The Man in the Brown Suit
Dust-jacket illustration of the first UK edition
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| Author | Agatha Christie |
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| Cover artist | Not known |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Crime novel |
| Publisher | Bodley Head |
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Publication date
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22 August 1924 |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 312 pp (first edition, hardcover) |
| Preceded by | Poirot Investigates |
| Followed by | The Road of Dreams |
The Man in the Brown Suit is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by The Bodley Head on 22 August 1924 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6) and the US edition at $2.00.
Like The Secret Adversary, The Man in the Brown Suit is less a novel of pure detection than it is a thriller typical of its period. It follows the adventures of Anne Beddingfeld as she becomes involved in a world of diamond thieves, murderers, and political intrigue in this tale set in exotic South Africa. Colonel Race makes his first appearance in the novel; he later appears in Cards on the Table, Sparkling Cyanide, and Death on the Nile.
Orphan Anne Beddingfeld, in search of adventure, follows the clue in a note from the pocket of a murder victim. Her journey takes her on an ocean voyage from London to Africa, and finally to a lost island, on the trail of stolen diamonds. Nadina, a "Russian" dancer, receives a visit in her dressing room from Count Sergius Paulovitch. Both are in the service of a man they call "the Colonel", an international agent provocateur and criminal. After many years, "the Colonel" is retiring, leaving his agents high and dry. Nadina has double-crossed the Colonel, however, keeping some De Beers diamonds from a crime years before. She now plans to blackmail the Colonel with the diamonds.
Anne, longing for adventure, jumps at the chance offered by her father's solicitor to live with him and his wife in London. Returning from an unsuccessful job interview, Anne is on the platform at Hyde Park Corner tube station when a man falls onto the live track, dying instantly. A doctor examines the man, pronounces him dead, and leaves, dropping a note on his way. Anne picks up the note, which reads "17.1 22 Kilmorden Castle". The inquest on the dead man, "L B Carton", brings a verdict of accidental death. In his pocket was a house agent's order to view a house for let – The Mill House in Marlow – and the next day the newspapers report that a dead woman has been found there, strangled. The house is owned by Sir Eustace Pedler MP. A young man in a brown suit is identified as a suspect, having entered the house soon after the dead woman.
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Wikipedia