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Man in the Brown Suit & 4:50 from Paddington  By  cover art

Man in the Brown Suit & 4:50 from Paddington

By: Agatha Christie
Narrated by: Emilia Fox,Joan Hickson
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Publisher's summary

TWO BESTSELLING MYSTERIES IN ONE GREAT PACKAGE!

From the Queen of Mystery, The Man in the Brown Suit, in which a young woman makes a dangerous decision to investigate a shocking “accidental” death she witnesses at a London tube station, and in 4:50 From Paddington, a woman in one train witnesses a murder occurring in another passing one…and only Miss Marple believes her story.

THE MAN IN THE BROWN SUIT

Pretty, young Anne came to London looking for adventure. In fact, adventure comes looking for her—and finds her immediately at Hyde Park Corner tube station. Anne is present on the platform when a thin man, reeking of mothballs, loses his balance and is electrocuted on the rails.

The Scotland Yard verdict is accidental death. But Anne is not satisfied. After all, who was the man in the brown suit who examined the body? And why did he race off, leaving a cryptic message behind: "17-122 Kilmorden Castle"?

Twisty, clever, and intriguing, The Man in the Brown Suit showcases Agatha Christie once again at her very best.

Performed by Emilia Fox

4:50 From Paddington

For an instant the two trains ran side by side. In that frozen moment, Elspeth McGillicuddy stared helplessly out of her carriage window as a man tightened his grip around a woman's throat. The body crumpled. Then the other train drew away. But who, apart from Mrs. McGillicuddy's friend Jane Marple, would take her story seriously? After all, there are no other witnesses, no suspects, and no case—for there is no corpse, and no one is missing.

Miss Marple asks her highly efficient and intelligent young friend Lucy Eyelesbarrow to infiltrate the Crackenthorpe family, who seem to be at the heart of the mystery, and help unmask a murderer.

Performed by Emilia Fox

©1957 Agatha Christie Limited (P)2011 HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd.

What listeners say about Man in the Brown Suit & 4:50 from Paddington

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Two mysteries

Any additional comments?

The Man in the Brown Suit: 4/5
Emilia Fox did a good job, and the story is full of mystery, adventure and romance with charming characters.

4:40 from Paddington: 3/5
While Joan Hickson was well suited to voicing Miss Marple, that character doesn't appear in much of the book, and the other voices were indistinguishable, making it a bit hard to follow at times. The audio quality was also quite low.

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14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Least favorite Agatha Christie listens so far

If you’ve listened to books by Agatha Christie before, how does this one compare?

I only listened to The Man in the Brown Suit, which I found to have particularly uninteresting characters. I did not listen to 4:50 from Paddington, although the story sounded very interesting, because I thought the audio was terrible. The narrator sounds recorded from very far away. Additionally, the narrator reads the story very slowly. I stopped listening after 10 minutes. I have listened to probably 20 Agatha Christie novels so far, all of which I enjoyed, so this set of books was a disappointment.

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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Surprisingly Good

Both stories are good but I really like the Man in the Brown Suit. It is fun to listen to a book with so many changes of locale. Emilia Fox is a good narrator. I always think I will like Joan Hickson's narration as she is great in the old BBC Miss Marple's, but I don't think she's a good choice. Her speaking style seems so affected, and I can never get the volume loud enough to properly hear her. I don't have that issue with any other readers.

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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Audio is great!

In response to those complaining about the audio - especially regarding the second book - it’s excellent. It does NOT sound like it was done in someone’s living room on a tape recorder. This book must have been upgraded since that review.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Thoroughly enjoyable

As others have said the sound quality of 4:50 from Paddington is poor. I found it difficult to understand the narrator, due to a combination of her thick British accent and the recording equipment. In fact, it sounded like she was in her living room reading into a tape recorder.

I found both stories delighful and well-written--both were full of the usual Agatha Christie wit, humor, and intrigue.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Totally opposite reviews for these two

The performance of Ms Fox in The Man in the Brown Suit is great. I wasn't a big fan of the story.
Opposite for 4:50, I know she playing Miss Marple years ago but I found her voice wasn't pleasant and I had to strain to understand often. But I loved the story line in this one.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

My favorite Agatha Christie Story

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

The Man in the Brown Suit is my fave Christie story. I like all the characters and the narration by Emilia Fox is perfect for this story.

Any additional comments?

I was unable to listen to the 4:50 from Paddington story because I had a hard time understanding Joan Hickson's narration. I like Joan Hickson very much acting in the television Miss Marple series but I just could not hear her very well on this audio recording.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fun

Would you consider the audio edition of Man in the Brown Suit & 4:50 From Paddington to be better than the print version?

I switched to audio books due to migraine issues with reading. Having never read these two, I can't say if the narration is better than the print version. However I enjoyed the narrations of both readers. The first by a young woman who accurately conveyed the enthusiasm of the young female protagonist and the second by an old woman who doesn't vary as much in voice character but still carries the emotions of the characters. Agatha Christie is often an easy read.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Classic Christie

The Man in the Brown Suit is a perfect example of a second string Christie story. My personal theory is that Agatha was given a pamphlet on red flags for domestic abuse and mistook it for one expounding the signs of true love. Tip for the ladies and gents out there: if someone slightly throttles you while explaining how easy it would be to murder you, or tells you they'll murder your hypothetical spouse then kidnap and assault you THIS IS NOT ROMANCE. Unless you're Agatha Christie.
4:50 From Paddington is a classic.
Enjoy the ridiculousness! But please don't take the author's take on gender politics or domestic violence to heart.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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A very good set

Wonderful stories. I thought I had one figured out. I was wrong.
The narrator did a good job of creating feeling and inflection but once and a while it's hard to differentiate which character is speaking.

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2 people found this helpful