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Going It Alone
Gilbert Averell avoids some of the rigours of taxation by living for part of each year in France - but he is unhappy about the number of weeks he spends away from his native country. So when his look-alike friend, Georges, suggests that they swap passports for a short spell, Gilbert seizes the opportunity. However, a number of incidents, involving Gilbert's sister and nephew, begin to suggest that Georges's offer was not made out of simple friendship.
- GenresMystery
Paperback
First published June 1, 1980
About the author
Michael Innes
127 books93 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 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 4, 2015
For tax reasons, stuffy ex-academic Gilbert Averell can spend no more than six months of the year in his native UK, perforce biding the rest of his time in France. A friend there suggests that, since they look alike, they could swap passports so that, thanks to the more relaxed border controls brought about by the EEC (as the EU was then called), Gilbert could go to the UK as Georges and, just for a lark, Georges could go abroad somewhere as Gilbert. Despite his habitual timidity, Gilbert accepts the dare and agrees to take a week's illicit vacation back home.
And it's well timed. His sister Ruth tells him that her activist son Tim seems to be in some sort of trouble yet again. Before Gilbert knows it, he's enmeshed in a desperate struggle against a gang of ruthless and seemingly murderous crooks, while his comrades de guerre -- Tim and Tim's best mate Dave -- are determined that the last thing they'll do is call in the cops: no, they'll go it alone.
The cover describes Innes's fiction as "donnish" and that's as good a description as any: it's full of pretensions, pomposities and archnesses, which can be extremely offputting if you're not accustomed to it. I've read a lot of Innes's work in my day, but not for some while, and it took me a couple of chapters to get back into the swing of it. Thereafter I was grinning along quite a lot of the time.
The tale itself is a bit of a romp, with little ambition beyond to be an entertainment. The novel's divided into two equal parts (plus brief epilogue), of which the second is by far the more lightly written and quick-moving, almost as if the author had put the novel aside for a few years before completing it. That might bother some literary purists, but it didn't bother me. I was a tad more concerned that a couple of interesting female characters were introduced to us as if they were going to be central to the plot, but then their roles just sort of petered out; I'd have liked to spend more time in their company, or at least to have found out what happened to them.
Overall, though, a thoroughly enjoyable read: no classic, but a good way to spend a few hours.
And it's well timed. His sister Ruth tells him that her activist son Tim seems to be in some sort of trouble yet again. Before Gilbert knows it, he's enmeshed in a desperate struggle against a gang of ruthless and seemingly murderous crooks, while his comrades de guerre -- Tim and Tim's best mate Dave -- are determined that the last thing they'll do is call in the cops: no, they'll go it alone.
The cover describes Innes's fiction as "donnish" and that's as good a description as any: it's full of pretensions, pomposities and archnesses, which can be extremely offputting if you're not accustomed to it. I've read a lot of Innes's work in my day, but not for some while, and it took me a couple of chapters to get back into the swing of it. Thereafter I was grinning along quite a lot of the time.
The tale itself is a bit of a romp, with little ambition beyond to be an entertainment. The novel's divided into two equal parts (plus brief epilogue), of which the second is by far the more lightly written and quick-moving, almost as if the author had put the novel aside for a few years before completing it. That might bother some literary purists, but it didn't bother me. I was a tad more concerned that a couple of interesting female characters were introduced to us as if they were going to be central to the plot, but then their roles just sort of petered out; I'd have liked to spend more time in their company, or at least to have found out what happened to them.
Overall, though, a thoroughly enjoyable read: no classic, but a good way to spend a few hours.
May 2, 2020
It's easy and usually correct to dismiss late Innes (this was from 1980) as tired hackwork, recycling characters and plot fragments. Indeed as detective fiction this performs indifferently, with two or three separate plots that have no useful relationship at all; a couple of interesting set-ups mutate into shaggy dogs without being red herrings on the way and leave you feeling cheated. Readable though: Innes' absurdity and chases were good enough first time round to survive a few repeats. And the poet-dropping, with an allusive half-quote to test the reader's education is still entertainment and much less, well, wanky, than it was at publication, now that one can google the answer. So two stars, really.
But an extra one, just about, because Innes has a tender if very partial humanity in the way he tries to sympathise with the young people he creates. It's true that to qualify for the care they have to be quite well-mannered to their elders, very well-read, fiercely bright, temporarily but unconsciously sexually confused, firmly and consciously intent on righting the moral wrongs that Innes' own older generation wrought, and in short a year or two either side of an Oxford graduation in the less vocational humanities. But care is care.
But an extra one, just about, because Innes has a tender if very partial humanity in the way he tries to sympathise with the young people he creates. It's true that to qualify for the care they have to be quite well-mannered to their elders, very well-read, fiercely bright, temporarily but unconsciously sexually confused, firmly and consciously intent on righting the moral wrongs that Innes' own older generation wrought, and in short a year or two either side of an Oxford graduation in the less vocational humanities. But care is care.
June 26, 2013
Enjoyable. Main character rather quirky in his own way. I adore quirky.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews