The Crabtree Affair

Sir John Appleby #20

by Michael Innes

When Seth Crabtree, a former servant at Scroop House, is brutally killed, Sir John Appleby investigates the baffling murder

Genres: Mystery, Crime, Fiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 1962

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

[notgettingenough · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard not to love an archetypal English countryside mystery first published 1962, that has a homage to Tom Lehrer in it.

'A piano, you idiot?....I'm not expecting a piano. What should I want a piano for? To play myself to sleep with Mozart and that crowd?' Channing-Kennedy gave a short, sharp bellow of laughter on this, so that one had to suppose he considered it a considerable witticism.

It is undeniable that the story line is thin - a fan tells me that is often the case - but it isn't why you read an Innes. You read it to share his lighthearted love of language, the fun he has with it, the droll wit. It's so jolly English, what.

I complained in my review of Donleavy recently that he is frequently described as having a staccato style, which I think is predicated on a misunderstanding of how he writes, perhaps because Donleavy himself played the master of the manor. But here Innes captures exactly that staccato upper class English way, that inability to construct sentences. Having read these books back to back it really struck me, the contrast between this, and the dreamy melodic nature of Donleavy's prose.

rest here: https://alittleteaalittlechat.wordpre...

[Lemar · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was fun from start to finish. John and Judith Appleby struck me as like the British Nick and Nora Charles. They are delightful company and devilishly clever sleuths. A nice burgundy is never missed as they navigate this investigation with aplomb and witty dialogue. The plot does not suffer though nor does the insight that Innes always brings to the behavior of humans pushed to the brink.

[Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

John and Judith Appleby are walking along a disused canal near her uncle's home where they are visiting. She would like to visit a nearby stately home, Scroop House. Before seeing if they can do this, they stop at a local pub by the canal and fall into conversation with an elderly man, Seth Crabtree, who used to work outdoors as a handyman at Scroop House. He also possessed excellent carpenter skills and created many secret hiding niches for the then owner, Mrs. Coulson. He has been gone for 30 years (in Spokane, Washington) and has just returned. When Judith and John resume their walk a short while later, they find Seth's dead body in the canal lock. Who killed him and why? And what does it have to do with Scroop House? And why is the publican such a suspicious larger-than-life character? There is no narrowboat in the mystery, but I include this book in my canal boat list because the canal itself, its lock, its tunnel, and its boathouse figure largely in the solution to the murder as does the history of Scroop House and its contents. Intricate and satisfying.

[Jeanette · Rating 4 out of 5]

these books are much better when they are set in England

[Bea Byrne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stodgy but solid entry. These books are little snapshots in time.

[Sara Aye Moung · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enjoyable - great writing and a satisfying puzzle.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was published in 1962 but seems to come from a much earlier era. It follows the traditions of the classic British mysteries, with a Great House, various lords and ladies sprinkled about, a couple of servants appearing at appropriate moments bearing silver platters and madeira. The story is straightforward : Chief Inspector Sir John Appleby and his wife are visiting a relative. During a walk they encounter a Thomas Hardy-esque character, Seth Crabtree. This crusty old man had enjoyed a privileged position with a previous mistress of Scroop, a late 18th century mansion prior to emigrating to the US. Now he's back, and after he's found dead, it turns out that not everyone was happy to see him turn up again. Suspects abound : the new master of Scroop, his unfulfilled wife, the vulgar inn-keeper, the adult children of yet another previous tenant of Scroop, even Lady Applebee's own uncle. It's all good fun - nothing too heavy in the psychological line, no blood and gore. I understand that "Michael Innes" was the pseudonym of a respected university professor, and the writing is sometimes very convoluted, even pompous. I found it funny to read things like "That, if I may venture the thought, is somewhat too widely diffused a foible to be felicitously subsumed within the concept of eccentricity" or "Obviously a socially anomalous person. It is my experience that they are best avoided", but I could see that some other readers might find this iritating. Still, if you've exhausted all the classical British mystery writers and you still have a hankering for more, than this might be worth a try.

[Sally · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first of the Michael Innes "Appleby" stories that I have read that felt like it gave some chronology to Sir John Appleby's life. I had read Appleby's End, where Sir John Appleby meets his future wife, Judith, and in this book they are vacationing together. I felt some satisfaction in the situation where Appleby could share the events and mystery solving with a partner of sorts. This book has a number of different kinds of characters, yet none of them are as weird or quirky as are some of those that appear in other Appleby stories I have read. I like the stories and the writing and will seek out more.

[Cathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Michael Innes was a new author for me. I was disappointed in this book and wonder if he's worth trying again. It was short, the only real saving grace, but the writing style was so ponderous. And all those "big" words for a little mystery story. Doris Kearns Goodwin doesn't use that many big words! I did stick with it to find out who done it. But it definitely was not a good outing.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

John and Judith Appleby are taking a country walk when they fall in with Seth Crabtree, newly returned to his little village from a life in Spokane. When they find his dead body thereafter, John smells a rat. What did Crabtree have to do with the new heir to the local estate? And the two adult children of the former tenant seem to spend a lot of time there, too. Even Judith's uncle, busy writing a monumental work on fishing, comes under suspicion. But John hasn't been a policeman for as long as he has without learning some tricks to confound the guilty and protect the innocent.

[Margareth8537 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like Allingham as a character and this is a real country house murder that could come from the 30s

[Ruthellenp · Rating 3 out of 5]

Also called The Crabtree Affair