There Came Both Mist and Snow - SPOILER Thread (Dec/Jan 21)

[Susan]

Welcome to our buddy read of There Came Both Mist And Snow first published in 1940 and the sixth in the Inspector Appleby series.

Stunning 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 family Christmas, but is shocked to discover that his cousins have taken up a new pastime - pistol-shooting. Inspector Appleby arrives on the scene when one of Ferryman's cousins is found shot dead in the study, in a mystery built on family antagonisms.

Please feel free to post spoilers in this thread.

[Jill]

I'm afraid Innes just does not appeal to me. I gave this a weak 2 stars, the second star coming for the way he described the state of dead corpse, made me smile. I found the meeting that was full of confessions a complete farce, and reminded me of the film where everyone says "I am Spartacus". As for Appleby actually hitting someone with a rock, I just found it totally implausible.

[Judy]

I enjoyed it and thought I was heading for a 4-star rating for most of the book, but the ending was a big let-down for me and I had to knock a star off for that.

I quite enjoyed the meeting with all the different accusations, but found it impossible to believe the far-fetched solution. I must also agree with you, Jill, that it is hard to imagine Appleby hitting someone with a rock!

[Sandy]

I really enjoyed reading the book and wondered if Innes meant it as a farce with the unlikely solution, the multitude of confessions and Appleby's use of a rock. So I took it as a comedy.

[Judy]

Yes, I've seen a suggestion somewhere that it is meant as a spoof!

[Jill]

Oh well maybe Kirk Douglas had read this and that was why he made Kubrick include it in the film. Worked better in the film in my opinion. The bit that made me smile was Appleby explaining to the family, that the corpse was being scraped of the metal in the factory. I have since found out that this did happen in a motor factory when someone fell in a press.

[Rosina]

I don't think that the Appleby books are meant to be a spoof - but Innes does play with the various different styles of crime/mystery/thriller, with some of his books being Buchanesque, and this one being a mild parody of a Christie or other Golden Age country house thriller, including the denouement with all the suspects accusing each other - or confessing - and the detective finally explaining the situation.

It seems that people either like Michael Innes' style or they don't. I am in the fan club, and have been re-reading them a lot for gentle humour. I know that people are annoyed with the excessive quoting of obscure texts (including obscure Shakespearean quotes) - but I find that conceit amusing. Perhaps this too is Innes having fun with the likes of Peter Wimsey, who also can't refrain from quoting.

[Abigail]

You may be solving a question that has been lurking in the back of my mind. I didn’t own a copy of this book, which means I haven’t read it before, but the plot and the description of the estate surrounded by industrial development rang a definite bell. Maybe it’s a take on a mystery by another author? I’m feeling it’s a Dorothy Sayers—maybe the one involving Wimsey’s brother?—but not sure.

[Rosina]

It was published in the US under the title A Comedy of Terrors, which does sort of confirm it as a light-hearted take on the 'country house mystery'.

[Abigail]

Ah! Mystery solved! I have that book. No wonder it seemed so familiar!

[Rosina]

I did wonder if that was the explanation. I'm always worried that I'll end up with two copies.

[Judy]

Thanks Abigail and Rosina, useful to know about the alternative title. I like the wintry sound of the 'mist and snow' title, but it is a bit of a spoiler as it gives away the quote that Appleby is looking for, so maybe the US title is better.

[Rosina]

It does - but I'm not sure that the quotation actually helps at all - it's not as if an (view spoiler)[Ancient Mariner (hide spoiler)] turns out to be the guilty party.

[Abigail]

Wish I’d realized about the duplication a few days ago! I could have dug up my second copy and sent it to the person who wanted to read it but couldn’t find a copy on Scribd. Unfortunately, I am in the process of moving and my Innes collection is packed.

[Abigail]

Finally finished—my reading pace has been scandalously slow lately. I agree that Appleby boffing someone on the head was unlikely, and unnecessary too. And the supposed accident of Cecil’s was ridiculous too, and led to another red herring. The whole story reads like a mind game, as if the author had set himself to writing a mystery in which every character was equally likely to have committed the crime and (view spoiler)[none of them did. (hide spoiler)] Definitely farce territory. The fact that (view spoiler)[nobody did it (hide spoiler)] drained the story of any emotional heft it might have had. I like Innes better when the stakes are higher! But I do enjoy his writing, how he keeps me straining after the implications of dialogue and teases out resonances from simple human interactions.

[Rosina]

Innes often has totally unbelievable plots - but I do love his writing, so forgive him. This one seems to be a good-natured take on the standard Christmas Murder story, where anyone could have done it, and they accuse each other of various misdemeanours and murderous inclinations.

[Abigail]

I love his writing too and have a nearly complete collection of his works under both the Innes pseudonym and his real name. But usually he adheres to a certain psychological probability, no matter how silly the details of the plot, and in this case I felt he lost sight of that necessary foundation. I kept picturing the family sitting down to dinner after having accused one another and all the awkwardness that would entail.

[Judy]

Rosina wrote: "This one seems to be a good-natured take on the standard Christmas Murder story, where anyone could have done it, ..."

I think you are right - I'm not sure if this came before or after some of Christie's more famous solutions. (I won't say which ones, to avoid spoilers!) I tend to prefer mysteries where the solution is more traditional and doesn't rely on an amazing twist such as the solution to this one, but I must also forgive him because his writing is so good.

[Judy]

Abigail wrote: "I love his writing too and have a nearly complete collection of his works under both the Innes pseudonym and his real name. But usually he adheres to a certain psychological probability, no matter ..."

My mum is an admirer of his books written as J.I.M. Stewart, but I haven't tried those yet. I think that's a great point about it being embarrassing for the family sitting down to dinner after all the accusations!

[Abigail]

If you decide to try the Stewarts, my favorite is Mark Lambert's Supper. His “Staircase in Surrey” quintet is an astonishingly deft construction but it’s an enormous commitment of time and energy to read. The late novels should probably not have been published; he lost a lot of energy in his later years.

[Judy]

Thank you Abigail! The Staircase books are my mum's favourites, I believe.

[Abigail]

They are extraordinary! Five books, all with different characters and storylines, apparently random, and then one small, ordinary event happens are the end that brings all the threads neatly together. As an authorial achievement it takes your breath away. Like a conductor leading five symphony orchestras all at once.

[Rosina]

The Staircase in Surrey is the only J I M Stewart I have read. For Christmas I found some second hand Innes (on Amazon), sent for them, and my husband is giving them to me as Christmas Presents (in Covid times one must make sure that presents are truly appreciated). So far, I have The New Sonia Wayward, but there are a couple more still under the tree (and I've forgotten which ones they are).

[ChrisGA]

Abigail wrote: "Wish I’d realized about the duplication a few days ago! I could have dug up my second copy and sent it to the person who wanted to read it but couldn’t find a copy on Scribd. Unfortunately, I am in..."
That was me. Thank you for the very kind thought. 😊
I got my copy in free trial on kindle unlimited as suggested.

I am about 30% of my way through it. I am enjoying it, but the convoluted sentence structure of Arthur's narrative has caused me to stop and reread several times. I can't tell yet if this is indicative of Arthur's personality or the author's writing style. What I do know is that the constant mockery by Anne and Geoffrey makes me want to send them to their rooms without their dinner. On the other hand, I find Lucy's cluelessness and utter self-absorption rather endearing. The scene in which she scatters her pages on the tea table and gets cream on them was such a delightful bit of comic relief. She seems completely oblivious of the tense conversations around her.

[Judy]

Glad you are enjoying it, Chris. I think Innes always tends to have a convoluted sentence structure, judging from the books of his that I have read so far.

[Sandy]

ChrisGA wrote: "Abigail wrote: "Wish I’d realized about the duplication a few days ago! I could have dug up my second copy and sent it to the person who wanted to read it but couldn’t find a copy on Scribd. Unfort..."

Just a warning Chris that you are in the spoiler thread so you might learn more than you want.

[Abigail]

Judy’s right about the sentence structure—it is the author’s style. The way he puts words together gives me enormous pleasure but as many people hate it as love it.

[ChrisGA]

Sandy wrote: "ChrisGA wrote: "Abigail wrote: "Wish I’d realized about the duplication a few days ago! I could have dug up my second copy and sent it to the person who wanted to read it but couldn’t find a copy o..."

Right, thanks.

[ChrisGA]

Just finished. I certainly didn't see the ending coming- I wonder if the solution is really possible-- the effect of the cold and all. I can see the book as a farce -- ending fits with that with everyone confessing. As John noted, they are an opinionated and talkative family.