction.		Raymond Starr
2. An 18-year-old professional dancer who is murdered; her real name is Rosy Legge.		Josie Turner
3. The real body in the library; a schoolgirl who is murdered and switched with another murder victim to provide a false alibi for the murderer(s).		Conway Jefferson
4. The object of considerable gossip in St Mary Mead due to his flamboyant lifestyle; he found a body in his house and moved it to Gossington Hall.		Jane Marple
5. A country squire who lives at Gossington Hall with his wife; when a body is discovered in his library, people begin to gossip, assuming that he was involved.		Peter Carmody
6. A rich elderly widower who is confined to a wheelchair; he takes an interest in Ruby Keene and wants to adopt her.		Dolly Bantry
7. A professional dancer and tennis coach at the Majestic Hotel.		Arthur Bantry
8. The young son of Adelaide Jefferson by her first marriage; he takes a keen interest in the murder.		Basil Blake
9. A hostess at the Majestic Hotel; she identified the body in the library as her cousin, Ruby.		Pamela Reeves
10. An elderly resident of St Mary Mead; the first person Dolly Bantry calls after the discovery of the body and the one who solves the crime.		Ruby Keene