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The Case of the Journeying Boy
Humphrey Paxton, the son of one of Britain's leading atomic boffins, has taken to carrying a shotgun to 'shoot plotters and blackmailers and spies'. His new tutor, the plodding Mr Thewless, suggests that Humphrey might be overdoing it somewhat. But when a man is found shot dead at a cinema, Mr Thewless is plunged into a nightmare world of lies, kidnapping and murder - and grave matters of national security.
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1949
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147 people want to read
About the author
Michael Innes
123 books88 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 - 26 of 26 reviews
December 18, 2017
4.5*
One of the things I like about (most) Innes' mysteries is his writing style. It won't appeal to everyone but I enjoy the way he uses language. In the first chapter, for example, Mr. Threwless is examining Sir Bernard Paxton's library and thinks of the furniture as covered in "horripilant velvet" -- I was unfamiliar with the word and could have passed it by assuming it was a fancy way of saying 'horrid' but decided to look up the word. The Merriam Webster online dictionary gave me this:
horripilation: a bristling of the hair of the head or body (as from disease, terror, or chilliness); goose bumps
What a great description of some types of velvet. And no wonder Mr. Threwless couldn't bring himself to sit on it!
I also enjoy the way Innes slyly pokes fun at himself & others who write mysteries and thrillers:
At one point on the train to Ireland, when Mr. Threwless is becoming suspicious of people & events that had occurred, there is this passage:
"Mr. Threwless halted, amazed at himself. He never read gangster stories. He never even read that milder sensational fiction, nicely top-dressed with a compost of literature and the arts, which is the produced by idle persons living in colleges and rectories."
Some readers might find that the "real plot" doesn't get going until the second half of the book (in which Threwless and his pupil Humphrey have some exciting adventures reminiscent of John Buchan's Richard Hannay) but I thought that the struggle Mr. Threwless undergoes during the train trip (deciding if Humphrey is an imposter or is mad or is just what he seems) fascinating. As much as I read suspense novels, I am sure that I would react in a very similar way if I was actually confronted by such a situation.
One of the things I like about (most) Innes' mysteries is his writing style. It won't appeal to everyone but I enjoy the way he uses language. In the first chapter, for example, Mr. Threwless is examining Sir Bernard Paxton's library and thinks of the furniture as covered in "horripilant velvet" -- I was unfamiliar with the word and could have passed it by assuming it was a fancy way of saying 'horrid' but decided to look up the word. The Merriam Webster online dictionary gave me this:
horripilation: a bristling of the hair of the head or body (as from disease, terror, or chilliness); goose bumps
What a great description of some types of velvet. And no wonder Mr. Threwless couldn't bring himself to sit on it!
I also enjoy the way Innes slyly pokes fun at himself & others who write mysteries and thrillers:
At one point on the train to Ireland, when Mr. Threwless is becoming suspicious of people & events that had occurred, there is this passage:
"Mr. Threwless halted, amazed at himself. He never read gangster stories. He never even read that milder sensational fiction, nicely top-dressed with a compost of literature and the arts, which is the produced by idle persons living in colleges and rectories."
Some readers might find that the "real plot" doesn't get going until the second half of the book (in which Threwless and his pupil Humphrey have some exciting adventures reminiscent of John Buchan's Richard Hannay) but I thought that the struggle Mr. Threwless undergoes during the train trip (deciding if Humphrey is an imposter or is mad or is just what he seems) fascinating. As much as I read suspense novels, I am sure that I would react in a very similar way if I was actually confronted by such a situation.
July 8, 2009
The story is silly. But every sentence is crafted. A pleasure to read.
July 4, 2017
A non-Appleby adventure whodunnit from Michael Innes in 1949, based in London and on to the West of Ireland. Erudite and funny, Innes here is sending up the John Buchan Richard Hannay genre with wry affection, I think.
"Humphrey Paxton, the son of one of Britain's leading atomic boffins, has taken to carrying a shotgun to 'shoot plotters and blackmailers and spies'. His new tutor, the plodding Mr Thewless, suggests that Humphrey might be overdoing it somewhat. But when a man is found shot dead at a cinema, Mr Thewless is plunged into a nightmare world of lies, kidnapping and murder - and grave matters of national security."
"Humphrey Paxton, the son of one of Britain's leading atomic boffins, has taken to carrying a shotgun to 'shoot plotters and blackmailers and spies'. His new tutor, the plodding Mr Thewless, suggests that Humphrey might be overdoing it somewhat. But when a man is found shot dead at a cinema, Mr Thewless is plunged into a nightmare world of lies, kidnapping and murder - and grave matters of national security."
October 10, 2007
I just reread this one. Sir Bernard Paxton needs a tutor for his son over the vacation break, one to travel to Ireland with the boy. Mr. Thewles is sure he's right for the job, but instead Paxton hires a military type man, Peter Cox. Then Cox sends a telegram saying he can't make it, so Thewles gets the job after all.
But Thewles himself is beginning to have second thoughts. The boy Humphrey sounded a bit of a handful from the beginning, and now he's showing signs of a persecution complex, looking for signs of 'the enemy.'
And in London, Inspector Cadover of Scotland Yard is working on the case of a young man found shot in a cinema. Apparently the man was on his way to Ireland with a boy.
The two stories finally meet in an explosive conclusion. At times puzzling, full of description, but still a good read.
But Thewles himself is beginning to have second thoughts. The boy Humphrey sounded a bit of a handful from the beginning, and now he's showing signs of a persecution complex, looking for signs of 'the enemy.'
And in London, Inspector Cadover of Scotland Yard is working on the case of a young man found shot in a cinema. Apparently the man was on his way to Ireland with a boy.
The two stories finally meet in an explosive conclusion. At times puzzling, full of description, but still a good read.
February 12, 2023
I have read two books by Michael Innes before and have been held by a general impression that his somewhat ‘over-the-top scholarly’ style of writing obscures the clear-cut images required for the ‘non-scholarly readers’. He sometimes put a lot of himself in his own inner world and dismisses the causes and/or results of the murders and incidents that follow. This third book I read of his could not release me from such a prejudiced view.
Nevertheless, I have something to appreciate for. This book became my last, that is the 100th accomplishment in ‘Reading Through CWA TOP100’ event. I have completed it successfully (ha! ha! ha!), adding a small record to my reading career. Thank you, Mr. Innes!
Nevertheless, I have something to appreciate for. This book became my last, that is the 100th accomplishment in ‘Reading Through CWA TOP100’ event. I have completed it successfully (ha! ha! ha!), adding a small record to my reading career. Thank you, Mr. Innes!
October 19, 2011
Okay, I have reached the halfway point and can not take anymore of the dotty characters where we spend too much time in their heads wondering about nothings and somethings rather than actually having a mystery.
I've read other reviews of people who liked the book, however, as a mystery book... it is aggravating and plodding. It is unlike other Innes books which I do enjoy. Obviously, this later book was one that he wrote in a more experimental manner.
If you like the Appleby mysteries... be warned this is not like them.
I've read other reviews of people who liked the book, however, as a mystery book... it is aggravating and plodding. It is unlike other Innes books which I do enjoy. Obviously, this later book was one that he wrote in a more experimental manner.
If you like the Appleby mysteries... be warned this is not like them.
February 21, 2016
The opening was a long, slow drag--but, as it turned out, so is the beginning of a roller coaster ride. I'm glad I pushed through. The remainder of the book was so pleasantly messed up that I would have been saddened to miss it.
July 14, 2019
Atomipommin aikaan törmännyt brittiäinen luokkayhteiskunta ja viktoriaanisuuden rippeet elävät taustana tässä erittäin taitavasti kerrotussa, monitasoisessa psykologisessa jännärissä, joka yhdistelee tyylillisesti vainoharhaista vakoojamelodraamaa rentoon maalaiskomediaan. Eikä se salapoliisikertomuksenakaan ole huono.
December 19, 2018
The "mystery" part of the book is pretty slight - it's more about Humphrey's cloak-and-dagger adventures than about Detective Inspector Cadover's murder investigation. But it's still a fun read, and this remains one of my favorite Innes novels.
2018 reread: Listened to the audiobook read by Paul Thornley. The narration was adequate. It could have used a little more differentiation between some of the voices. For example, it was hard to tell who was speaking when Detective Inspector Cadover was talking to Sir Bernard Paxton. But overall it worked.
The plot is still more than a little far-fetched, but the appeal of this book is the writing. Innes uses a lot of words that I don't know, and once or twice I had to reach for the dictionary when I couldn't figure a word out even from the context. (Tenebrocity, anyone?)
2018 reread: Listened to the audiobook read by Paul Thornley. The narration was adequate. It could have used a little more differentiation between some of the voices. For example, it was hard to tell who was speaking when Detective Inspector Cadover was talking to Sir Bernard Paxton. But overall it worked.
The plot is still more than a little far-fetched, but the appeal of this book is the writing. Innes uses a lot of words that I don't know, and once or twice I had to reach for the dictionary when I couldn't figure a word out even from the context. (Tenebrocity, anyone?)
January 12, 2013
What a wild ride this story was, with much more than a who-done-it murder case. There were very strangely behaving characters, multiple locations and lots of inner thoughts. As the 15-year-old boy who was the central character is told at one point, "Don't trust anyone". That is exactly the feeling I got while reading the story, which I could hardly put down because all the mysteries urged me on. The only twinge of dissatisfaction for me was an incomplete explanation of exactly why the murder victim was killed.
This was the third book of Michael Innes that I have read, and I enjoyed it. It is not an Inspector Appleby mystery, for which Innes is best known. Innes DOES get a little wordy in his writing, so you have to read/listen carefully if you want to grasp all the imagery and literary references.
This was the third book of Michael Innes that I have read, and I enjoyed it. It is not an Inspector Appleby mystery, for which Innes is best known. Innes DOES get a little wordy in his writing, so you have to read/listen carefully if you want to grasp all the imagery and literary references.
January 11, 2012
Great Book! I read it about 35 years ago. A little hokey but exciting and superior writing!
If you like this book try "Money from Holme" also by Michael Innes. Hilarious mystery!
If you like this book try "Money from Holme" also by Michael Innes. Hilarious mystery!
October 31, 2023
It’s 1947 and nuclear Armageddon is the big new fear. The lad of the title is Humphrey Paxton, 15 year old son of a rich and brilliant British nuclear scientist. His father is keen for him to spend the long summer holidays with a cousin in Ireland along with a tutor - Humphrey is a bit wayward and unpredictable but rather ingenious with it. Coming in as a late replacement tutor, Richard Thewless is disconcerted to be closely questioned as to his identity by the jumpy teenager when they meet at Euston station for the first time. Thewless is plagued by doubts about the boy’s behaviour during their journey to Heysham and a number of odd events add to his concerns. Who is the bearded man and the older lady who share their compartment and why does Humphrey keep disappearing? Is he actually the right boy at all?
When the original tutor is shot dead at a cinema in the West End, DI Cadover pieces together some fragmentary clues as to motive and the whereabouts and safety of Humphrey become a paramount concern. Can a simple archeological historian rise to the occasion and prevent a tragedy?
It’s a sort The Ipcress File/ Biggles Flies West/When Eight Bells Toll hybrid and none the worse for that.
When the original tutor is shot dead at a cinema in the West End, DI Cadover pieces together some fragmentary clues as to motive and the whereabouts and safety of Humphrey become a paramount concern. Can a simple archeological historian rise to the occasion and prevent a tragedy?
It’s a sort The Ipcress File/ Biggles Flies West/When Eight Bells Toll hybrid and none the worse for that.
April 11, 2025
This book was originally called The Journeying Boy, from a Thomas Hardy poem (mine is a 1949 1st edition). This is the story of a sober, educated, determinedly rational, private tutor, employed by an eminent nuclear physicist to accompany his highly strung, imaginative teenage (15 ish, I think) son to unknown relatives in Eire.
Attempted kidnappings, violence, strange hallucinatory experiences, who can be trusted, what is happening? Treachery, terror, courage. And back in London a murder is being investigated.
Such helper-skelter fun! Ponderous, polysyllabic language (“The car ran over Waterloo Bridge; he peered westward and shook his head at the blank and innocent face of Big Ben, as if doubtful whether those within the shadow of St Stephen’s Tower had quite as sharp an eye as was desirable upon that sinister billiard-room…The car, sequacious of Professor Musket, purred through the emptying streets”) to be fair, not the most ponderous language but “sequacious”, how wonderful!
Anyhow, if that sounds slow and dull, it is anything but. It rattles along with terrific narrative drive and is occasionally so funny it made me cry with laughter.
I first read it in the 1980s and now need to reread all my other Michael Innes.
Attempted kidnappings, violence, strange hallucinatory experiences, who can be trusted, what is happening? Treachery, terror, courage. And back in London a murder is being investigated.
Such helper-skelter fun! Ponderous, polysyllabic language (“The car ran over Waterloo Bridge; he peered westward and shook his head at the blank and innocent face of Big Ben, as if doubtful whether those within the shadow of St Stephen’s Tower had quite as sharp an eye as was desirable upon that sinister billiard-room…The car, sequacious of Professor Musket, purred through the emptying streets”) to be fair, not the most ponderous language but “sequacious”, how wonderful!
Anyhow, if that sounds slow and dull, it is anything but. It rattles along with terrific narrative drive and is occasionally so funny it made me cry with laughter.
I first read it in the 1980s and now need to reread all my other Michael Innes.
Read
February 23, 2021First published 1949, this book reflects less postwar atmosphere than From London Far. I must have read it before (at least I cut out J.I.M. Stewart’s obituary column from some newspaper from 16 November 1994 and put it inside the front cover), but nothing seemed familiar. There’s a lot of silliness, especially in the first half of the book while Mr. Thewless, the tutor engaged by an eminent atomic physicist to accompany his 15-year-old son to Ireland for a summer holiday, tries to figure out what’s going on. The London policeman is named Cadover and thinks of Appleby and Hudspith as former Scotland Yard colleagues, both remembered as being somewhat strange. The boy, Humphrey Paxton, is an avid reader of spy thrillers but really does seem to have become involved in one. At the same time, he’s devoted to Shelley and can quote Shakespeare aptly and appropriately. And then there’s the mysterious Miss Liberty. All fun.
May 2, 2024
A nightmarish train journey; a sea crossing to Ireland; all sorts of shenanigans in Donegal; a boy and his donnish tutor facing sinister forces and comic villains; a great plot, even if the denouement is so-so.
As always I love the use of English and the irony: "Mr. Threwless halted, amazed at himself. He never read gangster stories. He never even read that milder sensational fiction, nicely top-dressed with a compost of literature and the arts, which is produced by idle persons living in colleges and rectories."
As always I love the use of English and the irony: "Mr. Threwless halted, amazed at himself. He never read gangster stories. He never even read that milder sensational fiction, nicely top-dressed with a compost of literature and the arts, which is produced by idle persons living in colleges and rectories."
April 29, 2025
Definitely not as good as From London Far. The prose is intermittently world-class, but the story is a very simple adventure if only presented in a convoluted way.
"We scrap a generation by violent and costly means, and very soon it is the cost and not the scrapping that troubles us. But let the loneliest old woman vanish from her garret and presently the local police station is besieged by a throng of her intimate acquaintance demanding an instant dragging of the local ponds."
"We scrap a generation by violent and costly means, and very soon it is the cost and not the scrapping that troubles us. But let the loneliest old woman vanish from her garret and presently the local police station is besieged by a throng of her intimate acquaintance demanding an instant dragging of the local ponds."
July 26, 2021
I knew nothing about this book or author when I picked it up in a holiday house. The blurb intrigued me and I enjoyed the start. Then I began to get a bit bogged down in the verbosity of Thewless's thoughts, but there was enough of Detective Inspector Cadover's investigations interspersed to keep me going, and I'm very glad I kept going as it had a tremendous ending.
November 7, 2024
Reading this in 1969, I commented, “Good, with a style reminiscent of Buchan in the ending.”
May 6, 2015
A rather intricate beginning in which two tutors are interviewed to accompany young Humphrey Paxton to Ireland. Mr Thewless is interviewed first and then informed in writing that he does not have the post. However the second successful interviewee notifies Sir Bernard that he is unable to accept the post after all. In the long run Mr Thewless meets his young charge for the first time on the railway station platform but his father fails to turn up to see him off, so during the train journey to catch the boat to Ireland Mr Thewless is beset by doubts about whether he has the right boy or not.
Meanwhile back in London the successful applicant is shot dead in a cinema and it rather looks as if Humphrey Paxton (whose actual identity is unknown to the police) may know something about the murder. Inspector Cadover attempts to identify the body, just knowing that he had recently got a position as tutor to the son of an atomic scientist and that he was meant to be escorting the boy to Ireland.
I don't think I have ever changed my mind so frequently about the merits of a story. I started off being rather frustrated by the style, but ended up enjoying it.
At times the style is rather ponderous and long-winded, and the initial plot rather complicated. The writing is littered with quotations and rather academic in-jokes, which presumably meant something to someone at the time. But there is something rather akin to Boys Own about this book and after Mr Thewless and Humphrey have crosed the sea to Ireland, and face various perils on their way to Humphrey's distant relatives, the action ramps up and it becomes a rollicking good story. Some people are not who they seem and both Humphrey and Mr Thewliss turn out to have interesting characters. In the end, they seem to have got into a very tight pickle and I really wanted to know how they got out of it.
Not everybody's cup of tea but an interesting insight into what appealed to readers in the uncertain times that followed the detonation of the atomic bombs at the end of World War Two.
Meanwhile back in London the successful applicant is shot dead in a cinema and it rather looks as if Humphrey Paxton (whose actual identity is unknown to the police) may know something about the murder. Inspector Cadover attempts to identify the body, just knowing that he had recently got a position as tutor to the son of an atomic scientist and that he was meant to be escorting the boy to Ireland.
I don't think I have ever changed my mind so frequently about the merits of a story. I started off being rather frustrated by the style, but ended up enjoying it.
At times the style is rather ponderous and long-winded, and the initial plot rather complicated. The writing is littered with quotations and rather academic in-jokes, which presumably meant something to someone at the time. But there is something rather akin to Boys Own about this book and after Mr Thewless and Humphrey have crosed the sea to Ireland, and face various perils on their way to Humphrey's distant relatives, the action ramps up and it becomes a rollicking good story. Some people are not who they seem and both Humphrey and Mr Thewliss turn out to have interesting characters. In the end, they seem to have got into a very tight pickle and I really wanted to know how they got out of it.
Not everybody's cup of tea but an interesting insight into what appealed to readers in the uncertain times that followed the detonation of the atomic bombs at the end of World War Two.
October 4, 2014
Finishing this book was like running a marathon: the first half was difficult to get through but after getting so far it was a test of wills to finish it. I was considering giving a higher rating to this book, considering the descriptions and the prose were written with a vocabulary of such a high level, but I found it so annoying and hard work to get to the end, that it really doesn't deserve it. The tedious language and archaic grammar was like listening to Yoda recite Shakespeare.
A far as the 'mystery' went, I really didn't care for the story and found that the parts relating to Mr Thewless to be pedantic, and the few chapters featuring the detective only marginally more interesting.
I haven't read any other works by Innes, and dare say I never will, but I guess this is a stand-alone story that plods on at a snail's pace with useless ramblings that have no bearing on the story, but rather exhaust the author's, obviously high, vocabulary.
Hats off to Paul Thornley for his narration and patience in reading this, but considering that I stumbled across this book based on the fact that my favourite audiobook narrator was the reader, I will better-consider my purchases in the future based on genre and not only on 'who' reads it.
A far as the 'mystery' went, I really didn't care for the story and found that the parts relating to Mr Thewless to be pedantic, and the few chapters featuring the detective only marginally more interesting.
I haven't read any other works by Innes, and dare say I never will, but I guess this is a stand-alone story that plods on at a snail's pace with useless ramblings that have no bearing on the story, but rather exhaust the author's, obviously high, vocabulary.
Hats off to Paul Thornley for his narration and patience in reading this, but considering that I stumbled across this book based on the fact that my favourite audiobook narrator was the reader, I will better-consider my purchases in the future based on genre and not only on 'who' reads it.
May 25, 2012
The first thing that struck me about this offbeat book was the author’s better than average vocabulary and his dense prose. But the primary thing was the story, and it was interesting, with more than the usual amount of character depth and introspection, including pages of detailed analysis by the detective, as well as the tutor, as they attempted to reason out the problems they faced. The boy was also a solid character, the author letting us delve just as familiarly into his mind. Time and again the plot immerses itself in loopy waters, only to suddenly bob to the surface again -- a situation that causes the mystery to be very dark in terms of the reader's ability to fathom it.
If you read nothing else of this book, read chapter 15. It stands out as an amazing piece of writing: the story of the tutor’s midnight journey down a hallway, Innes renders each step meaningful, occasionally humorous, and always full of suspense.
The ending weakens the novel somewhat – the bad guys blunder into each other, while the good guys have less to do with capturing them than is usual in a mystery. Still, this is a head-scratchingly good read by a unique and challenging writer.
If you read nothing else of this book, read chapter 15. It stands out as an amazing piece of writing: the story of the tutor’s midnight journey down a hallway, Innes renders each step meaningful, occasionally humorous, and always full of suspense.
The ending weakens the novel somewhat – the bad guys blunder into each other, while the good guys have less to do with capturing them than is usual in a mystery. Still, this is a head-scratchingly good read by a unique and challenging writer.
April 28, 2020
I first started reading the author's books in the late 1970s but I had not read this one before. (So much for my memory I actually first read this in August 1987!) This book was first published in 1949 and does not feature John Appleby though Appleby's name is mentioned on a couple of occasions. This book has an outlandish plot with some eccentric characters (though by no means as eccentric as the characters in some of the author's other books) which deals with a fifteen year old boy and his tutor on a visit to Ireland. The author is a great writer and if you go with the flow this is a great read - murder, kidnap and an exciting climax!
August 1, 2011
Great book and not what I expected, the fact that the heroes of the book survive each attempt more by luck than judgement is hilarious. Humphrey shows a lot of promise of turning into someone like Hannay, and Thewless should really be called Clueless.
January 12, 2015
Ok murder mystery but rather plodding and full of flowery language.Crisper dialogue would have shortened it considerably.
Want to read
May 9, 2025Synopsis: Humphrey Paxton, the son of an atomic designer, carries a shotgun to shoot spies. His tutor, Thewless, thought he was overdoing it.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews