A Jolly Holiday with Anne: The Man in the Brown Suit 2.0

(image from here)

"When I am married, I shall be a devil most of the time, but every now and then, when my husband least expects it, I shall show him what a perfect angel I can be." 

-Anne Beddingfeld, The Man in the Brown Suit, p. 202

The Sum of It:
The Man in the Brown Suit is one of those delightful early Agatha books that is heavily spy thriller, with a dash of murder mystery, and a lot of exotic locations. Anne Beddingfeld is a spunky young woman who is somewhat repressed in her adventurous aspirations by assisting her professor father - "one of England's greatest living authorities on Primitive Man" - with his work. When he father sadly dies near the beginning of the book (CAUTIONARY TALE - WEAR A COAT WHEN DIGGING IN CAVES!), Anne heads to London with the little money her father left her. Anne is desperate for excitement, and London seems to be ready to give her nothing but governess or old lady companion jobs, HOWEVER, while waiting for her train at a tube station, Anne witnesses something very bizarre and exciting indeed: a man falls to his death on the train rails. Though it initially seems like an accident, Anne also notices a man in a brown suit (!!!) claiming to be a doctor examine the dead man's body, but then quickly flee the scene, leaving a scrap of paper with a mysterious message on it in his wake. "THIS IS THE ADVENTURE I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR!," Anne says and goes full YOLO, deciding to devote herself to getting to the bottom of this strange experience. Using the last of her money, her wits, and what she's learned from adventure radio dramas, Anne hurls herself into a saga full of diamonds, dead ballerinas, handsome brooding men, and so much more.

The YOA Treatment:
When Emily read this book for our 2016 Year of Agatha, she quickly vaulted it into her top favorites. It had been at least a decade since I had read The Man in the Brown Suit, and I couldn't remember much about it, but I trusted her high praise. It made sense that Emily liked it so much because she is more partial to Agatha's more thriller-y novels (a la The Secret Adversary and The Secret at Chimneys, etc.), and I would definitely put this novel into that same category. While I'm usually more into the straightforward murder mysteries, I must admit I did thoroughly enjoy The Man in the Brown Suit. This book is a bit melodramatic at times (Anne's banter with/about her #crush is just hysterical) and sprinkled with some rather outdated references, however, the overall effect plays out like an old timey Rom Com with a bit more fluff and humor and overseas travel than truly terrifying near-death experiences. This novel is primarily written from Anne's point of view, and she is surprisingly relatable, even 94 years after it was published. Who hasn't dreamed of being dropped in the middle of your very own mysterious adventure, that (seemingly) only you can solve? While The Man in the Brown Suit doesn't go into the psychological crime solving games you may be used to from a Christie, it is another example of Agatha's ability to write long-lasting, relatable tales.

-A.