Reviews with content warning for Sexism - The Man in the Brown Suit

Racism and sexism are fairly common in books from the GAD era, but I feel like the setting of this one in a colonial context took this to a whole new level. I’m not familiar enough with Christie and her work to know if these views reflect her ideas or are part of the character development (or both). Regardless, I chose to read those passages the way I read historical documents, and that made it slightly more bearable. (I’m a historian, so I have some practice with the distancing part, haha.). In that sense, it was interesting to read how the South African colonial project was perceived by the colonizers at the time, which at the time of the book’s writing was likely just read as the mainstream perspective by European readers. I really wanted to like Anne Beddingfield and read her as a "modern woman" and unconventional heroine. But of course, the ending was the usual, and her racism, internalized, sexism, fatphobia (What was that jab at Suzanne putting on weight?!), and the way she threw all of that at other people were just a bit much, characteristic of the times or not. On the upside, I thought the mystery was really well done, especially because I love mysteries set on ships and mysteries involving disguises. And coincidentally, I read Midnight by Amy McCulloch, a murder mystery that just came out and is set on board a ship (albeit in Antarctica) as well, at the same time. Highly recommend that combination!

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bessadams's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

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annaminka99's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

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tatianars's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging funny informative mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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sunny_not's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

The book started off so fun, it was almost like watching an action movie. However due to its racism and misogyny and the weird Tarzan-Jane like dynamic between the main couple I couldn't enjoy this fully.

Also Anne saying that the killer is nice???? What???? She had some serious issues. I also felt like the whole "I'm not Lucas I'm Harry" thing was pointless.

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