The Man in the Brown Suit

Anne Beddingfield has lived all her life in a small village with her father, an anthropologist who is interested only in Paeleolithic Man. Anne longs for romance and adventure, and rather envies their maid, who has 'walked out' with a variety of young men. Then Anne's father dies suddenly, and she gets a chance at adventure when she witnesses the accidental death of a man at a London tube station. She has reason to beleive that this death is connected to the murder of a woman at a house in Marlow, but the police aren't interested in her theories, so she persuades a newspaper proprietor to take an interest. Anne takes passage on a ship bound for South Africa, believeing the answer to the mystery is to be found on the ship. There are a number of interesting people on board, charming Mrs Blair, enigmatic Colonel Race, the creepy clergyman Chichester, and eccentric and delightful Sir Eustace Pedler. Some or all of them may be up to no good. A lot of exciting things happen to Anne on the voyage, not the least exciting is when a handsome wounded stranger takes refuge in her cabin. Her adventures continue when they get to South Africa, and she finds herself with more excitement than she had ever dreamt of. Anne is a delightful heroine, adventurous and resourceful and humorous (and despite what a previous reviwer says, not in the least like tiresome, pompous Amelia Peabody). This book has an exciting plot, interesting characters, adventure, romance and humour, what more could you want? ( Actually, again disagreeing with a previous reviewer, I thought the film of this story, allowing for the fact that it was updated by sixty years, stuck reasonably closely to the original story).

When dealing with an author with a resume like Agatha Christie's, it can be just a bit difficult for reader's to know what books to skip over and what books to run out and buy immediately. Well, The Man in the Brown Suit is defintely one of the latter. It is a synthesis of all the novel aspects Christie has mastered. With the flurry of suspicious characters, a riveting plot, alluring stranger, nocturnal murder attempts and stolen diamonds, the reader is defintely kept on her toes. Christie creates a wide array of characters in this one; we're given an inexperienced girl out for adventure, the strong, silent man with a secret, a blundering, pompous [behind], a young, rich socialite, and, of course, the man in the brown suit. Filled with wonderful and entertaining subplots, this book flies by, more than the usual page turner.I was introduced to Agatha Christie via And Then There Were None, possibly her most popular novel. I loved it; I didn't see how it could get any better, and I was afraid I'd be dissappointed with any other Christie mysteries. But, not so! This book is definetly as thrilling and suspenceful as And Then There Were None; stop what you're doing right now, and go get this book!

I think this is one of the BEST work of myatery by Agatha Christie. Not only was the plot intriguing, the murderer (murderess?) was totally unexpected. I mean, in ALL her books, the murderer is unexpected, but I usually guess who it is. (I'm not boasting!)But in this book, I HAD my theories as to who the murderer was, but when I learnt who the real person was.. I was stunned! OK, I think I've said enough. Time for you to read it yourself & find out.

I'm a huge Agatha Christie nut and this is one of her best. Anyone who liked this (especially the romance side of it) ought to try and find Giant's Bread, one of the 5 or 6 true romance novels (NOT trash, though) she wrote (under a different name, but they're all published now with her real name)

This is one of my favorite Christie mysteries. Even though Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot are missing, the deductions and suspense are present in abundance.The plot revolves around a young girl who is suddenly without family and longs for adventure. Sure enough, little time passes before she finds it, and romance as well. The book travels from England to north Africa, and through many plot twists and turns.The characters are, as usual in a Christie novel, charming and engaging, and you root for this cunning woman to find the answer to the mystery, as well as love.A must read