Anne Beddingfeld is an adventuress. After caring for her genius but hopelessly impractical father for many years at home in their sleepy English village, his untimely death means Anne is now free to experience life.
Managing to avoid the marriage proposals of some local and very respectable men, she runs off to London to look for an adventure and sees a man killed at the railway station which sets a train of events into place.
This is an enjoyable read - along the same lines as the Tommy and Tuppence series. I especially liked the travel in this story, setting off from England on a ship and then to South Africa. Agatha sets the scenes very well.
Anne finds a mystery in England that all starts with a man dying at the railway station, a phony doctor, a mysterious piece of paper that needs deciphering, and a murder. It's very light-hearted and a nice, cosy read with plenty of excitement.
Agatha Christie originally titled this, 'Anna the Adventuress' but for whatever reason, her editors changed it.
I have heard the word 'adventuress' a few times recently on various media outlets and commentary and it peaks my interest in what that word means. I first heard it listening to the YouTube channel of Lady Colin Campbell, a royal commentator and member of the British aristocracy. She uses it to describe Meghan Markle, but I thought it an interesting word.
The definition according to Merriam-Webster is:
Anne Beddingfeld certainly fits this description, seeking excitement and change. Adventuress is an old fashioned word and an old-fashioned term, but does conjure up images of excitement and danger, a thrill seeker, a fortune hunter who throws caution to the wind and sees where their gamble at life lands them.
It would be interesting to explore women in history who might have been adventuresses. Do any spring to your mind? I'd be interested to know.
For Anne, she has all her wishes granted for adventure, danger, friendship, experiences, new scenes and romance granted to her. Her gamble pays off - in the end.
I do recommend this book if you are in the mood for some light reading, an old-fashioned thriller that will keep you guessing to the end.
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