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Sir John Appleby #22
Appleby At Allington
Sir John Appleby dines one evening at Allington Park, the Georgian home of his acquaintance Owain Allington, who is new to the area. His curiosity is aroused when Allington mentions his nephew and heir to the estate, Martin Allington, whose name Appleby recognises. The evening comes to an end but just as Appleby is leaving, they find a dead man - electrocuted in the son et lumiŠre box which had been installed in the grounds.
174 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1968
About the author
Michael Innes
119 books92 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 - 18 of 18 reviews
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December 2, 2020Trying murder mystery to break my fiction slump. This was OK, but not more, with a thinnish plot and fairly obviously solution. Meh.
January 31, 2020
I've never read (or listened to) any of Michael Innes' books, but I was very pleasantly surprised. It was a lovely trip back to the country English house mystery with a slightly modern English detective - a retired police inspector. I'm not sure if this type of life ever really existed, but I like to think so. (In fact, if I get to pick what I want heaven to be like, it would be the typical English village.)
Though English village life was not quite as typically bucolic as it is in other books. I highly recommend to fans of Ngaio Marsh, Agatha Christie, et al, and I plan to start reading the others in the series.
Though English village life was not quite as typically bucolic as it is in other books. I highly recommend to fans of Ngaio Marsh, Agatha Christie, et al, and I plan to start reading the others in the series.
June 17, 2022
This was ok. Basically a clever short mystery padded out with archness and satire. Annoyingly, .
November 5, 2020
Retired policeman Sir John Appleby is having a meal en garcon with a new neighbor, Owain Allington. Allington had bought back what used to be his family's house and ruined castle, and is expecting his nephew and heir to visit that night. He and Appleby find a dead body in the control booth for the recent charitable son et lumiere program; the church fete will take place next day, complete with the bingo game enthusiastically run by the eccentric local vicar. The amusing local color is thick on the ground, but Appleby doesn't forget how to be a policeman when he suspects murder.
August 14, 2019
When Cromwell went around indecorously levelling aristocratic piles, many of the unfortunate occupants buried their family heirlooms for later retrieval, living in hope of the Restoration. Some, however, did not survive to truffle it up, and talk still persisted into the present day (the middle-twentieth century) that secret burials of treasure lay beneath the great oaks of Allington. It at the bottom of the lake.
Thus the gently sardonic tone of Appleby visiting Allington Park is set. It seems that nothing seriously close-to-the-bone could happen in such a refinedly amused gathering, whether at the 'son et lumière', nor at the village fête, held back-to-back on the estate. But back-to-back deaths, seemingly by misadventure, accompany each joyful gathering. And Owain Allington, having regained his family estate after generations of absence, rather than making a nice profit - all for charity, of course - is now incurring significant losses.
A 'son et lumière' is a sound and light show. It was set up to display Allington's castle, lake and house. Sir John, visiting his newly ensconced neighbour that evening, was largely only inconvenienced. But Lady Judith, his wife, thought that, now he was retired, he was in need of a project more intellectually stimulating than keeping the thrushes out of the fruit bushes and the moles off the croquet lawn. When a second body turns up, with a mystery, he is deeply involved - for he discovered it.
Yes, there's a distinct air of high-brow banter to Innes' somewhat superior echelon of his detective's social milieu. It ain't old-school aristocratic, like Lord Peter Wimsey, but it's public-school enough - unsurprising, since his creator was a perpetual 'Student at Oxford', J.I.M. Stewart. The titles roll off the pages almost as replete as the whimsical jokes. You need a dictionary for this series; plus a smattering of French, German, Italian and Latin. Yet you would think that such a clearly erudite writer would know that 'nor' comes with 'neither', not 'or'. It's not merely a matter of taste, nor preference.
And do we like Sir John? I can’t help comparing him to P.D. James's Dalgliesh, who is probably my favourite of the modern detective heroes of the whodunnit. I liked Dalgliesh's urbanity, and so I rather like Appleby's. He has a similar air of increasing intolerance as he grows older: 'He was reflecting that he seemed to become more, not less, censorious as he grew older' (p.15) - the mark of a confident man closing in his world, having shed the mildly degrading veneer of forced social nicety necessary in a very public profession with senior people in law and government - or any profession, really. One can at least here equate.
Just pre-decimalisation, we have half-crowns, florins and shillings, which draws the novel nearer to my heart. Judith's personality is also nicely painted, and the relationship of the Applebys sound and likeable. It is an urbane stroll through a couple of days of the local gentry finding themselves bored post-retirement. It has a certain amount of charm.
The accumulation of clues depends upon having a very clear map fixed in your mind; mess up the left and rights, and your bearings go completely - like wandering down a lane in the dark. Naturally, having built some sort of map in your mind, once you realise certain facts later on don't fit with it, that, in fact, it should be reversed, you are loathe to make all that adjustment, whereas, it is essential if you are to work at least some of it out. And it is a simple matter of mirroring your image of the map.
Not an especially complex puzzle, nor indeed with any excitement. But it was so nicely written, and I felt comfortable with the Applebys, that I enjoyed it. I intend to read more of his, too.
Thus the gently sardonic tone of Appleby visiting Allington Park is set. It seems that nothing seriously close-to-the-bone could happen in such a refinedly amused gathering, whether at the 'son et lumière', nor at the village fête, held back-to-back on the estate. But back-to-back deaths, seemingly by misadventure, accompany each joyful gathering. And Owain Allington, having regained his family estate after generations of absence, rather than making a nice profit - all for charity, of course - is now incurring significant losses.
A 'son et lumière' is a sound and light show. It was set up to display Allington's castle, lake and house. Sir John, visiting his newly ensconced neighbour that evening, was largely only inconvenienced. But Lady Judith, his wife, thought that, now he was retired, he was in need of a project more intellectually stimulating than keeping the thrushes out of the fruit bushes and the moles off the croquet lawn. When a second body turns up, with a mystery, he is deeply involved - for he discovered it.
Yes, there's a distinct air of high-brow banter to Innes' somewhat superior echelon of his detective's social milieu. It ain't old-school aristocratic, like Lord Peter Wimsey, but it's public-school enough - unsurprising, since his creator was a perpetual 'Student at Oxford', J.I.M. Stewart. The titles roll off the pages almost as replete as the whimsical jokes. You need a dictionary for this series; plus a smattering of French, German, Italian and Latin. Yet you would think that such a clearly erudite writer would know that 'nor' comes with 'neither', not 'or'. It's not merely a matter of taste, nor preference.
And do we like Sir John? I can’t help comparing him to P.D. James's Dalgliesh, who is probably my favourite of the modern detective heroes of the whodunnit. I liked Dalgliesh's urbanity, and so I rather like Appleby's. He has a similar air of increasing intolerance as he grows older: 'He was reflecting that he seemed to become more, not less, censorious as he grew older' (p.15) - the mark of a confident man closing in his world, having shed the mildly degrading veneer of forced social nicety necessary in a very public profession with senior people in law and government - or any profession, really. One can at least here equate.
Just pre-decimalisation, we have half-crowns, florins and shillings, which draws the novel nearer to my heart. Judith's personality is also nicely painted, and the relationship of the Applebys sound and likeable. It is an urbane stroll through a couple of days of the local gentry finding themselves bored post-retirement. It has a certain amount of charm.
The accumulation of clues depends upon having a very clear map fixed in your mind; mess up the left and rights, and your bearings go completely - like wandering down a lane in the dark. Naturally, having built some sort of map in your mind, once you realise certain facts later on don't fit with it, that, in fact, it should be reversed, you are loathe to make all that adjustment, whereas, it is essential if you are to work at least some of it out. And it is a simple matter of mirroring your image of the map.
Not an especially complex puzzle, nor indeed with any excitement. But it was so nicely written, and I felt comfortable with the Applebys, that I enjoyed it. I intend to read more of his, too.
March 13, 2017
Chief Inspector Appleby is retired and living in Dream Manor, the house belonging to his wife's aristocratic family. As part of the life of a retired gentleman, he is expected to get to know his neighbors. And one such neighbor is Olwain Allington, owner of a stately estate. In a curious twist of economic fortunes, Allington used to belong to the Allington family for centuries, then passed into the possession of the Osbornes, and has only very recently been bought back by the current Allington, a retired scientist.
So Appleby dines with Allington, and the evening's entertainment includes a visit to the control tower of a son et lumiere installation, where Appleby discovers a corpse. This turns out to belong to a mentally impaired local with a strong interest in electricity. So death by misadventure? It would appear so, but Appleby can't shake an uncomfortable premonition that there is something "off" about the setup at Allington. For instance, there is too much talk of a treasure in the lake. On top of that, Allington's nephew, the unpleasant and unreliable Martin Allington, seems to have been unaccountably delayed on his way to the parish fete. Soon the corpses start to pile up, all apparent accidents, and Appleby becomes more and more convinced that there is foul play at hand.
So Appleby dines with Allington, and the evening's entertainment includes a visit to the control tower of a son et lumiere installation, where Appleby discovers a corpse. This turns out to belong to a mentally impaired local with a strong interest in electricity. So death by misadventure? It would appear so, but Appleby can't shake an uncomfortable premonition that there is something "off" about the setup at Allington. For instance, there is too much talk of a treasure in the lake. On top of that, Allington's nephew, the unpleasant and unreliable Martin Allington, seems to have been unaccountably delayed on his way to the parish fete. Soon the corpses start to pile up, all apparent accidents, and Appleby becomes more and more convinced that there is foul play at hand.
May 25, 2020
I had never read a Michael Innes (J.I.M. Stewart's pseudonym) previously. Prior to his death in 1994, he authored 33 Sir John Appleby mysteries. This book was about 2/3rds of the way through the series. The deconstruction of events was nicely constructed with subtle guidance throughout the book to the solution. The book cover also includes a neat pre-sage to the conduct of the crime (but I missed it till the end). The investigators included the retired Inspector Appleby but also his wife. They functioned a bit like Nick and Nora Charles - as well as Asta (Dashiell Hammett) with Judith Appleby giving insights all along. My difficulty with the book involved the writing. I am a sucker for a rhythm to a sentence where syllables flow into words into sentences. Not that I demand poetry but rather than a smooth rides over rolling hills, Innes' structures provides a more bumpy trip over a MacAdam highway. But, after all, Stewart is Scottish and so maybe MacAdam travels should be expected.
January 9, 2019
Quintessential English upper class country house mystery. Intellectual sleuthing, classical references, recondite dialogue; village 'types', and upper class twits abound. Holiday entertainment.
April 26, 2020
Eh, it passed the time.
March 1, 2021
If you like the other Appleby novels, you will like this. Pleasant, easy read
June 28, 2024
Witty dialogue, interesting twists, sharp and unique characters, fun mystery. Great read.
April 22, 2016
This one is a traditional puzzler in many respects: aside from the intrusion of the electrical light show that is the "son et lumiere", one can easily see the whole thing transposed into the interbellum era of the golden age. And yet, in a way, it isn't quite. While there are a fair number of characters, it never seems as though more than a couple are flagged as potential suspects. There seems to be a bit more emphasis on how the crime was committed (or even whether a crime was committed at all) than on who committed it--which is fair, I think, since the plot rather establishes that once you know how it was done, you will know who did it.
I would have liked to have gotten to know some of the other characters better, in particular Hope Allington and Tristram Travis. There is some delicious banter involving Travis, and Hope gives an immediate impression of being an intriguingly original character with unexpected strength. Meanwhile, Hope's sisters Faith and Charity, along with their respective spouses, come across more as comedic relief--necessarily a little flat, but entertaining nonetheless. And yet, none of them (except maybe Travis) really crosses the line to becoming a credible suspect. We never really see enough of them.
I do get that perhaps this isn't the focus of the plot: there is an idea that Appleby is being manipulated into something, and that is the real mystery, more so than the mysterious deaths that occur along the way. The story is more interested in Appleby's reaction to events and how they seem to be gently guiding him into a trap.
The puzzle was pretty fair, and I even found it quite original. Some of the motivation seemed to come out of the blue, admittedly; but, as I said, the focus is really on the method. I did not solve this before the denouement. I was unsurprised by the reveal of WHO, but I did find myself intrigued by the reveal of HOW.
I would have liked to have gotten to know some of the other characters better, in particular Hope Allington and Tristram Travis. There is some delicious banter involving Travis, and Hope gives an immediate impression of being an intriguingly original character with unexpected strength. Meanwhile, Hope's sisters Faith and Charity, along with their respective spouses, come across more as comedic relief--necessarily a little flat, but entertaining nonetheless. And yet, none of them (except maybe Travis) really crosses the line to becoming a credible suspect. We never really see enough of them.
I do get that perhaps this isn't the focus of the plot: there is an idea that Appleby is being manipulated into something, and that is the real mystery, more so than the mysterious deaths that occur along the way. The story is more interested in Appleby's reaction to events and how they seem to be gently guiding him into a trap.
The puzzle was pretty fair, and I even found it quite original. Some of the motivation seemed to come out of the blue, admittedly; but, as I said, the focus is really on the method. I did not solve this before the denouement. I was unsurprised by the reveal of WHO, but I did find myself intrigued by the reveal of HOW.
December 31, 2013
"Appleby at Allington" by Michael Innes (read October 2013)
A very English whodunit, it reminded me of PD James' Insp. Dalgliish series, especially the earlier ones, very different to the Scandinavian whodunit genre. No high tension here, no scruffy police, all very proper. But still an enjoyable read.
A very English whodunit, it reminded me of PD James' Insp. Dalgliish series, especially the earlier ones, very different to the Scandinavian whodunit genre. No high tension here, no scruffy police, all very proper. But still an enjoyable read.
August 20, 2011
I always enjoy a good mystery.
July 20, 2015
One of the better Inspector Appleby mystery series.
December 23, 2015
3½* Fun entry in the Inspector Appleby series. One aspect bothered me a little - Appleby seemed to reach the solution by intuition rather than detection & logic.
August 31, 2013
A fun read. Very clipped English dialogue with several little story lines.
April 7, 2017
The first time I read any book of Michael Innes. Positively surprised. Nice language and nice atmosphere. A mystery that didn't reveal its solution bur towards the end.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews