Appleby and Honeybath (Inspector Appleby Mysteries) by Innes, Michael published by House of Stratus Paperback

Charles Honeybath #4

by Michael Innes

Every English mansion has a locked room, and Grinton Hall is no exception - the library has hidden doors and passages and a corpse. But when the corpse goes missing Sir John Appleby and Charles Honeybath have an even more perplexing case on their hands - just how did it disappear when the doors and windows were securely locked?

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime

Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Michael 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.

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

When portrait painter Charles Honeybath finds a dead body in Grinton's almost deserted library, he goes for help, and fortunately finds his old friend Sir John Appleby. But when they return, the body is gone. There are many people visiting Grinton, and not all of them are as well-known to the family as Appleby and his wife Judith, a distant cousin. Some of them have various felonies in mind.

[dmayr · Rating 4 out of 5]

High jinks is afoot at Grinton Hall, where Honeybath, commissioned to paint a portrait of his host, Terence Grinton, explores the library and there encounters the case of the vanishing corpse. Was it hallucination? Or a case of bilocation, as postulated by Miss Mustard? And was it murder, and most importantly, where had the dead body gone? Still peopled with eccentric characters, this book is pretty straightforward and less dense compared to Innes' other books, so I managed to enjoy it this time.

[Alexander Inglis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scottish mystery writer Michael Innes, the nom de plume of J.I.M. Stewart, crafted 35 Sir John Appleby novels of which Appleby and Honeybath was the 33rd, published in 1983. Born in 1906, the first Appleby, Death at the President's Lodging, appeared when the author was 30; Innes passed away in 1994. Innes wrote other mysteries, including a series featuring an amateur detective, Charles Honeybath, whose full-time job is Royal Academy portrait painter; in the present volume, Innes puts the two detectives into one tale for the first and last time. (J.I.M. Stewart also wrote a number of books under his real name and was, in real life, an Oxford Don.)

Terrence Grinton, lord of the manor, has a hallowed family history but his only real interest is fox hunting ... and figuring out how to pay taxes on the ancestral manor. He's invited a clutch of guests for the weekend, including his daughter, son-in-law and kids; his wife's friend Judith Appleby and her husband Sir John, retired from Scotland Yard; Charles Honeybath who is to prep for painting his portrait to hang alongside those of his ancestors; and three other seemingly eccentric men and women of various academic backgrounds. The family library, which holds little interest for Terrence, becomes a focal point for one and all when a body is found in it (and as quickly lost). Burrows, the long suffering butler, whose family has butlered at the manor for some generations itself, knows more than he is saying; and Inspector Denver, and his local constabulary, are brought in to search for the missing corpse. Are there treasures to be found in the library, behind secret panels, in the misty past and present of family and guests ... and will the corpse, when found, be found to be murdered at all?

Tongue in cheek, and certainly with mischievous wit, this relatively brief tale unfolds in the course of little more than 24 hours with fingers squarely pointed at one person, then another, then several at once. The writing is superb and quite British; I found myself looking up several words along the way, and "worked out" several others. In places, it reads a bit like a summer stock farce -- there are certainly enough doors and exits and comings and goings! -- though it’s a much richer experience than that and succeeds admirably as a deliciously frothy entertainment.

[Teri-K · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this is my first Michael Innes mystery. They're not easy to come by these days and I had to request this from paperback swap. I chose it because it's a locked room mystery and you don't see those much any more.

As literature, this is the kind of book best enjoyed by people who like their reading sprinkled with obscure quotations, references to Shakespeare, and archaic vocabulary. This kind of writing can feel snobbish, but it never did to me, it just gave the book a vintage feel. In fact it reminded me of reading Dorothy Sayers, though Appleby and Honeybath are more approachable than Lord Peter.

As a mystery the story starts quickly and moves along well. It's not blood-and-guts, sexy or angst ridden, just a well-plotted disappearing body story for the reader to ponder. It turns out that I enjoyed reading this a lot and look forward to finding more books in the series.

[Jill H. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This author who is an Oxford don had a second career as a writer of mystery stories. I must say that they are an acquired taste.....not much mystery but an abundance of wit and bon mots. The reader who enjoys literary allusions will be right at home with this book and others in the series.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

1983 seems a bit late in the 20th century for a Classic British mystery, but this book reads as if it were written decades earlier. Sir Appleby and his wife are the guests of Terence Grinton, a fox-hunting, land-owning, blustering gent whose excentricities include a strange disinterest, even a dislike, of his manor's impressive library. Charles Honeybath, a renowned portrait painter who is among the guests, wanders into the forbidden library and finds a body lolling in an armchair. When he returns a few minutes later with Sir Appleby, the body has vanished. Investigating, they stumble upon signs of recent occupation in one of the adjoining rooms. When they come back later with the police, those clues have vanished as well. What is going on? Hallucinations? A sinister prank? Has murder been committed, and if so, where is the body? In a story liberally sprinkled with literary quotations, art historians, amateur detectives, the landed gentry and Scotland Yard try to make sense of what may or may not be a crime.

Enjoyable because... what's better than a body in the library?!

[Vintagebooklvr · Rating 3 out of 5]

An amusing and light book. This is not a police story that details with sex offenders or some other heavy crime. In fact it is much more of a throwback to the Golden Age of detection, which this writer actually wrote during as well (a very long career).

It is actually lighter than the other Appleby book I read which was much denser in material and talk that often had nothing to do with advancing the mystery. The writer was an English Professor at Oxford and his knowledge literature is obvious. In fact, his works are sprinkled with quotes from literature, some which people might recognize immediately and others probably not. Here it is not so burdensome but it can be in some works.

I enjoyed it. I needed something light to read and this filled the bill.

[Keith Currie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good example of the author's art: Honeybath encounters a dead body in the library and goes to fetch help. When he returns, minutes later, there is no body. He and Appleby explore the mansion and find evidence that someone has been secretly resident in the old servants' quarters. When they return with the police, the evidence has disappeared. The mystery involves some very expensive paintings and a possible unknown poem by Alexander Pope. Oh, and the owner of the mansion is a confirmed philistine who despises books and art.

No murders, very little serious crime but a very funny tale, well told. The reader will also learn the origin and meaning of the Latin phrase: ne sutor ultra crepidam. It's as well not to be an ultracrepidarian.

[Deborah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A late entrant in Michael Innes's Appleby series, and a good one. Appleby has retired from Scotland Yard and is trying to keep a low profile as the local inspector investigates a possible crime during a weekend at the country estate of Thomas Grinton. The weekend guests and hosts are well drawn as everyone, including the reader, is chasing the mystery of the missing body. Appleby and Inspector Denver wrap it up nicely at the end of this "family" mystery.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun mystery in the classic style. A disappearing body and a host of colorful characters. For mystery fans, not to say addicts, like myself, an enjoyable light read.

[Charlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not exactly action packed, but certainly mysterious and a good read. Unusual characters, a strange setting and Appleby and Honeybath are always well behaved.

[Daphne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reads like a Noel Coward play, except that Innes doesn't bother with giving his characters much psychological depth.

[Linda Chrisman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enjoyable. I hadn’t read but a few with Honeybath but this was excellent!

[Josue · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tiresome. Truly tiresome. The writer, and the main characters, were so overly impressed with their own erudition that it totally deflated the text. I had previously read an Appleby short story by Innes which I very much liked and thought his stylistic flourishes added a nice aspect. But in this longer piece they just became belabored. It was a real slog. It didn't help that I chose this one so that I could be introduced to both of his famous sleuths and decide which to read. Unfortunately, I could barely tell them apart and had to keep flipping back in the story to see which "christian" named belonged to which sleuth. If one of them didn't constantly bring up that he was a painter, I'd never know the difference. And I was often confused about the intended time period. It read and seemed like something anywhere from the 30s to the 50s, which is perfectly fine, but then he would drop in "modern" police techniques that were clearly meant to be present day. I would normally just stop reading, but after seven days of only being 70 pages into the 160 of it, and unable to concentrate, I (literally) threw my hands up and started skimming just to see how the damn thing ended. The whole culmination was lackluster. Like I said, tiresome.

[Ryan Mishap · Rating 2 out of 5]

My physical therapist--who used to own a bookstore--lent this to me after we discussed the books we liked to read.

This was published in 1983 but could have been from 1933: outdated gender roles and sexism, genteel and overly polite English people, the manor house, and even a spiritualist. The humor is so dry I had to have the humidifier on while I read. The prose is stuffed with erudition rendered bland and boring. There is no spark or jazz or excitement.

SPOILER!

There's no murder, it turns out. No crime anyone gets caught for. It was all a waste of time!

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am trying to like this author but it is tough going. I do like Appleby and especially is quirky wife. My main issue is that the authors babbles on and on...mainly about nothing of any relevancy. I was relieved to finally get to the end of this one.