The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie ~ 1924. This edition: Dell, 1974. Paperback. ISBN: 440-05230. 223 pages.
My Rating: 8.5/10
Setting: London; the steamship Kilmorden Castle en route to Africa; South Africa; Rhodesia.
Detection by: MISS ANNE BEDDINGFELD; the strong, silent and slightly mysterious COLONEL RACE makes a first appearance.
Final Body Count: 2
Method(s) of Death: FALLING UNDER A TRAIN; STRANGLING
100 Word Plot Summary:
Newly orphaned archaeologist’s daughter Anne Beddingfeld is off to see the world. After witnessing a gruesome and fatal “accident”, following a suspected murderer, and finding a mysterious clue on a scrap of paper, Anne sets sail for South Africa. Sinister happenings ensue, but her newly acquired paternalistic protector, Sir Eustace, will surely see that she comes to no permanent harm. But which of the two masterful men sharing the voyage, Colonel Race and the elusive Man in the Brown Suit, can she trust? Who strangled the dancer Nadina back in England? And what about that film canister of raw diamonds?
*****
This is another thriller versus a simple murder-mystery story. While there are two suspicious deaths, one of which is an undeniably hands-on murder (a celebrated dancer is strangled in an empty English country house), the focus of the action is not so much on the details of that death, but rather of a much larger picture involving a mysterious master criminal, two young Englishmen possibly unjustly charged with diamond theft from a Kimberley mine, a rather sketchily described African political conflict, and the impetuous adventures of one Anne Beddingfeld as she seeks to discover the true identity of the seemingly sinister “Man in the Brown Suit”.
The story opens with a short Parisian episode, with a celebrated Russian dancer, Nadina, being visited in her dressing room.
The dancer stretched out a languid hand, but at the sight of the name on the card, Count Sergius Paulovitch, a sudden flicker of interest came into her eyes.
“I will see him. The maize peignoir, Jeanne, and quickly. And when the Count comes, you may go.”
“Bien, Madame.”
Jeanne brought the peignoir, an exquisite wisp of corn-coloured chiffon and ermine. Nadina slipped into it, and sat smiling to herself, while one long white hand beat a slow tattoo on the glass of the dressing table.
The Count was prompt to avail himself of the privilege accorded to him – a man of medium height, very slim, very elegant, very pale, extraordinarily weary. In feature, little to take hold of, a man difficult to recognize again if one left his mannerisms out of account. He bowed over the dancer’s hand with exaggerated courtliness.
“Madame, this is a pleasure indeed.”
So much Jeanne heard before she went out, closing the door behind her. Alone with her visitor, a subtle change came over Nadina’s smile.
“Compatriots though we are, we will not speak Russian, I think,” she observed.
“Since we neither of us know a word of the language, it might be as well,” agreed her guest…
The two go on to discuss the imminent retirement of their joint employer, a master criminal known only as “The Colonel”. About to be cut adrift without his direction, Nadina in particular is fomenting a scheme to ensure her future well-being and wealth; the Count warns her of the dangers of double-crossing such a clever man; and on that note we embark on the main narrative.
Young (twentyish) Anne Beddingfeld introduces herself in Chapter Two; she is writing in her diary, and it is in this diarist’s voice that half of the story is told. The other half is told by a certain Sir Eustace Pedlar, writing in turn in his diary; a parallel tale emerges as Anne and Sir Eustace find themselves sharing a voyage to South Africa, and then a train journey to Rhodesia.
Anne has been left rather suddenly orphaned by her archeologist father’s sudden death; her father’s solicitor offers her a temporary home, and so she finds herself in London, rather at loose ends. Witnessing the tragic death of a man in the Underground – he steps backward off the edge of the platform just as a train is coming in – Anne notes that the bystander who professes to be a doctor is rather quite professionally going through the dead man’s pockets. When a slip of paper flutters to the ground, Anne picks it up, and, following investigation of the clue it gives her, ends up a passenger on a steamship bound for South Africa.
Here Anne’s natural charm and appealing appearance bring her several benevolent protectors, in the form of wealthy Mrs. Blair, the strong, silent, and very manly Colonel Race, and a jocular British M.P., Sir Eustace Pedlar, who is travelling to South Africa to investigate some vague political situation; something about labour unrest, which has an improbable part to play in the latter stages of the story. And protectors it appears are needed, as Anne is thrown into repeated contact with a belligerent and dangerous young man, who seeks refuge in Anne’s cabin one night, hides from a searcher, and leaves without explanation and minus some blood from an apparent fresh wound. He reappears in the guise of one of Sir Eustace’s secretaries, but not much secretarying appears to be happening, and Anne begins to suspect that he is instead an escaping murderer, fleeing England after strangling a woman (later identified as the dancer Nadina) in Sir Eustace’s unoccupied country mansion, Mill House.
Much activity ensues, before all becomes clear and the identity of “The Colonel” is determined and the details of the Mill House murder revealed. Oh, yes, there are also quantities of uncut diamonds floating about, first appearing in a film canister dropped through Anne’s transom one night early in her journey. These are the object of a number of increasingly desperate searches, but Anne cleverly manages to keep their location suppressed until the crucial moment.
This is a rather fun story to read; Anne’s travels are described in vivid detail, and understandably so, as they are taken from the real-life, ten-month, round-the-world journey which Agatha Christie and her husband took in 1922 , travelling in the entourage of British businessman Major Belcher to South Africa, and onwards to Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, Canada and back to Britain.
There is abundant romance, predictable as the sun rising, and a lavish amount of melodrama. Anne is buffeted about but always manages to rise up in one piece; she is threatened, assaulted, kidnapped, tied up, lured into falling off a cliff (over the brink of Victoria Falls, no less!), and shot at, before finding true love and lasting happiness in a suitably exotic locale.
Though the reader is expected to take a lot of the shaky plot on faith, the writer obviously had a grand time developing her rambunctiously improbable tale; this was one of Agatha Christie’s favourites among her early stories, “more fun” to write (according to her autobiography) than her detective novels. It shows. The Man in the Brown Suit was one of the first Christies I read, and it remains one of my sentimental favourites, though I notice my sympathy for Anne’s romantic yearnings has lessened a bit, perhaps because I am now well out of my teens!
On to our cover gallery.
This is such a fun book! I didn’t know that it was based on a real trip that Christie took, but it makes sense — I wonder if she bought the little animal figurines as souvenirs too? The first cover you posted — with the diamond and the devil mask — is hilarious.
So many of the details have that sort of authentic feel; I’m willing to bet that most of the “colour” was drawn from real life, and that somewhere in Agatha’s collection of personal artifacts there resided some small carved animals, brought home with loving care from her journey round the world.
Aw, I love it that Christie liked writing this one. This is actually the first Christie novel I ever read–I was staying with a friend in Florida when I was thirteen or fourteen, and she was mad at me for some reason so I went looking around for something to read, and found this book. I totally loved it and haven’t reread it since. I think I’m a little afraid it won’t live up to my memories of it!
Oh, I think you’ll find it holds up quite well, though, if you’re like me, you will find much to smile at that perhaps you might have missed as a teen! Or perhaps not; I do remember being quite a happily cynical reader even way back in the early years! 😉
I always enjoy the trope of the wounded and handsome young fugitive bursting into the girl’s room saying “Quick, hide me!” And she does (usually in her rumpled bed) and lies her head off to the police when they show up.
Here’s the start of that scene in this book:
Then with the suddenness of a bombshell my cabin door burst open and a man almost fell inside.
“Save me,” he said hoarsely. “They’re after me.”
Except for the first one, I love all these covers, even the cheesy ones. I’d say that’s definitely the collar in the first subway picture.
My own copy is an overdue library book (not a discard) I bought in a thrift shop. Technically, it’s the property of the Scarborough Township (now Toronto) Public Library. The card in the back has a due date of May 1, 1965.
It’s a 1958 Bodley Head hardback, and our heroine — with short dark hair — is dressed in the height of 1958 fashion, looking in the window of the shipping office at the ship’s model.
Here is a wonderful collection of more covers, including mine.
http://www.deliciousdeath.com/04/04cau.html And these are just the English language cover art. By clicking the various tabs, I found dozens more.
I’m leaving for BC on Saturday (Victoria, Quadra, Tofino) and need to select my reading material. This one and Honeymoon in Purdah will do very well. If the library reserve copy (yes, a Scarborough branch) of Honeymoon doesn’t come through before I leave, I see there are several copies at Russell’s Books in Victoria.
Good grief, how I’ve rambled on. I’ve got packing to do.
Oh, nice cover gallery! Thank you for the link.
And wouldn’t it be rather a change if the girl in such a situation were to scream for help loudly, and turn the fugitive in? 😉 But then of course her chance for romance would be significantly lessened…the almost-fatal gunshot wound and the knife slash needing to be bound up (preferably in a delicate item of female underclothing, or a lacy initialed handkerchief) is *such* an ice-breaker, isn’t it?!
Thank you for rambling on – I do so enjoy reading such comments!
I hope you enjoy your BC travels, and that the weather cooperates. We are also heading down to the Island later this month, to take part in a vintage sports car rally with our Triumph Spitfire. The actual route we’re taking is top secret (we get daily instructions to keep things interesting), but from some broad hints being dropped by the organizers I do believe we may be heading out at some point in our 1200 km adventure to the Long Beach-Tofino-Ucluelet area; the road out from Port Alberni would be absolutely perfect for the sort of driving these events do best on – narrow, winding, definitely scenic, and – important! – paved.(The clearance in many of these little cars can be measured in mere inches, and then there are these meticulous paint jobs to be considered – a rock chip is a Great Big Deal.) 🙂
And I’m trying to decide on some appropriate reading material for both my husband and myself; we’re looking at six nights in hotel rooms, what with the trip from home to the rally start location and back home again, and look forward to reclining with a good book, or two, or three.
Wait a minute, are you saying the road from Port Alberni may be filled with vintage sports cars buzzing along in a rally? (Hmm, do I hear strains of Genevieve?)
Yes indeed! There may be some about! We are promised a side trip to visit (ride in?) a steam train, and the only one I can think of is in Port Alberni, and we are promised AMAZING roads, and they don’t get much more amazing than the run out to Long Beach, though we’ve only ever done it in a big old farm truck with camper on the back. Last trip out there we kept saying, “Wouldn’t this be an awesome road for the Spit?” So if you’re in the area Sept 20-22, keep your eyes open. If you see a random assortment of interesting cars sporting number patches, including a tiny blue Spitfire Mk VI with the top down and two tired but happy (and possibly damp, it *is* the Island) occupants, that might well be us! But we could be anywhere – all we know for sure is that we start Friday morning in Nanaimo, and 1200 km & several days later we end up in Victoria on Sunday afternoon. (They book our rooms for us ahead of time, so we don’t know where we’ll be staying Friday & Saturday nights – it’s all top secret.) 🙂
Cool! We’ll be in Tofino Sept 16-23, so I’ll keep my eyes peels for a dashing blue roadster (oh wait, that’s Nancy Drew, isn’t it).
Hope we cross paths! Give us a wave, if so. In any event, I hope you enjoy your holiday way out west – as west as it gets, I think! Long Beach area is so beautiful…
Racking my brains, but not coming up with any literary reference for our little car! Except that, like Lord Peter Wimsey, we do love an open car. 🙂 (I think his was a bit more posh, though. The Spit is definitely an entry level sports car, cheap enough for the “working classes” to buy, hence its popularity then & now. Rather Spartan, I think one might call it… The only vehicle I’ve ever owned with less “creature comfort” options was a very plain 1968 VW Beetle, way back in the dark ages.)
Well Barb, I can’t find your email address, so I’ll just leave a note here. Not that you’re likely to pick it up tonight. But if you were on the Pacific Rim Highway today (Sat, Sept 21) round 1:00 heading towards Tofino, then yup, I saw you and your fellow-rallyers zip past, as we were headed the opposite direction. Is yours the only little blue convertible of the lot?
Hi Susan – yes – we were the only little blue convertible, though there was a much larger blue convertible Camaro which looked like Big Car twin to our Little Car. 🙂 There ended up being about 25 cars on that leg of the trip; hope you got a look at some as there were some real beauties, including a gorgeous old silver Ferrari, and an interesting selection of Alfa Romeos, among others. It was a blast – though we didn’t get much sightseeing in – it was hair straight back trying to keep up with the pack. 🙂 We snuck away for an hour on the beach but it was time to get back in the car WAY too soon. We criss-crossed the Island three times – started in Nanaimo, went out to Gold River through Strathcona Park, back to Courtenay, then out to Tofino, back to Port Alberni, down to Duncan, then out to Port Renfrew; ended in Victoria on Day 3. Lots of amazing narrow little winding roads – very interesting routes. Then we sent some baggage home via Greyhound and book-shopped our way home; very perfect getaway all around. Just home tonight; have been offline these past 8 days.
I’m a ‘me too’ here – I read it as a young teenager and adored it, it seemed like the perfect book, so romantic, so glamorous, all that travelling, that hero – and very funny too. I made my father read it, and he said ‘it was a bit Peg’s Paper wasn’t it?’ and I was highly offended. I re-read it every now and again, and it never disappoints – even though I am older now, and slightly wince at some of the romantic bits. But I still think Sir Eustace is hilarious, a wonderful character. And to this day I use the phrase ‘enjoying myself hugely’ when I’m in the mood – copied from Suzanne, who adds it to her telegram instead of shortening it to save money as Anne suggests.
“A bit ‘Peg’s Paper'” – too funny! (And rather appropriate.) 🙂 I did like Suzanne, and her lavish ways. One of my favourite Christies, overall, with a nice light touch and lots of humour.
The Man In The Brown Suit captivated me. I think this is one of Christie’s best. So exciting!
One of my favourite Agatha Christie’s, such an engaging heroine and such a nicely detailed setting – it reads like Christie was very much interested in portraying a place she visited and enjoyed greatly. A very likeable book, despite the rather sketchy plot developments near the end – the not-very-well-explained “political” stuff.