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Sir John Appleby #1
Death at the President's Lodging
The first in a series of novels featuring John Appleby, a Detective Inspector in the Metropolitan Police. It is a traditional closed circle of suspects mystery, taking place in a fictitious Oxbridge college located in Bletchley about halfway between Cambridge and Oxford on the Varsity Line.
It was released in the United States by Dodd, Mead under the alternative title Seven Suspects.
It was released in the United States by Dodd, Mead under the alternative title Seven Suspects.
283 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1936
About the author
Michael Innes
119 books80 followersMichael Innes was the pseudonym of John Innes MacKintosh (J.I.M.) Stewart (J.I.M. Stewart).
He was born in Edinburgh, and educated at Edinburgh Academy and Oriel College, Oxford. He was Lecturer in English at the University of Leeds from 1930 - 1935, and spent the succeeding ten years as Jury Professor of English at the University of Adelaide, South Australia.
He returned to the United Kingdom in 1949, to become a Lecturer at the Queen's University of Belfast. In 1949 he became a Student (Fellow) of Christ Church, Oxford, becoming a Professor by the time of his retirement in 1973.
As J.I.M. Stewart he published a number of works of non-fiction, mainly critical studies of authors, including Joseph Conrad and Rudyard Kipling, as well as about twenty works of fiction and a memoir, 'Myself and Michael Innes'.
As Michael Innes, he published numerous mystery novels and short story collections, most featuring the Scotland Yard detective John Appleby.
He was born in Edinburgh, and educated at Edinburgh Academy and Oriel College, Oxford. He was Lecturer in English at the University of Leeds from 1930 - 1935, and spent the succeeding ten years as Jury Professor of English at the University of Adelaide, South Australia.
He returned to the United Kingdom in 1949, to become a Lecturer at the Queen's University of Belfast. In 1949 he became a Student (Fellow) of Christ Church, Oxford, becoming a Professor by the time of his retirement in 1973.
As J.I.M. Stewart he published a number of works of non-fiction, mainly critical studies of authors, including Joseph Conrad and Rudyard Kipling, as well as about twenty works of fiction and a memoir, 'Myself and Michael Innes'.
As Michael Innes, he published numerous mystery novels and short story collections, most featuring the Scotland Yard detective John Appleby.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 189 reviews
February 7, 2017
This is the first Inspector John Appleby mystery, set firmly within the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, both in terms of period and style. Dr Josiah Umpleby, President of St Anthony's College, has been shot and Inspector Appleby is sent to help local authority, Inspector Dodd, discover the murderer. The mystery is very much an academic exercise, with Appleby outlining possible suspects, motives and methods. Of course, there are many red herrings and much confusion, involving professional arguments, academic digressions and many misleading clues. The book is a little dry at the beginning, but if you enjoy novels set in this era and this type of academic mystery, then you will really enjoy it.
Appleby is a very intelligent, well read hero, whose abilities in deduction consist more in considering and working out the clues, rather than in action. There is a wonderful scene at the end, where Appleby, in time honoured fashion, addresses the Fellows of the College and outlines what and how happened. Finally, there is also an excellent bibliography and synopses of the author's books. The next in the Appleby series is Hamlet Revenge and I am sure I will be reading on.
Appleby is a very intelligent, well read hero, whose abilities in deduction consist more in considering and working out the clues, rather than in action. There is a wonderful scene at the end, where Appleby, in time honoured fashion, addresses the Fellows of the College and outlines what and how happened. Finally, there is also an excellent bibliography and synopses of the author's books. The next in the Appleby series is Hamlet Revenge and I am sure I will be reading on.
November 15, 2017
I simply Kant take any more...
When Dr Umpleby, the President of prestigious and ancient St Anthony's College, is found murdered, Inspector Appleby of the Yard is rushed to the spot, as the local plods will clearly not be well educated or cultured enough to deal with such a sensitive affair. Fortunately Appleby can quote major and minor philosophers with the best of them and has more than a passing knowledge of all the arcane subjects covered in a classical Oxbridge education, all of which will no doubt help him to uncover who killed the President and why.
The tone of my introduction may have been somewhat of a spoiler for my opinion of the book, so I may as well jump straight to the conclusion – I abandoned this at just under 40%, finally throwing in the towel when one of the characters hinted that the clue to the mystery might be found in an anecdote about Kant quoted in a book by De Quincey. This, only a couple of pages after the following passage...
I couldn't help but feel it might have been more useful had Appleby asked whether Titlow had crept into the college garden in the middle of the night and shot the President, or searched his rooms for the gun, but each to his own, I suppose. And certainly, my method wouldn't have allowed Innes to show his vast erudition and superior intellect, which appears to be the main purpose of the book.
The actual plot is based on there being a limited number of people, almost all academics, who could have had access to Dr Umpleby's rooms at the time of the murder. Sadly, this aspect becomes tedious very quickly with much talk of who had or didn't have keys, where rooms are in relation to each other, where walls and passages are. I felt a desperate need for a nap... oops, I mean a map... after the first several dozen pages of description. Oddly enough, Innes claims Appleby is happier dealing with problems on a “human or psychological plane” and then proceeds to have this great intellectual wandering around in the (literal) dark, playing hunt the missing key. By 40%, only one possible motive had emerged, largely because Appleby seems more interested in listing the academic tomes on the suspects' bookshelves than in trying to find out where they had been at the time of the crime.
This is one of Martin Edwards' picks in his The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books, and I've seen several positive reviews of other books of Michael Innes' recently, so I'm willing to accept that my antipathy to this style of writing isn't universal, or perhaps Innes improved in later books – this, I believe, was his first. However, the only emotions it provoked in me were tedium and irritation at the perpetual intellectual snobbery. Having been made to realise my own status as dullard, I shall take my inferior intellect and defective education off into the dunce's corner now... but don't feel too sorry for me, for I shall take with me an ample supply of chocolate and some books by authors who may not have achieved a First in Classics at Oxbridge but who nevertheless know the definition of the word “entertain”...
In truth, I think my rating of this one is harsh – had I been able to convince myself to struggle through it, it may have earned three stars for the quality of the writing and plot. But since I couldn't bring myself to finish it, I fear I can only give it one.
PS Appleby and Umpleby? Seriously??
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Ipso Books.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
When Dr Umpleby, the President of prestigious and ancient St Anthony's College, is found murdered, Inspector Appleby of the Yard is rushed to the spot, as the local plods will clearly not be well educated or cultured enough to deal with such a sensitive affair. Fortunately Appleby can quote major and minor philosophers with the best of them and has more than a passing knowledge of all the arcane subjects covered in a classical Oxbridge education, all of which will no doubt help him to uncover who killed the President and why.
The tone of my introduction may have been somewhat of a spoiler for my opinion of the book, so I may as well jump straight to the conclusion – I abandoned this at just under 40%, finally throwing in the towel when one of the characters hinted that the clue to the mystery might be found in an anecdote about Kant quoted in a book by De Quincey. This, only a couple of pages after the following passage...
And he [Inspector Appleby] sipped his whisky and finally murmured to Titlow [a suspect], with something of the whimsicality that Titlow had been adopting a little before, “What truth is it that these mountains bound, and is a lie in the world beyond?”
There was silence while Titlow's eye dwelt meditatively on the policeman conversant with Montaigne. Then he smiled, and his smile had great charm. “I wear my heart on my wall?” he asked. “To project one's own conflicts, to hang them up in simple pictorial terms – it is to be able to step back and contemplate oneself. You understand?”
I couldn't help but feel it might have been more useful had Appleby asked whether Titlow had crept into the college garden in the middle of the night and shot the President, or searched his rooms for the gun, but each to his own, I suppose. And certainly, my method wouldn't have allowed Innes to show his vast erudition and superior intellect, which appears to be the main purpose of the book.
The actual plot is based on there being a limited number of people, almost all academics, who could have had access to Dr Umpleby's rooms at the time of the murder. Sadly, this aspect becomes tedious very quickly with much talk of who had or didn't have keys, where rooms are in relation to each other, where walls and passages are. I felt a desperate need for a nap... oops, I mean a map... after the first several dozen pages of description. Oddly enough, Innes claims Appleby is happier dealing with problems on a “human or psychological plane” and then proceeds to have this great intellectual wandering around in the (literal) dark, playing hunt the missing key. By 40%, only one possible motive had emerged, largely because Appleby seems more interested in listing the academic tomes on the suspects' bookshelves than in trying to find out where they had been at the time of the crime.
This is one of Martin Edwards' picks in his The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books, and I've seen several positive reviews of other books of Michael Innes' recently, so I'm willing to accept that my antipathy to this style of writing isn't universal, or perhaps Innes improved in later books – this, I believe, was his first. However, the only emotions it provoked in me were tedium and irritation at the perpetual intellectual snobbery. Having been made to realise my own status as dullard, I shall take my inferior intellect and defective education off into the dunce's corner now... but don't feel too sorry for me, for I shall take with me an ample supply of chocolate and some books by authors who may not have achieved a First in Classics at Oxbridge but who nevertheless know the definition of the word “entertain”...
In truth, I think my rating of this one is harsh – had I been able to convince myself to struggle through it, it may have earned three stars for the quality of the writing and plot. But since I couldn't bring myself to finish it, I fear I can only give it one.
PS Appleby and Umpleby? Seriously??
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Ipso Books.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
March 21, 2017
3.5 stars. Cerebrally enjoyable, university setting was well-done, but characters were not stand-outs. Felt more like pieces of a puzzle to be moved around, and denouement fell flat, felt incomplete. Innes wrote a plethora of Sir John Appleby books, will try another to see if he improves. I want to like them, find another vein of Golden Era detective fiction.
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March 24, 2020
Audiobook - 9:05 - Narrator: Stephen Hogan
2.5 stars out of 5.0
Published in 1936, the first Sir John Appleby murder mystery is set in a fictitious Oxford college. Inspector Appleby was not a knight at the time of writing, so plain Inspector Appleby was brought in from The Yard to assist a local Inspector with the rather dull name of Dodd to solve the crime for which there were, in the end, six (I think) suspects, all of them academics.
Very British, with the required plummy accents and Dons, Deans, Doctors, Fellows and the like, with the most unlikely sounding Surnames. (Note the uppercase 'S' - everybody referred to anybody and everybody else by their Surnames. I suppose it was the 'done' thing).
There were lots of arcane references to arcane poets and equally arcane philosophers and it all became rather academically dull, full of literary puffery and intellectual snobbery. Finally, Appleby calls a round-table, well really a long-table, conference, confronts each of the possible doers with the whys and why-nots and finally, finally, by Jove, he announces the guilty party.
I sort of enjoyed this novel from the so-called "Golden Age of Detective Fiction" and I will read another from my collection, but not in the near future. I think these are to be enjoyed in the Winter, with the headphones on, sound loud enough to drown extraneous noise (television, Beloved on the phone ad vitam aeternam), feet up, head back, eyes closed - allowing full immersion until sleep transcends all.
2.5 stars out of 5.0
Published in 1936, the first Sir John Appleby murder mystery is set in a fictitious Oxford college. Inspector Appleby was not a knight at the time of writing, so plain Inspector Appleby was brought in from The Yard to assist a local Inspector with the rather dull name of Dodd to solve the crime for which there were, in the end, six (I think) suspects, all of them academics.
Very British, with the required plummy accents and Dons, Deans, Doctors, Fellows and the like, with the most unlikely sounding Surnames. (Note the uppercase 'S' - everybody referred to anybody and everybody else by their Surnames. I suppose it was the 'done' thing).
There were lots of arcane references to arcane poets and equally arcane philosophers and it all became rather academically dull, full of literary puffery and intellectual snobbery. Finally, Appleby calls a round-table, well really a long-table, conference, confronts each of the possible doers with the whys and why-nots and finally, finally, by Jove, he announces the guilty party.
I sort of enjoyed this novel from the so-called "Golden Age of Detective Fiction" and I will read another from my collection, but not in the near future. I think these are to be enjoyed in the Winter, with the headphones on, sound loud enough to drown extraneous noise (television, Beloved on the phone ad vitam aeternam), feet up, head back, eyes closed - allowing full immersion until sleep transcends all.
June 17, 2021
Oh. My. Word.
This book masquerades as a comfortable, vintage mystery (albeit more cerebral than most). The pace is slow as you watch the inspector painstakingly interview each suspect and then in Chapter 45 the intellectual fireworks start going off and you can hardly believe how the whole thing plays out.
I'm glad there are 14 more Inspector Appleby mysteries!
This book masquerades as a comfortable, vintage mystery (albeit more cerebral than most). The pace is slow as you watch the inspector painstakingly interview each suspect and then in Chapter 45 the intellectual fireworks start going off and you can hardly believe how the whole thing plays out.
I'm glad there are 14 more Inspector Appleby mysteries!
November 18, 2019
This is my first book in this series about which I heard a lot of good things and probably not my last one. Very well constructed secret of a locked room.
Before I get to the proper review, I need to make clear one thing. English is not my native language, but I have been reading books in English for years and it doesn't seem too difficult for me. That is why I was surprised when it turned out that this book requires much more of my attention and effort than usual. When I thought about it seriously, I realized that this is probably the oldest book I read in English. I am quite astonished at this. I don't know if it is due to the period in which it was written or the specific writing style of Michael Innes, but the language in which this book was written is a bit complicated. Very beautiful, but not easy for someone who is not a native speaker. It is full of intricate stylistic constructions, archaisms and words very rarely used in modern English. I had to get used to it. And devote more attention to this book than I usually do with other detective stories.
Despite this, I fully appreciate the well-constructed murder mystery that only a very limited number of people could commit. If I have any weakness when it comes to crime stories, I love it when different people tell their version of events one after the other, and these versions are completely unlike. The detective must decide which version is true or closest to the truth. I love this theme. And we have something like this here. Every now and then someone tells his version of the events on the night of the murder and then tells a completely different version as more clues and evidence are found. And the evidences are most of the time revealed intentionally or fabricated. Most of the time nothing makes sense. It's really a well-constructed mystery.
And not without some humor. First of all, we have a group of very characteristic and expressive characters, many of whom have comic features. There are also many funny scenes and dialogues. And even the whole thread that, although it adds nothing to the case, is an amusing interlude. Of course, I am talking about a group of pupils taking their chance in solving the case.
As for the ending, I really like it. It is not completely reliable but it perfectly matches all the events in the book and the relations between the characters. And again we have here the same story told by different people from different perspectives. I had a great time reading these last chapters.
The next book in this series is on my short TBR pile because of one of my reading challenges. I am not sure if I will read it right after this one but I will definitely do it soon. I hope it will be equally good.
Before I get to the proper review, I need to make clear one thing. English is not my native language, but I have been reading books in English for years and it doesn't seem too difficult for me. That is why I was surprised when it turned out that this book requires much more of my attention and effort than usual. When I thought about it seriously, I realized that this is probably the oldest book I read in English. I am quite astonished at this. I don't know if it is due to the period in which it was written or the specific writing style of Michael Innes, but the language in which this book was written is a bit complicated. Very beautiful, but not easy for someone who is not a native speaker. It is full of intricate stylistic constructions, archaisms and words very rarely used in modern English. I had to get used to it. And devote more attention to this book than I usually do with other detective stories.
Despite this, I fully appreciate the well-constructed murder mystery that only a very limited number of people could commit. If I have any weakness when it comes to crime stories, I love it when different people tell their version of events one after the other, and these versions are completely unlike. The detective must decide which version is true or closest to the truth. I love this theme. And we have something like this here. Every now and then someone tells his version of the events on the night of the murder and then tells a completely different version as more clues and evidence are found. And the evidences are most of the time revealed intentionally or fabricated. Most of the time nothing makes sense. It's really a well-constructed mystery.
And not without some humor. First of all, we have a group of very characteristic and expressive characters, many of whom have comic features. There are also many funny scenes and dialogues. And even the whole thread that, although it adds nothing to the case, is an amusing interlude. Of course, I am talking about a group of pupils taking their chance in solving the case.
As for the ending, I really like it. It is not completely reliable but it perfectly matches all the events in the book and the relations between the characters. And again we have here the same story told by different people from different perspectives. I had a great time reading these last chapters.
The next book in this series is on my short TBR pile because of one of my reading challenges. I am not sure if I will read it right after this one but I will definitely do it soon. I hope it will be equally good.
February 23, 2017
Death at the President’s Lodging introduces readers to Inspector Appleby, at this point a young but rising detective with Scotland Yard. He is sent into the medieval confines of a (fictional) Oxford college, where the president has been murdered in his own study. Early on it becomes clear that the murderer is most likely one of the president’s colleagues, and in fact most of the investigation takes place, claustrophobically enough, within the walled confines of the college. (We do get to escape briefly with a few undergraduates, and even more briefly with Inspector Appleby.) The mystery unfolds through a series of intellectual debates and courteous conversations between the inspector and the scholars.
If this is not your cup of tea, you might well be bored. There isn’t a lot of skullduggery, and there are no further murders to ratchet up the suspense. But if you like the setting, you should find this story deeply absorbing. Michael Innes (in real life a British don named J. I. M. Stewart) challenges your focus at every turn, with a complicated series of events and clues buried in what appear to be idle academic chat. I love that he does not “write down” to his audience. There are a few self-indulgent bits (including a don-turned-mystery-writer whom the inspector finds charming and trusts instinctively—a bit on the self-congratulatory side), but the complexities of the murder and its unraveling should hold any true mystery lover’s attention. The dénouement itself is perhaps ridiculously elaborate, but isn’t that almost a requirement of the genre, at least for fiction of this period (it was first published in 1937)?
In this debut, Inspector Appleby is yet a bit unformed; we see all the action through his consciousness, but we see only what pertains to business. I have read all the other books in the series and mentally inserted some of what I previously learned, but even without a vivid central character, I found true pleasure from rolling in the vocabulary and rhythms of Innes’s style, from the rich and believable depiction of an English college and its cultures, from having to keep on my toes during every conversation. I hope more readers will discover the abstruse pleasures of J. I. M. Stewart’s work, both the mysteries written as Michael Innes and the pure fiction he wrote under his own name.
If this is not your cup of tea, you might well be bored. There isn’t a lot of skullduggery, and there are no further murders to ratchet up the suspense. But if you like the setting, you should find this story deeply absorbing. Michael Innes (in real life a British don named J. I. M. Stewart) challenges your focus at every turn, with a complicated series of events and clues buried in what appear to be idle academic chat. I love that he does not “write down” to his audience. There are a few self-indulgent bits (including a don-turned-mystery-writer whom the inspector finds charming and trusts instinctively—a bit on the self-congratulatory side), but the complexities of the murder and its unraveling should hold any true mystery lover’s attention. The dénouement itself is perhaps ridiculously elaborate, but isn’t that almost a requirement of the genre, at least for fiction of this period (it was first published in 1937)?
In this debut, Inspector Appleby is yet a bit unformed; we see all the action through his consciousness, but we see only what pertains to business. I have read all the other books in the series and mentally inserted some of what I previously learned, but even without a vivid central character, I found true pleasure from rolling in the vocabulary and rhythms of Innes’s style, from the rich and believable depiction of an English college and its cultures, from having to keep on my toes during every conversation. I hope more readers will discover the abstruse pleasures of J. I. M. Stewart’s work, both the mysteries written as Michael Innes and the pure fiction he wrote under his own name.
August 29, 2013
I have trouble with mysteries that start with a map of the premises. It's usually an early warning sign that events are going to be confusing, and the first Appleby mystery is no exception. Don't expect a synopsis of the action, because I found it confusing and hard to follow, not only because of the red herrings, crosses and double crosses, but because of the narration itself. In his first book, Innes seems to partake of the rarified atmosphere of Oxbridge academia to the point of being almost incomprehensible at times. The language at the beginning is stilted and unnatural while those rare beings, the academics, are introduced. Circumlocutions abound, even when narrating events as they happen. Then suddenly in the second half of the book the narrative voice becomes much more natural--thank goodness. However, as others have mentioned, I found the action and implications hard to follow and the professors difficult to tell apart. Perhaps this is partly due to the fact that the novel is very much of its time (1935), with some now quaintly old-fashioned ideas on anthropology, psychology, and even criminology. (Tell me, have the Germans really come up with a way of taking someone's fingerprints through gloves?) We are treated to statements such as this: "Every detective knows the importance of a history of mental unbalance. In real life murderers are not, on the whole, found among the chief constables and Cabinet ministers: they are found among the less normal portion of humanity." I see. And Cabinet ministers are by definition "normal." O tempore--o mores!
By the end of the book I was startled to realise that all the action takes place in the compass of about three days. During the intervening nights, Appleby spends a large amount of time wandering around in the dark over an unfamiliar college; like other police detectives he seems to manage without food or sleep. Halfway through, I had the feeling I'd been doing the same. The denouement gave me the feeling that to really understand what happened and what didn't, I'd need to read the whole book again--but by that time I didn't really want to.
I haven't given up yet; Innes wrote and published until the late 1980s, and perhaps his later work was better developed. In the meantime, if you want a cracking good 1930s academia thriller, may I recommend Dorothy Sayers' Gaudy Night. Apart from the occasional quotation, it's much more accessible to the modern reader.
By the end of the book I was startled to realise that all the action takes place in the compass of about three days. During the intervening nights, Appleby spends a large amount of time wandering around in the dark over an unfamiliar college; like other police detectives he seems to manage without food or sleep. Halfway through, I had the feeling I'd been doing the same. The denouement gave me the feeling that to really understand what happened and what didn't, I'd need to read the whole book again--but by that time I didn't really want to.
I haven't given up yet; Innes wrote and published until the late 1980s, and perhaps his later work was better developed. In the meantime, if you want a cracking good 1930s academia thriller, may I recommend Dorothy Sayers' Gaudy Night. Apart from the occasional quotation, it's much more accessible to the modern reader.
February 24, 2023
February 2017 -- I found this less slow this time around and more fun!
Review from March 2013:
Seven Suspects is the American title of Michael Innes' first Inspector Appleby book Death at the President's Lodging. The murder of a university president forms the basis of this version of a locked room mystery.
I found the beginning slow going, mostly due to Innes' style of prose. However, once I became accustomed to the style & the plot began to unfold, the story quickly engrossed me. I don't think this is the type of mystery where the reader can figure out who is guilty before the detective (I certainly didn't!) but Innes plays fair - there are no hidden clues or evidence only the detective is privy to. All in all, an excellent example of this genre of mystery.
Review from March 2013:
Seven Suspects is the American title of Michael Innes' first Inspector Appleby book Death at the President's Lodging. The murder of a university president forms the basis of this version of a locked room mystery.
I found the beginning slow going, mostly due to Innes' style of prose. However, once I became accustomed to the style & the plot began to unfold, the story quickly engrossed me. I don't think this is the type of mystery where the reader can figure out who is guilty before the detective (I certainly didn't!) but Innes plays fair - there are no hidden clues or evidence only the detective is privy to. All in all, an excellent example of this genre of mystery.
October 2, 2019
If you like your Scotland Yard detectives to be intelligent people, then you have found one in Detective Inspector Appleby. He's been sent by the home office to head the investigation into the shooting death of a university president. Clues -- and suspects -- abound. High-ranking members of the university fellows are among the suspects. Their intellectual acuity makes the investigation that much more difficult and convoluted.
This was a well-plotted whodunit that became tedious as the story dragged on -- at least for this reader.
This was a well-plotted whodunit that became tedious as the story dragged on -- at least for this reader.
December 13, 2017
Πολύ παλιό πια και οχι και τόσο κλασικό. Ευχάριστο όμως ανάγνωσμα.
August 26, 2022
This is a classic locked room mystery set at a college campus. I really enjoyed it. The detective doesn't have any baggage and is very quick. No strange quirks or silly sidekicks. Very refreshing.
The murder and its solution were clever and there were limited suspects. (An alternate title was Seven Suspects, apparently.)
I highly recommend it for a Golden Age mystery detective novel.
The murder and its solution were clever and there were limited suspects. (An alternate title was Seven Suspects, apparently.)
I highly recommend it for a Golden Age mystery detective novel.
August 16, 2017
First published in 1937, this is Michael Innes's first detective novel. This shows; it's certainly not a classic like Hamlet, Revenge! or Christmas at Candleshoe and, although it's still enjoyable in parts, it does begin to drag quite badly.
The plot, as may be imagined from the title, revolves around the murder of the President of a fictitious Oxford College. The circumstances are contrived, to say the least, but Innes notes this with some dry remarks from his protagonists and to begin with it's a decently put together mystery as the suspects are narrowed down to a small number of College dons. Events move pretty slowly, so the chief pleasure of this book is in Innes's prose and characterisations. There is a dry academic wit running through the whole thing, with an ironic tone toward the practices of the College and the conduct of its fellows – with all of which Innes himself was extremely familiar, of course. This little extract gives the idea; a rather stolid policeman is briefing the newly-arrived Inspector Appleby from Scotland Yard:
"..the Dean; he's called the Reverend the Honourable Tracy Deighton-Clerk.' (There was an indefinable salt in the inspector's mode of conveying this information.)"
If you like that, you'll probably like the book – as I did for quite a while. I found, though, that half way through it began to pall and that witty prose but a very contrived and complex plot being very slowly revealed wasn't really enough to carry the rest of the book. There is a great deal of very wordy consideration of the possibilities and despite some good interludes (Appleby's interview with Empson the psychologist, for example) it became a bit of a chore. It's an extremely intricate puzzle dependent upon precise timings and physical locations – without a map or plan to help – and whose dénouement is…well, implausible would be a kind way of putting it. It's intended to be an ironic academic take on the genre, I think, but it didn’t really work for me.
Having enjoyed the first half, I largely lost interest. I really struggled toward the end and was frankly relieved when I got there. If you like this sort of Golden Age detective fiction this is probably worth a read, but I can only give it a very qualified recommendation.
The plot, as may be imagined from the title, revolves around the murder of the President of a fictitious Oxford College. The circumstances are contrived, to say the least, but Innes notes this with some dry remarks from his protagonists and to begin with it's a decently put together mystery as the suspects are narrowed down to a small number of College dons. Events move pretty slowly, so the chief pleasure of this book is in Innes's prose and characterisations. There is a dry academic wit running through the whole thing, with an ironic tone toward the practices of the College and the conduct of its fellows – with all of which Innes himself was extremely familiar, of course. This little extract gives the idea; a rather stolid policeman is briefing the newly-arrived Inspector Appleby from Scotland Yard:
"..the Dean; he's called the Reverend the Honourable Tracy Deighton-Clerk.' (There was an indefinable salt in the inspector's mode of conveying this information.)"
If you like that, you'll probably like the book – as I did for quite a while. I found, though, that half way through it began to pall and that witty prose but a very contrived and complex plot being very slowly revealed wasn't really enough to carry the rest of the book. There is a great deal of very wordy consideration of the possibilities and despite some good interludes (Appleby's interview with Empson the psychologist, for example) it became a bit of a chore. It's an extremely intricate puzzle dependent upon precise timings and physical locations – without a map or plan to help – and whose dénouement is…well, implausible would be a kind way of putting it. It's intended to be an ironic academic take on the genre, I think, but it didn’t really work for me.
Having enjoyed the first half, I largely lost interest. I really struggled toward the end and was frankly relieved when I got there. If you like this sort of Golden Age detective fiction this is probably worth a read, but I can only give it a very qualified recommendation.
June 12, 2023
This novel was amazingly awful. I'm almost impressed, actually.
Originally titled Seven Suspects, even that is a misnomer, as its three suspects too many. Turns out that this convoluted whodunit is a tale of a murder and three intertwined coverups, which, after being meticulously picked apart, relies on the gross idea of mentally unbalanced people (1) being forever unbalanced, (2) amazing at mimicry, and (3) prone to impulsive violence, including fatally against oneself. The triple-layer coverup made absolutely no sense. Plus there's a whole, unecessary tangent of this gang of undergraduates investigating on their own which could've been wholly removed with nothing of value being lost.
How this mess of a book became the first in a frightfully long series is beyond me. Appleby is barely two dimensional, but I've seen him in later works where he is an actual, interesting character, so I will likely dip back into this series at some point, but YIKES. This does not encourage me to do it with anything approaching haste!
Originally titled Seven Suspects, even that is a misnomer, as its three suspects too many. Turns out that this convoluted whodunit is a tale of a murder and three intertwined coverups, which, after being meticulously picked apart, relies on the gross idea of mentally unbalanced people (1) being forever unbalanced, (2) amazing at mimicry, and (3) prone to impulsive violence, including fatally against oneself. The triple-layer coverup made absolutely no sense. Plus there's a whole, unecessary tangent of this gang of undergraduates investigating on their own which could've been wholly removed with nothing of value being lost.
How this mess of a book became the first in a frightfully long series is beyond me. Appleby is barely two dimensional, but I've seen him in later works where he is an actual, interesting character, so I will likely dip back into this series at some point, but YIKES. This does not encourage me to do it with anything approaching haste!
June 18, 2022
This is the first Inspector John Appleby mystery, set firmly within the Golden Age of Detective Fiction (betwen the wars) and very much in that style. Dr Josiah Umpleby, President of St Anthony's College, has been shot and Inspector Appleby is sent to help local authority, Inspector Dodd, discover the murderer. The mystery is very much an academic exercise, with Appleby outlining possible suspects, motives and methods. Of course, there are many red herrings and much confusion, involving professional arguments, academic digressions and many misleading clues. The book is a little dry at the beginning, but if you enjoy novels set in this era and this type of academic mystery, then you will really enjoy it.
Appleby is a very intelligent, well read hero, whose abilities in deduction consist more in considering and working out the clues, rather than in action. There is a wonderful scene at the end, where Appleby, in time honoured fashion, addresses the Fellows of the College and outlines what and how happened. Finally, there is also an excellent bibliography and synopses of the author's books, which will entice you to try the next in the series.
Appleby is a very intelligent, well read hero, whose abilities in deduction consist more in considering and working out the clues, rather than in action. There is a wonderful scene at the end, where Appleby, in time honoured fashion, addresses the Fellows of the College and outlines what and how happened. Finally, there is also an excellent bibliography and synopses of the author's books, which will entice you to try the next in the series.
May 19, 2015
In Death at the President’s Lodging Innes (as I shall continue to call him now) created an intricately plotted mystery – the full solution to which I would say is fairly impossible to work out. The atmosphere of a 1930’s male dominated world of fusty academics is brilliantly re-created here. There are more than a few references to ancient and classical academic study that were a little over my head I confess – but certainly help to set the novel and the characters in the context of their world. Due to the aforementioned book hangover I took a while to settle into this narrative, nevertheless, I came to appreciate it as a very well written mystery. Quietly and a little ponderously written, Death at the President’s Lodging takes slow and careful reading, there is little in the way of action – and the interplay and dialogue between characters drives much of the mystery.
full review: https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2015/...
full review: https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2015/...
January 12, 2017
Este es un libro que disfruté pero entiendo que quien no sea tan aficionado al género policíaco clásico, pueda resultarle algo.. pesado? máxime si se tratara de un primer acercamiento a un típico caso de asesinado de habitación cerrada, aquí un College, porque en Muerte en la rectoría, aparecen en el final de la resolución de la investigación, tantos implicados que puede llegar a parecer enrevesado, pero no por ello carente de lógica.
Me ha gustado la escritura elegante de Innes (pudiera a otros por el contrario, tediosa una prosa con esa riqueza de vocabulario) con ese toque sutil de humor británico, y con ingeniosas conversaciones como corresponde a tan eruditos personajes que pululan en ese ficticio ambiente universitario plagado de rectores excéntricos; al igual que también me ha gustado las numerosas referencias a la literatura en general y detectivesca sobre todo, algo que a muchos saca de quicio y a mi me encanta comprobar cuantas se hallan en mi conocimiento.
Me ha gustado la escritura elegante de Innes (pudiera a otros por el contrario, tediosa una prosa con esa riqueza de vocabulario) con ese toque sutil de humor británico, y con ingeniosas conversaciones como corresponde a tan eruditos personajes que pululan en ese ficticio ambiente universitario plagado de rectores excéntricos; al igual que también me ha gustado las numerosas referencias a la literatura en general y detectivesca sobre todo, algo que a muchos saca de quicio y a mi me encanta comprobar cuantas se hallan en mi conocimiento.
July 18, 2011
From the back of the book: At St. Anthony's College, Inspector John Appley must contend with academic intrigues, scholarly scandals, and one very clever killer.
Murder in the sanctity of an english university was bad enough; but such a vulgar, ungentlemanly murder--bones scattered about the room, a grotesque drawing of grinning death's-heads scrawled on the wall, and poor President Umpleby's head wrapped in an academic robe--was a serious blot on the college's reputation. In this complex and brilliantly resolved mystery Inspector John Appleby matches withs with some of the smartest--and most devious--suspects he has ever encountered.
My take: My favorite Appleby...with an academic setting! Four and a half stars.
Murder in the sanctity of an english university was bad enough; but such a vulgar, ungentlemanly murder--bones scattered about the room, a grotesque drawing of grinning death's-heads scrawled on the wall, and poor President Umpleby's head wrapped in an academic robe--was a serious blot on the college's reputation. In this complex and brilliantly resolved mystery Inspector John Appleby matches withs with some of the smartest--and most devious--suspects he has ever encountered.
My take: My favorite Appleby...with an academic setting! Four and a half stars.
June 14, 2013
Sadly did not appeal to me. I found it very dry and not enough to keep me interested in the characters. Will have to try another to see if it was just this particular story.
August 8, 2017
El whodunit literario —el quién lo hizo dentro de la novela detectivesca de enigma y nacido principalmente en la Golden Age y predecesor de la Sensation Novel de la época victoriana—, dispone de una categoría dentro de sí mismo que es el crimen de habitación cerrada, o sea, aquel que se comete en una habitación de la que no es posible entrar o salir. Muerte en la rectoría, el primer caso del detective Appleby, es un claro ejemplo donde se combina el whodunit y un crimen de estas características y donde Michael Innes, cuyo nombre verdadero era John Innes Mackintosh Stewart, publicó en 1936 esta primera novela titulada en inglés Death At the President’s Lodging. Ediciones Siruela recupera a uno de los mejores detectives de la Golden Age con la primera novela de la serie de Appleby.
El rector de St. Anthony’s College es asesinado en su habitación de la facultad, habitación cerrada con llave. El resto de los profesores serán los principales sospechosos del crimen ya que todos parecen tener alguna cosa que ocultar. El inspector Appleby, junto con su ayudante Dodd, deberán averiguar quién lo hizo así como también competir con las mentes más brillantes del claustro de educadores. (El St. Anthony’s College es una universidad ficticia tomada a imagen de los college de Oxford donde el autor estudió literatura inglesa).
Muy interesante es este primer libro de Michael Innes donde... http://www.abrirunlibro.com/2017/08/m...
El rector de St. Anthony’s College es asesinado en su habitación de la facultad, habitación cerrada con llave. El resto de los profesores serán los principales sospechosos del crimen ya que todos parecen tener alguna cosa que ocultar. El inspector Appleby, junto con su ayudante Dodd, deberán averiguar quién lo hizo así como también competir con las mentes más brillantes del claustro de educadores. (El St. Anthony’s College es una universidad ficticia tomada a imagen de los college de Oxford donde el autor estudió literatura inglesa).
Muy interesante es este primer libro de Michael Innes donde... http://www.abrirunlibro.com/2017/08/m...
February 7, 2019
"Inspector John Appleby has a difficult and delicate task when he investigates the murder of the unpopular Josiah Umpleby of St. Anthony's College. The crime is at once intriguing and bizarre, efficient and theatrical -- and, intellectually, it is the most challenging crime of his career. For Appleby must pick his way through the malicious gossip and learned squabbles of the college's brightest academics and sift through an embarrassment of clues -- genuine and planted.
"But with the unexpected aid of three precocious undergraduates -- and the St. Anthony's burglar -- a subtle killer is unmasked and the devious dons find that the oddest thing about the case is Appleby himself ..."
back cover
I just couldn't get into this book. It's sat on my nightstand for almost a month ... never getting the inspiration to read past page 67. Why not? I can't put my finger on why not, unless it's very convoluted and pompous language that put me off. I might have persevered but I've got over 900 books in my TBR piles, and can't read fast enough to make a dent. Better then on to a book I'll enjoy more.
"But with the unexpected aid of three precocious undergraduates -- and the St. Anthony's burglar -- a subtle killer is unmasked and the devious dons find that the oddest thing about the case is Appleby himself ..."
back cover
I just couldn't get into this book. It's sat on my nightstand for almost a month ... never getting the inspiration to read past page 67. Why not? I can't put my finger on why not, unless it's very convoluted and pompous language that put me off. I might have persevered but I've got over 900 books in my TBR piles, and can't read fast enough to make a dent. Better then on to a book I'll enjoy more.
Read
October 26, 2017This is the start of a very long classic detective series, revolving around an Inspector Appleby. I couldn't really keep my interest in it. While I think the audiobook narrator contributed to this, the story just felt bogged down and wordy. It did pick up toward the end, and I think the denouement was meant to be comedic, but I probably won't go on with this series.
If not for a reference to Mae West and two lines from a laundress, this book would appear to exist in a world without women.
Content warning: outright equates criminality with mental illness.
If not for a reference to Mae West and two lines from a laundress, this book would appear to exist in a world without women.
Content warning: outright equates criminality with mental illness.
February 8, 2015
I could have wished for a bit more drawing out of these characters, particularly because the suspects were all of a similar type and therefore a bit difficult to keep straight. Good fun, otherwise, though; the prose is intelligent and there is even a surprisingly effective streak of humor running throughout. I particularly enjoyed the denouement as the intelligence and quick-thinking qualities of the suspects were brought into play. Plausible? No, but who reads mysteries like these for their plausibility? A good puzzle and the solution was very entertaining and in keeping with the characters and setting. I'll definitely be seeking out more by this author and I'm very excited at the prospect!
Favorite quotes:
"Tapp reflected for a moment. 'Well, you see, sir,' he said at length, 'by flurry I wouldn't quite mean scurry, and by scurry I would mean hagitation. I 'ope that's clear. And certainly Dr. Humpleby was in a nurry'" (23).
"A certain amount of Appleby's work lay among persons of considerable cunning. Occasionally he had the stimulus of crossing swords with a good or excellent natural intelligence. But for the most part he dealt with sub-average intelligence, or with normal intelligence circumscribed and handicapped by deficient training and knowledge. And here was what might be intellectually the case of his life. Here was a society of men much above the average in intelligence, the product of a variety of severe mental trainings, formidably armed with knowledge. The secret was hidden amongst them and intelligence and athletic thinking would be needed to reveal it" (62).
"Appleby knew how, on the level of intellectual dispute, these men would toss a ball around in just that way, each trying to embarrass the other. It was the habit in any mentally athletic society, no doubt; and no doubt the same process would have its pleasures on the level of scandal and gossip. But when it was a case of murder that was in question...?" (65)
"'You are a nasty, unwholesome, misshapen, degenerate and altogether lousy scion of outworn privilege. And the increasing unpleasantness of your personal habits, your thick and incoherent utterance, your shambling gait, and above all your embarrassing and indeed painful inability to talk sense have long since convinced David and myself - though we have striven to conceal it - that you are already undermined beyond human aid by the effects of retributive disease'" (99).
"'Suppose he had two personalities, a and b. And a was, say, a blackmailer. And a knew about the existence of b but b didn't know about a. And now suppose his murderer happened to be a split personality too - with three personalities: x knowing about y but not z, y knowing - '" (101).
"'And that the police would get to the bottom of an elaborate piece of ingenuity planned by such a man I had very little hope. Nobody, I think, could have predicted the arrival of an officer of Mr. Appleby's perspicacity'" (232).
Favorite quotes:
"Tapp reflected for a moment. 'Well, you see, sir,' he said at length, 'by flurry I wouldn't quite mean scurry, and by scurry I would mean hagitation. I 'ope that's clear. And certainly Dr. Humpleby was in a nurry'" (23).
"A certain amount of Appleby's work lay among persons of considerable cunning. Occasionally he had the stimulus of crossing swords with a good or excellent natural intelligence. But for the most part he dealt with sub-average intelligence, or with normal intelligence circumscribed and handicapped by deficient training and knowledge. And here was what might be intellectually the case of his life. Here was a society of men much above the average in intelligence, the product of a variety of severe mental trainings, formidably armed with knowledge. The secret was hidden amongst them and intelligence and athletic thinking would be needed to reveal it" (62).
"Appleby knew how, on the level of intellectual dispute, these men would toss a ball around in just that way, each trying to embarrass the other. It was the habit in any mentally athletic society, no doubt; and no doubt the same process would have its pleasures on the level of scandal and gossip. But when it was a case of murder that was in question...?" (65)
"'You are a nasty, unwholesome, misshapen, degenerate and altogether lousy scion of outworn privilege. And the increasing unpleasantness of your personal habits, your thick and incoherent utterance, your shambling gait, and above all your embarrassing and indeed painful inability to talk sense have long since convinced David and myself - though we have striven to conceal it - that you are already undermined beyond human aid by the effects of retributive disease'" (99).
"'Suppose he had two personalities, a and b. And a was, say, a blackmailer. And a knew about the existence of b but b didn't know about a. And now suppose his murderer happened to be a split personality too - with three personalities: x knowing about y but not z, y knowing - '" (101).
"'And that the police would get to the bottom of an elaborate piece of ingenuity planned by such a man I had very little hope. Nobody, I think, could have predicted the arrival of an officer of Mr. Appleby's perspicacity'" (232).
September 25, 2020
Death at the President’s Lodging aka Seven Suspects by Michael Innes
11 out of 10
This is a phenomenal, outstanding masterpiece that transcends the ‘roman policier’ genre, refined, intellectual, sublime as it is, the murder at The President’s Lodging – for it is not an accidental or self-inflicted, it is violent and surrounded by an incredible web of deception, analysis, insight, incursions into the classics, smart detectives, the ‘village constable’ is capable of quoting literature inaccessible to the leaders of the world today – granted, though some are very stable geniuses, humanity is largely in the hands of Caligulas, from the US of Erica to Brazil, from Russia to China and North Korea or Saudi Arabia would not end a very long list – involves intellectuals of the highest order, the crème de la crème of luminaries.
It is perhaps extraordinary and also silly to say that this reader has been exhilarated by this magnum opus, in contrast with the rather difficult to digest, but nevertheless a much more appreciated landmark, a classic of world literature – if we are to compare, Death at the Lodging does not even have a Wikipedia page, whereas the book finished yesterday, after suffering and escapism into other realms, universes parallel and not corresponding with Dickens, has been read by maybe tens of millions or more – that has been more of a duty to bring to an end for yours truly, unsatisfied with A Tale of Two Cities http://realini.blogspot.com/2020/09/a... ...yes, it is condemnable, but ‘it is what it is’ to quote Michele Obama, who was in turn mocking the stable genius and his calamitous response to the pandemic…which was basically lie about it to get elected, notwithstanding the number of dead…’losers and suckers anyway’
The atmosphere, the characters, the literary references, and the philosophical ones, the brilliance of the plot, the exquisite pleasure in following a captivating detective story - even if the idea of writing this type of novel is satirized and professor Gott, who writes successful yarns in his spare time, is the subject of irony- all contribute to an extraordinary experience when engaged with Inspector Appleby, detached from London to solve the mystery and bring back peace and equanimity to an otherwise tranquil place for study and education.
President Umpleby of the fictional St. Anthony college is found dead in his quarters, shot with a pistol, the sound of which is heard at eleven o’clock at night, just as one of the professors, Titlow, is about to visit him, as he usually does once a week, accompanied by the butler…the two are startled by a gunshot – at least this is what they think they hear and by the way, no spoiler alerts would be needed, I think, in that at this stage, the under signed does not appear to be inclined to divulge the name of the killer, and then who reads this and then hurries to find the novel anyway, but there would be indications of some clues that are not obvious from the first few pages and hence, if you have come this far and really think about finding this fabulous book (which should be available on one of the free access sites, since it is quite old and the copyright does not cover it anymore, probably) then you might take the step to avoid reading further…
When Titlow and the butler enter the President’s Lodging, they find him dead, with his head wrapped in what turns out to be the special coat of one of the visiting scholars, Professor Borocho, and the corpse is surrounded by…many bones, with some chalk drawings on the wall – as suggested already, I cannot help but hint here and there on what the whole kerfuffle involves, on the other hand, we might have the ‘hypothetical you’ (as in it is not sure that anybody would reach this stage and why should they) granted the permission to carry on, for even with small clues like the bones come from Australia and they belonged to aborigines – most of the professors are engaged in suited connected with anthropology, though all have fantastic, brilliant capabilities – which are all alter egos of the even more mesmerizing Michael Innes, the Beatific Mind that has concocted this spectacular, erudite, engaging, extravagant plot and construction – one is still at a loss to grasp what is going on, for the more you read, the more complicated it gets.
Finally, when we arrive at the conclusions, which wait in good fashion for the last chapters, the scheme is so complicated as to remind one of other overwhelming constructs, such as The Hollow Man http://realini.blogspot.com/2020/09/t... ...in the Death at the Lodging though, there is a unique situation, with a ‘submarine’ in the middle of the establishment, wherein and where from only a select few have access, given that there are only ten keys – the inspector thinks about the excellent climber that is destined to reach Everest one day, at the time of the Death, the peak had not yet been climbed – and the enclosure appears to leave only Seven Suspects, which is the other title for the narrative…
The first one to be presumed a suspect would be professor Haveland, who, endowed with a magnificent intellect – just like all involved – has had one breakdown that is public knowledge, and yet another that is something of a secret up to one point…furthermore, he has declared in front of two witnesses that he ‘wishes the president to be interred in his sarcophagi’ or something to that effect, an expressed hatred, a death wish that would surely place him at the top of the list of potential killers, associated with the aborigine bones that surround the cadaver, who are proved to belong to Haveland, if this detail would not be dismissed as too preposterous, for how on earth would a criminal decide to frame himself, by surrounding the victim with his ‘fingerprints ‘so to say…unless of course, this is not a more sophisticated game, maybe to be expected from this elite, crème de la crème of intellectuals, and the killer places a frame that would exclude him exactly by being too obvious.
Others have motives to have committed the crime, one or another had also expressed a death wish, as in one case, when another suspect said ‘you are the likeliest murderee’ – again, this is not a quote but just the general idea of the statement – and when they study more, it is found that the elven o’clock shot has not killed Umpleby – who has more than mischievous, but outright obnoxious quite often, pleased to antagonize and generate intellectual and property fights with the others, thus rendering most of them in the position of potential murders – who had died earlier, let us limit details to that, and then there is an extraordinary, impossible to untangle web of incriminations, where Haveland would wish somebody else to be accused, Titlow is sure that he knows who the killer is (though others are convinced he did it) and then he quotes an anecdote involving Kant…the legendary philosopher has coined ‘categorical imperative’ and apparently he has also said that one has to tell the truth no matter the circumstances, even if you help a killer with that, a statement that Titlow places on its head, arguing that even if you create a false situation, it is the right thing, if that serves to catch the killer…what a fantastic magnum opus!
11 out of 10
This is a phenomenal, outstanding masterpiece that transcends the ‘roman policier’ genre, refined, intellectual, sublime as it is, the murder at The President’s Lodging – for it is not an accidental or self-inflicted, it is violent and surrounded by an incredible web of deception, analysis, insight, incursions into the classics, smart detectives, the ‘village constable’ is capable of quoting literature inaccessible to the leaders of the world today – granted, though some are very stable geniuses, humanity is largely in the hands of Caligulas, from the US of Erica to Brazil, from Russia to China and North Korea or Saudi Arabia would not end a very long list – involves intellectuals of the highest order, the crème de la crème of luminaries.
It is perhaps extraordinary and also silly to say that this reader has been exhilarated by this magnum opus, in contrast with the rather difficult to digest, but nevertheless a much more appreciated landmark, a classic of world literature – if we are to compare, Death at the Lodging does not even have a Wikipedia page, whereas the book finished yesterday, after suffering and escapism into other realms, universes parallel and not corresponding with Dickens, has been read by maybe tens of millions or more – that has been more of a duty to bring to an end for yours truly, unsatisfied with A Tale of Two Cities http://realini.blogspot.com/2020/09/a... ...yes, it is condemnable, but ‘it is what it is’ to quote Michele Obama, who was in turn mocking the stable genius and his calamitous response to the pandemic…which was basically lie about it to get elected, notwithstanding the number of dead…’losers and suckers anyway’
The atmosphere, the characters, the literary references, and the philosophical ones, the brilliance of the plot, the exquisite pleasure in following a captivating detective story - even if the idea of writing this type of novel is satirized and professor Gott, who writes successful yarns in his spare time, is the subject of irony- all contribute to an extraordinary experience when engaged with Inspector Appleby, detached from London to solve the mystery and bring back peace and equanimity to an otherwise tranquil place for study and education.
President Umpleby of the fictional St. Anthony college is found dead in his quarters, shot with a pistol, the sound of which is heard at eleven o’clock at night, just as one of the professors, Titlow, is about to visit him, as he usually does once a week, accompanied by the butler…the two are startled by a gunshot – at least this is what they think they hear and by the way, no spoiler alerts would be needed, I think, in that at this stage, the under signed does not appear to be inclined to divulge the name of the killer, and then who reads this and then hurries to find the novel anyway, but there would be indications of some clues that are not obvious from the first few pages and hence, if you have come this far and really think about finding this fabulous book (which should be available on one of the free access sites, since it is quite old and the copyright does not cover it anymore, probably) then you might take the step to avoid reading further…
When Titlow and the butler enter the President’s Lodging, they find him dead, with his head wrapped in what turns out to be the special coat of one of the visiting scholars, Professor Borocho, and the corpse is surrounded by…many bones, with some chalk drawings on the wall – as suggested already, I cannot help but hint here and there on what the whole kerfuffle involves, on the other hand, we might have the ‘hypothetical you’ (as in it is not sure that anybody would reach this stage and why should they) granted the permission to carry on, for even with small clues like the bones come from Australia and they belonged to aborigines – most of the professors are engaged in suited connected with anthropology, though all have fantastic, brilliant capabilities – which are all alter egos of the even more mesmerizing Michael Innes, the Beatific Mind that has concocted this spectacular, erudite, engaging, extravagant plot and construction – one is still at a loss to grasp what is going on, for the more you read, the more complicated it gets.
Finally, when we arrive at the conclusions, which wait in good fashion for the last chapters, the scheme is so complicated as to remind one of other overwhelming constructs, such as The Hollow Man http://realini.blogspot.com/2020/09/t... ...in the Death at the Lodging though, there is a unique situation, with a ‘submarine’ in the middle of the establishment, wherein and where from only a select few have access, given that there are only ten keys – the inspector thinks about the excellent climber that is destined to reach Everest one day, at the time of the Death, the peak had not yet been climbed – and the enclosure appears to leave only Seven Suspects, which is the other title for the narrative…
The first one to be presumed a suspect would be professor Haveland, who, endowed with a magnificent intellect – just like all involved – has had one breakdown that is public knowledge, and yet another that is something of a secret up to one point…furthermore, he has declared in front of two witnesses that he ‘wishes the president to be interred in his sarcophagi’ or something to that effect, an expressed hatred, a death wish that would surely place him at the top of the list of potential killers, associated with the aborigine bones that surround the cadaver, who are proved to belong to Haveland, if this detail would not be dismissed as too preposterous, for how on earth would a criminal decide to frame himself, by surrounding the victim with his ‘fingerprints ‘so to say…unless of course, this is not a more sophisticated game, maybe to be expected from this elite, crème de la crème of intellectuals, and the killer places a frame that would exclude him exactly by being too obvious.
Others have motives to have committed the crime, one or another had also expressed a death wish, as in one case, when another suspect said ‘you are the likeliest murderee’ – again, this is not a quote but just the general idea of the statement – and when they study more, it is found that the elven o’clock shot has not killed Umpleby – who has more than mischievous, but outright obnoxious quite often, pleased to antagonize and generate intellectual and property fights with the others, thus rendering most of them in the position of potential murders – who had died earlier, let us limit details to that, and then there is an extraordinary, impossible to untangle web of incriminations, where Haveland would wish somebody else to be accused, Titlow is sure that he knows who the killer is (though others are convinced he did it) and then he quotes an anecdote involving Kant…the legendary philosopher has coined ‘categorical imperative’ and apparently he has also said that one has to tell the truth no matter the circumstances, even if you help a killer with that, a statement that Titlow places on its head, arguing that even if you create a false situation, it is the right thing, if that serves to catch the killer…what a fantastic magnum opus!
February 25, 2012
Originally published on my blog here& in August 2000.
It is hardly surprising that this novel (about the murder of an Oxbridge college president) was retitled Seven Suspects for its American edition; its original title would clearly give a completely different impression from its actual content.
Innes uses the way that colleges like St Anthony's were shut off from the world at night time to isolate his small group of suspects - like a "submarine" as one of the characters puts it. These boundaries are usually fairly permeable; most people who have lived in a college will probably know of at least one way to get in after the gates close. St Anthony's is made more secure, so that the list of suspects is essentially the same as the list of key holders. The idea that someone may have got into the college or through another internal division is repeatedly introduced, teasingly, only to be rejected each time.
The mystery in Death at the President's Lodging must be one of the most convoluted in the whole genre of detective fiction, with several plots and deceptions carried out both by innocent and guilty parties. Innes is scrupulously fair, but I would challenge anyone to put together all the details of the solution correctly before Inspector Appleby reveals them in the last pages of the novel.
If you like this style of detection, something closely related to Agatha Christie, then you'll like this novel; if not, then you'll probably find it rather tiresome.
It is hardly surprising that this novel (about the murder of an Oxbridge college president) was retitled Seven Suspects for its American edition; its original title would clearly give a completely different impression from its actual content.
Innes uses the way that colleges like St Anthony's were shut off from the world at night time to isolate his small group of suspects - like a "submarine" as one of the characters puts it. These boundaries are usually fairly permeable; most people who have lived in a college will probably know of at least one way to get in after the gates close. St Anthony's is made more secure, so that the list of suspects is essentially the same as the list of key holders. The idea that someone may have got into the college or through another internal division is repeatedly introduced, teasingly, only to be rejected each time.
The mystery in Death at the President's Lodging must be one of the most convoluted in the whole genre of detective fiction, with several plots and deceptions carried out both by innocent and guilty parties. Innes is scrupulously fair, but I would challenge anyone to put together all the details of the solution correctly before Inspector Appleby reveals them in the last pages of the novel.
If you like this style of detection, something closely related to Agatha Christie, then you'll like this novel; if not, then you'll probably find it rather tiresome.
October 3, 2010
A preposterously complex murder mystery plot provides context for the author's and Inspector John Appleby's acute observations of human foibles. Witty, clever and complex, it's a high-style detective story, but it's still just a detective story, with the limited literary aspirations that that implies. Great fun.
August 12, 2020
It took me a long time to read this slim volume. It was a hectic time that I tried to squeeze this in, and it is not meant to be read in the speed that I did. I know this for a fact because there were times when I slowed down and realised I was missing savouring some excellent dialogues.
I have read and reviewed a few other books by the author and enjoyed it. The last time I reviewed his book, I decided to start from the beginning to understand the series better. The first book was readily available at the library, so I went ahead and read it. The story is quite simple- a detective is sent down to find the killer of the President of a college. A man(the President) not liked by the people who he associated with (for various reasons), but someone who nonetheless held a lot of power as well as the literal keys to the place. Appleby, who is sent to sort this out, is an intelligent man and better educated than the people of his profession usually are, setting him in a no man’s world. He is comfortable with the professors and students in their world till they re-realise the fact that he is down there to identify one of them as having done the deed. The local police head doing the initial investigation knows Appleby from an earlier encounter and is therefore not as offended by his presence as he could have otherwise been. Finally, the meandering route the tale takes over two days had my struggling to keep up, but the ending was almost hilarious, and I did not feel cheated in the least. I gave this fewer stars than my other reads because of the time it took for me to get through it as well as the fact that I did enjoy the later works more.
Someday maybe I will continue reading this series, although I do not see it happening any time soon!
https://superfluousreading.wordpress....
I have read and reviewed a few other books by the author and enjoyed it. The last time I reviewed his book, I decided to start from the beginning to understand the series better. The first book was readily available at the library, so I went ahead and read it. The story is quite simple- a detective is sent down to find the killer of the President of a college. A man(the President) not liked by the people who he associated with (for various reasons), but someone who nonetheless held a lot of power as well as the literal keys to the place. Appleby, who is sent to sort this out, is an intelligent man and better educated than the people of his profession usually are, setting him in a no man’s world. He is comfortable with the professors and students in their world till they re-realise the fact that he is down there to identify one of them as having done the deed. The local police head doing the initial investigation knows Appleby from an earlier encounter and is therefore not as offended by his presence as he could have otherwise been. Finally, the meandering route the tale takes over two days had my struggling to keep up, but the ending was almost hilarious, and I did not feel cheated in the least. I gave this fewer stars than my other reads because of the time it took for me to get through it as well as the fact that I did enjoy the later works more.
Someday maybe I will continue reading this series, although I do not see it happening any time soon!
https://superfluousreading.wordpress....
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August 17, 2019Published 1936.
First in the Inspector Appleby series. University setting. Not sure if Innes is using complex sentences and, what seem today as, obscure references: Trent's Last Case, Stubbs's Select Charters, The Forsyte Saga, Montaigne, De Quincey, and Kant to name a few, in order to firmly place the reader in the university atmosphere, or as a way to use his own Oxford education.
1. Detective mystery, by E.C. Bentley, pub. 1913, U.K.
2. Origins of English constitutional history.
3. Novel; winner of 1932 Nobel Prize for Literature, by John Galsworthy, comprised of writings previously published between 1906 and 1921.
4. French philosopher, statesman, late 1500s.
5. Fictional satirical essay: Murder considered as one of the fine arts.
6. Once considered as one of the most important thinkers in Europe. Intuition is independent from objective reality.
You can sort it out, Be warned all of the above were referenced within a few paragraphs during Appleby's investigation.
No judgement here.
Will try the second Inspector Appleby novel just to see how Innes handles it.
Recommended for retired university Dons.
First in the Inspector Appleby series. University setting. Not sure if Innes is using complex sentences and, what seem today as, obscure references: Trent's Last Case, Stubbs's Select Charters, The Forsyte Saga, Montaigne, De Quincey, and Kant to name a few, in order to firmly place the reader in the university atmosphere, or as a way to use his own Oxford education.
1. Detective mystery, by E.C. Bentley, pub. 1913, U.K.
2. Origins of English constitutional history.
3. Novel; winner of 1932 Nobel Prize for Literature, by John Galsworthy, comprised of writings previously published between 1906 and 1921.
4. French philosopher, statesman, late 1500s.
5. Fictional satirical essay: Murder considered as one of the fine arts.
6. Once considered as one of the most important thinkers in Europe. Intuition is independent from objective reality.
You can sort it out, Be warned all of the above were referenced within a few paragraphs during Appleby's investigation.
No judgement here.
Will try the second Inspector Appleby novel just to see how Innes handles it.
Recommended for retired university Dons.
January 26, 2021
I found this book to be hard going, mostly due to the many foreign (i.e. 1930s British) terms, unusual words, classical references, and more that I can't think of at the moment. The author was definitely a very erudite individual and it shows. How many times have you run into the word "inspissated" in a book? There were any number of other little-used or obsolete words used by the author. If I hadn't been reading a Kindle edition and could therefore readily look up whatever puzzled me, I might have given up early on. Whether this is typical of the entire series I have yet to learn. Maybe because the story took place in an Oxbridge college 80 years ago the author had to match the setting in vocabulary and ideas. The plot was very convoluted and I got lost time and time again, but that's okay. I can still recommend the book, but just be aware that if you're not reading an e-version, keep a dictionary and a compact encyclopedia handy.
July 28, 2019
Funny and brilliant and "meta" -- an Oxford professor wrote this mystery under a pseudonym in which one of the suspects is a professor who writes mysteries under a pseudonym. A classic of the genre, a great pleasure to read, highly recommended.
I'm giving it four stars instead of 5 because I was not happy with the murderer, but i'm not going to explain further both because I don't like to include spoilers in my reviews, and because it might not bother you, in which case why detract from your pleasure with my quibble? I'm certainly glad I read this, and I enjoyed it way too much to really care about my little reservation about the culprit.
When I first met my wonderful mentor, Gale Erlandson, she told me that Michael Innes was one of her favorite mystery authors, and warned me it was hard to find his books -- which I have found to be true. So imagine my delight when some friends who were moving had a whole shelf of his books and invited me to give them a home! This is the first one I've read, and if the rest are half as good, I've got a whole lot of reading pleasure ahead of me!
I'm giving it four stars instead of 5 because I was not happy with the murderer, but i'm not going to explain further both because I don't like to include spoilers in my reviews, and because it might not bother you, in which case why detract from your pleasure with my quibble? I'm certainly glad I read this, and I enjoyed it way too much to really care about my little reservation about the culprit.
When I first met my wonderful mentor, Gale Erlandson, she told me that Michael Innes was one of her favorite mystery authors, and warned me it was hard to find his books -- which I have found to be true. So imagine my delight when some friends who were moving had a whole shelf of his books and invited me to give them a home! This is the first one I've read, and if the rest are half as good, I've got a whole lot of reading pleasure ahead of me!
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