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SensualPoet · 10-04-2011, 08:41 PM

First novels are often a special treat and, in this case, Death at the President's Lodging, published in 1936 by the scholar J.I.M. Stewart under his pseudonym Michael Innes, turns out to be a cracking good puzzle set in a fictional college not unlike the author's own experience … except, of course, the president in his day wasn't snuffed out. His lead character, Inspector Appleby, would turn up in 30-odd novels with his last outing published at the end of Stewart's life in the 1980s.

St Anthony's President Umpleby is dispatched in the opening pages of what turns out to be a variation on the classic locked room: except in this case, it is the inner College courtyard which locks in the President, four college Fellows and the porter, as well as possibly involving a few others who may have had a gate key. Though the keys had all been changed that morning, by nightfall the president had met his end, shot quite dead, apparently in his rooms. Through many twists and turns, seven suspects come to light, several with motive, opportunity and each relating their version of the fatal night ... who is lying? and who’s recriminations are true? When Inspector Appleby comes down from Scotland Yard to assist the local Constable Dodd, it's not long before Appleby himself has been knocked on the noggin. Who knew academia was this dangerous!

More intense than some of the later tales, with more dense prose and a truly thorny puzzle to unknot, Innes' way of getting to the interior voices of the characters is winning. As the truth slowly dawns on Appleby, so also does the reader get a glimmer, here and there, of the cracks in the case and a solution fully worthy of Agatha Christie. The confident mastery of the writing belies this being the author's first novel and its immediate success reshaped his career. Well recommended and surprisingly contemporary (especially for those of us raised on period pieces from Masterpiece Theatre!).

This ebook edition, produced by House of Stratus on behalf of the Stewart estate, is first rate in presentation and formatting. Happily, the entire series has been reissued by this firm.

Available as a Kindle or a Kobo for under $10.

10-04-2011, 08:41 PM	#498
SensualPoet Wizard Posts: 2,302 Karma: 2607151 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Toronto Device: Kobo Aura HD, Kindle Paperwhite, Asus ZenPad 3, Kobo Glo	Michael Innes - Death at the President's Lodging First novels are often a special treat and, in this case, Death at the President's Lodging, published in 1936 by the scholar J.I.M. Stewart under his pseudonym Michael Innes, turns out to be a cracking good puzzle set in a fictional college not unlike the author's own experience … except, of course, the president in his day wasn't snuffed out. His lead character, Inspector Appleby, would turn up in 30-odd novels with his last outing published at the end of Stewart's life in the 1980s. St Anthony's President Umpleby is dispatched in the opening pages of what turns out to be a variation on the classic locked room: except in this case, it is the inner College courtyard which locks in the President, four college Fellows and the porter, as well as possibly involving a few others who may have had a gate key. Though the keys had all been changed that morning, by nightfall the president had met his end, shot quite dead, apparently in his rooms. Through many twists and turns, seven suspects come to light, several with motive, opportunity and each relating their version of the fatal night ... who is lying? and who’s recriminations are true? When Inspector Appleby comes down from Scotland Yard to assist the local Constable Dodd, it's not long before Appleby himself has been knocked on the noggin. Who knew academia was this dangerous! More intense than some of the later tales, with more dense prose and a truly thorny puzzle to unknot, Innes' way of getting to the interior voices of the characters is winning. As the truth slowly dawns on Appleby, so also does the reader get a glimmer, here and there, of the cracks in the case and a solution fully worthy of Agatha Christie. The confident mastery of the writing belies this being the author's first novel and its immediate success reshaped his career. Well recommended and surprisingly contemporary (especially for those of us raised on period pieces from Masterpiece Theatre!). This ebook edition, produced by House of Stratus on behalf of the Stewart estate, is first rate in presentation and formatting. Happily, the entire series has been reissued by this firm. Available as a Kindle or a Kobo for under $10.