Man in the Brown Suit & 4:50 from Paddington

By: Agatha Christie

Narrated by: Emilia Fox, Joan Hickson

Length: 16 hrs and 8 mins

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.

Pure Christie

Love Joan. I think she is the best narrator of Christie books by far.

Man in the brown suit and 4:50 train from paddington

Both stories were good. The man in the brown suit better than the other. Narrator for the 4:50 train was very hard to understand for an American English speaker.

Christie never disappoints me!

The Man in the Brown Suit - lots of twists and turns and I was constantly changing my mind about who the Colonel was! Didn't love it when Emelia tried to do deep male voices, but overall a wonderful performance!
450 From Paddington - One of my favorite Miss Marple stories! Love how Miss Marple and Lucy use their combined intelligence and creativity to sleuth out the bizarre murder. Joan Hickson is quintessential Miss Marple and was perfect in her performance.

Kept waiting for the twist

Always delightful listening., but the story of the Man in the Brown Suit, was rather like an atypical Christie romance novel. Even the dialog was quite cliche. I kept waiting for the heroine to wake up or finish writing.. Still both books were enjoyable.

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.

Skip 4:50 From Paddington

The Man in the Brown Suit was such a fun story and the narrator was good. The story was good, but the narrator on 4:50 From Paddington was terrible. Doesn't enunciate well, and her voice is grating. Skip 4:50 From Paddington. Not worth it.

Uneven books: 1st Mediocre; 2nd a Classic

Man in Brown Suit was mildly comic, highly implausible juvenile romance, read very competently.

4:50 from Paddington was a classic Miss Marple mystery, a complex puzzle read by the greatest performer of Miss Marple, the incomparable Joan Hickson. Many readers will be disappointed Miss Marple is off stage & away from the action so much of the novel. Still, this little mystery has its wonderful highlights, especially in the first quarter when the amusing & memorable opening is laid out. The rest of the mystery does not live up to the opening, but readers who love puzzles and the eccentricities (and coldness) of Christie's English characters will be happy. Marvelously read.

Well done

2 of Christie's more interesting stories. Both have interesting character studies. Each has a great interpretation by a talented narrator. Worth the time & expense. Enjoy!

mystery genius

Agatha Christie is a mystery genius with a flare for drama and Romance. around every corner there is a turn, a small connection to a bigger plot. these two books shine with old English fascination of murder and makes you want to solve it yourself.

Both lack clearly distinguishable character voices

The Man in the Brown Suit: 4/5
The story is filled with charming characters. The story is combines the best of mystery, adventure and romance.
Emilia Fox did a decent job, The reading would have been perfect if a man did the Sir Eustace's sections along with Emilia Fox's Anne.

4:40 from Paddington: 3/5
Classic Christe! Joan Hickson has always been wonderful as Miss Marple whether in film or in this recording, but Miss Marple doesn't appear in much of the book.
Unfortunately, Joan Hickson has reached the age where she no longer can change her voice quality enough to make the other voices distinguishable from one another, I found it very hard to follow which character was supposed to be speaking. It would have been great if Hickson had done Miss Marple and maybe the narration and someone else had done the other characters.

The overall audio quality was low for both books.