When I was in middle school I was obsessed with Agatha Christie. I checked out every book of hers from the library and often was so enthralled in her worlds that I lost track of my own. I was hesitant to pick back up her books. What if they were a part of my childhood that I had outgrown? 

 

I was so wrong, Christie’s works are ageless. They are not outgrown, they are just better understood. I am so glad to understand this with The Man in the Brown Suit. 

 

I think the beauty of her work is the characters. I had figured out most of the mystery about half way through, but it did not dismayed me from enjoying the journey. I was enraptured with these people, even though their world was removed from my own by a century. 

 

Anne is such a great strong female lead. She does not give up her self identity even as she navigates in a male world. I have a lot of respect for her and enjoyed her narration of the world. 

 

That being said, the book is written from a colonial British perspective. For a novel that tackled the women voice so well it is very lacking in racial perspective. The African side characters are presented as stereotypes lacking any substance. Anne feels like she has come home to Africa and feels entitled to take a home that belongs to others.