The Man in the Brown Suit

By: Agatha Christie

Narrated by: Emilia Fox

Length: 7 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's Summary

Another title in the ever popular Agatha Christie series. The suave and debonair Colonel Race must solve a question, not of ‘accidental death or suicide’, but ‘murder or double murder’. 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’?

©2008 Agatha Christie (P)2011 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic Reviews

"The acknowledged queen of detective fiction the world over." ( OBSERVER)

Wild romance and mysteries

Would you consider the audio edition of The Man in the Brown Suit to be better than the print version?

Definitly Yes! Emilia Fox smooth voice, wit and underlying humor makes you actually be on board of the ship and Africa.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Till the very end.

Which scene was your favorite?

It's too hard to pick one out.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When Anne arrives in London to move in with her father's solicitor and his wife, she makes herself less attractive, so that the wife can feel herself a little bit more relax.

Any additional comments?

For anyone who would like to hear a fun, mysterious and romantic thriller, you are not going to be disappointed with the "Men in the brown suit".

Good mystery, unnecessary romance

Interesting story, and great heroine. A rather silly and dated romantic sub story tends to take away from, rather than enhance the plot.

not one of her best

As an unabashed Christie fan, I still have to warn you: this is definitely not one of her best. It's romance over mystery, third rate writing over detective suspense. An ok read, but only if you've read the others and are in withdrawal :)

Great story, shame about the narration

This is a lovely, light-hearted adventure story. It is often very funny. The heroine is resourceful and fun, there are lots of twists and turns and Agatha Christie shows her mastery of plot. There are plenty of knowing nods to tales of square-jawed types who with one bound are free from the villains.

I was very pleasantly surprised to come across Colonel Race as a young man who was very dashing and not a little romantic. I am now looking out for the other books in which he appears, I was very taken.

The only reason it might not go immediately on to my list for multiple listens is the narration. Some female narrators can do men's voices convincingly but sadly Emilia Fox is not one. She did a very good job of capturing the bright, feisty heroine but her men were all gruff and unconvincing.

Didn't like the narration

All male characters were not convincing and sounded the same I hate to say it but men are better at crossing genders Hugh Fraser being the best.

Bad recording

This is a bad recording of the book. Be aware before buying it. It's very annoying when you're really into the story.

Just fab

it goes without saying that the story was excellent but paired with the fabulous narration of Emila Fox it was joy to behold. Very sad to have finished it :0(

A Delve Into Colonial Empire

I am a black man who is interested in early 20th century English literature... I am going through alll of AC's novels chronologically and it's akin to going into Marty Mcfly's time machine. Constant reference to the blacks as "kaffirs" irked me, but was essential for an authentic look into the era.

The story otherwise was fun with Sir Eustace Pedler stealing the show.

A tale of daring do!

Who knew! Well I expect many did know that this story is really a tale of daring do. The plot is closer to John Buchan than Poirot - but I listened over Christmas and found the whole thing great fun. The heroine is feisty and the bad people very bad! I like Emilia Fox's reading - others don't - it's a question of taste, but she does a good job and it's quite right that this story should be read by a woman as it's a real 1920s female fantasy - slightly politically incorrect by our standards - but very much of its period!!

Classic Christie!

Great narration from Emilia Fox. Great story line. Hope the BBC do a version soon!

Narrator destroyed this

I wish I had read this rather than listened to this audio version as I think it would have been a totally different experience. The narrator was great as Anne, but for the male characters 😱 It was a bit panto 😕

The man in the brown suit

I enjoyed the man in the brown suit greatly because of the way it is told. The story is obsessive and the performance of the story is altogether amazing. I hope to find other books this good.

Disappointed

I love Agatha Christie’s books but this on particularly disappointing. Also found the performance lacking. .