There Came Both Mist and Snow in Reading the Detectives

Jul 05, 2014 Leslie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mysteries, owned, british

2014 review:
A fun mystery with a young Inspector Appleby. I haven't been able to pinpoint any literary pastiche this time (but maybe I just don't recognize it) but the there are plenty of suspects and motives which kept me guessing up to the very end. ...more

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Dec 08, 2020 Christine PNW rated it it was ok · review of another edition

I'm sorry but what the hell did I just read?

This was bad. Very bad. And not at all Christmassy.

I am disappointed. ...more

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Dec 06, 2020 BrokenTune rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: christmas

1.5*

I have no idea what the book tried to be, got really confused about what the plot tried to do, didn't find any of the characters entertaining (I don't need to like them, but they should keep me reading), and the solution to this story was utterly ridiculous. ...more

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Jun 03, 2018 Teri-K rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

This is the third book I've tried to read by Innes. I enjoyed the first, Appleby and Honeybath quite a bit and started looking for others. I couldn't get through The Long Farewell, despite trying several times. After reading this one I'm beginning to think Innes isn't for me.

This was very hard going at first, boring and shapeless, but at about one third of the way in things picked up a bit. There are several problems with the beginning. For one thing, there are a lot of characters and they all ...more

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Nov 12, 2016 John Frankham rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: crime-detective

Belrive Priory, consisting of a mansion, park and medieval ruins, is surrounded by the noise and neon signs of its gaudy neighbours - a cotton-mill, a brewey and a main road. Nevertheless, Arthur Ferryman is pleased to return for a whole-family Christmas. Will the head of the family sell to the mill-owner or brewer? The latter two plus a doctor are there too.

Inspector Appleby arrives on the scene when one of the family is shot in the study. Full of false confessions and accusations, I defy you ...more

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Jul 18, 2011 Bev rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, vintage-mystery, british-mystery, christmas

A Comedy of Terrors by Michael Innes (1st published 1940) is another of my vintage mysteries. I always look forward to reading a Innes novel. His writing is a little off-beat and humorous, but almost always smooth and satisfying. When I opened up A Comedy of Terrors, I was beginning to think I had picked up the wrong book. This has one of the slowest, most convoluted opening chapters of any Innes novel I've read so far. Fortunately I hung in there and in chapter two he righted himself and we wer A Comedy of Terrors by Michael Innes (1st published 1940) is another of my vintage mysteries. I always look forward to reading a Innes novel. His writing is a little off-beat and humorous, but almost always smooth and satisfying. When I opened up A Comedy of Terrors, I was beginning to think I had picked up the wrong book. This has one of the slowest, most convoluted opening chapters of any Innes novel I've read so far. Fortunately I hung in there and in chapter two he righted himself and we were well on our way.

A Comedy of Terrors is the story of a reunion of the Foxcroft family. They have returned to their country estate for the holidays. Some have come to reconcile feuds; some out of curiosity about inheritance. They are a witty and talented family, full of artists and authors and full of eccentricities and schemes. They all have been given pistols so they can join in on Sir Basil's newest hobby--target shooting. But the party turns somber when it seems that someone has decided that Wilfred Foxcroft would make a much better target. Given the setting and the similarity in features among the male family members, there is soon some doubt whether Wilfred was the intended victim after all. Was the intended target really Sir Basil? Or maybe it was Cecil Foxcroft, Wilfred's brother. Motives and alibis become tangled and soon it becomes apparent that only detective inspector John Appleby will be able to untangle it all.

In addition to the opening chapter, this novel went out of the Innes norm in another way. The story is told in the first person by one of the members of the Foxcroft family. Innes normally employs the omniscient narrator for his John Appleby mysteries. So, it is a little unusual to read the story strictly from the point of view of Arthur Ferryman (cousin to the Foxcroft family). Over all, this was an enjoyable vintage mystery. Perhaps a bit more convoluted than most of Innes's novels. And the twist at the end is very surprising...I'll leave it to you to decide if that's a good thing. Three stars out of five. ...more

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Dec 10, 2020 Jill rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: michael-innes

This is the fourth book I have read by this author. The first I found interesting, but from there they have really lost all my attention. I can't think why I keep reading"just another". Maybe it is in the hope that they get better, or just that they take up space. I thought this one a weak 2 star, the extra star being that the description of a body at a factory, did make me smile.
At the start and for a long way into the book, we are introduced to the family members, which is fine, but then it t ...more

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Jan 30, 2018 Annarella rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

The book is interesting even if it is a bit slow. The characters are interesting but it takes quite a long time before the action starts.
I'm a fan of Golden Age mystery but it took quite an effort to keep on reading and sometimes had to go back in order to see if I understood everything.
Quite a good book but it did not age well and it is more an interesting picture of an era than an engaging mystery.
Many thanks to Ipso Books and Netgalley ...more

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Dec 16, 2017 dmayr rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-liked, crime-detective-series, crime-in-vintage, chuckleworthy-books, murder-in-a-countryhouse

A reunion of the eccentric Ropers and Foxcrofts in Belrive Priory brought about target-shooting, painting with mirrors, the question of inheritance, chapterizations and basically everyone pointing suspicion to each other in turn in the case of the shooting incident in the study. I'm really starting to like Innes' countryhouse mysteries with its wacky characters. ...more

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Jan 01, 2025 Ellen rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Irritating 😠

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Dec 13, 2020 Sandy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-detective-grp, mystery-classic, kindle-unl-read, rread-2020

I took this as a humorous spoof of a Golden Age mystery (one in particular) with a dysfunctional family isolated in a mansion. Way over the top characters, highly unlikely motives, random accusations, strange police techniques and an improbable resolution. The setting is established with a giant neon sign of a bottle pouring beer, again and again, interspersed with factory whistles and screeching trams: not your normal countryside atmosphere.

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