Reading the Detectives discussion

I can hardly believe we don't already have a Favourite Authors thread for Michael Innes, real name J.I.M. Stewart, who has a devoted following among Golden Age crime readers.

Are you a devotee, and if so which books are your favourites?

Here is the Goodreads mini bio:

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.

Inspector Appleby Books in Order

Death at the President's Lodging, also known as Seven Suspects (1936): read in this group 2/17
Hamlet, Revenge! (1937): read in this group 7/17
Lament for a Maker (1938): read in this group 8/18
Stop Press, also known as The Spider Strikes (1939): read in this group 3/19
The Secret Vanguard (1940)
There Came Both Mist And Snow, also known as A Comedy of Terrors (1940), read in this group 12/20
Appleby On Ararat (1941)
The Daffodil Affair (1942)
The Weight Of The Evidence (1943)
Appleby's End (1945)
A Night Of Errors (1948)
Operation Pax, also known as The Paper Thunderbolt (1951)
One Man Show, also known as Murder Is An Art and A Private View (1952)
Appleby Plays Chicken, also known as Death on a Quiet Day (1957)
The Long Farewell (1958)
Hare Sitting Up (1959)
Silence Observed (1961)
A Connoisseur's Case: The Crabtree Affair, also known as The Crabtree Affair (1962)
The Bloody Wood (1966)
Appleby At Allington, also known as Death by Water (1968)
A Family Affair, also known as Picture of Guilt (1969)
Death At The Chase (1970)
An Awkward Lie (1971)
The Open House (1972)
Appleby's Answer (1973)
Appleby's Other Story (1974)
The Gay Phoenix (1976)
The Ampersand Papers (1978)
Sheiks And Adders (1982)
Appleby and Honeybath (1983)
Carson's Conspiracy (1984)
Appleby And The Ospreys (1986)

Collections of Appleby Short Stories

Appleby Talking (1954)
Appleby Talks (1954)
Appleby Talks Again (1956)
Appleby Intervenes (1965)
The Appleby File (1975)
Appleby Talks about Crime (2010)

Charles Honeybath Books

The Mysterious Commission (1974)
Honeybath's Haven (1978)
Lord Mullion's Secret (1981)
Appleby and Honeybath (1983)

Standalone Books Published under the Name Michael Innes

From London Far, also known as The Unsuspected Chasm (1946)
What Happened At Hazelwood (1946)
The Case of the Journeying Boy, also known as The Journeying Boy (1949)
Christmas at Candleshoe (1953)
The Man from the Sea, also known as The Death By Moonlight: Death By Moonlight (1955)
Old Hall, New Hall: A Question of Queens, also known as A Question of Queens (1956)
The New Sonia Wayward, also known as The Case of Sonia Wayward (1960)
Money from Holme (1964)
A Change Of Heir (1966)
Going It Alone (1980)

Novels Published as J. I. M. Stewart (not mysteries)

Mark Lambert's Supper (1954)
The Guardians (1955)
A Use of Riches (1957)
The Man Who Won the Pools (1961)
An Acre of Grass (1962)
The Aylwins (1966)
The Last Tresilians (1966)
Vanderlyn's Kingdom (1967)
Avery's Mission (1971)
A Palace of Art (1972)
Mungo's Dream (1973)
The Gaudy, A Staircase in Surrey #1 (1975)
Young Pattullo, A Staircase in Surrey #2 (1975)
A Memorial Service, A Staircase in Surrey #3 (1976)
The Madonna of the Astrolabe, A Staircase in Surrey #4 (1977)
Full Term, A Staircase in Surrey #5 (1979)
Andrew and Tobias (1980)
A Villa in France (1982)
An Open Prison (1984)
The Naylors (1985)

Short Story Collections Published as J. I. M. Stewart
The Man Who Wrote Detective Stories (1959)
Cucumber Sandwiches, And Other Stories (1969)
Our England Is a Garden (1979)
The Bridge at Arta (1981)
My Aunt Christina (1983)
Parlour 4 And Other Stories (1984)

Nonfiction Books published as J. I. M. Stewart

Educating the Emotions (1944)
Character and Motive in Shakespeare: Some Recent Appraisals Examined (1949)
James Joyce (1957)
Eight Modern Writers (1963)
Thomas Love Peacock (1963)
Rudyard Kipling (1966)
Joseph Conrad (1968)
Shakespeare's Lofty Scene (1971)
Thomas Hardy: A Critical Biography (1971)

Anybody want to do a buddy read of The Secret Vanguard this summer? Or make me a better offer!

I'd be happy with that, though it isn't one of my favourites, it is the next in line!

Great! I guess we should be chatting it up in the Buddy Reads section; I’ll move over there.

I enjoyed the first two, but I think Lament for a Maker did for me, as I struggled so much with it!

Thank you for the wonderful list, Abigail! I've just had a look at Amazon and the books up to Hare Sitting Up have been reissued on Kindle by Agora Books, and are on Kindle Unlimited in the UK.

Thanks for checking that! The effort of making sense of his oeuvre wore me out and I didn’t think about availability. While searching I did notice a bunch of English paperback editions that are more recent than when I was collecting his work, so there ought to be cheap used paperbacks as well.

I have read only 2 of the books listed Stop Press and There Came Both Mist And Snow. I would like to join the buddy read as most of the books are available on KU. I'm off to read Death at the President's Lodging, Hamlet, Revenge! and Lament for a Maker so I'm ready to join in July.

That's great, Shaina, enjoy! I don't think they need to be read in order though, so anyone who doesn't have time to read the earlier books should still be fine to join in.

I really liked the first two. I may also have to go back if I intend to join in. If I have time I will give the first a try and keep an eye on the threads.

Did you say July for The Secret Vanguard?

Yes, adding it to July, Susan, after a chat about dates over in the buddy reads thread. :)

Susan and Shaina, I agree with Judy that it’s a series that doesn’t really need to be read in order. Inspector Appleby does age and grow in his career over the course of the books, but there isn’t really much of a personal storyline to follow. A lot of people get discouraged after the first few books, especially Stop Press, and miss out on the sweets to come!

Some of them aren't 'murder mysteries' at all, including favourites of mine - The Daffodil Affair and Appleby's End, and the non-Appleby From London Far. Where there is a murder, the plot doesn't depend on finding out who did it.

Judy wrote: "That's great, Shaina, enjoy! I don't think they need to be read in order though, so anyone who doesn't have time to read the earlier books should still be fine to join in."

I know that they don't need to be read in order however, they are available on KU and this buddy read gives me the push needed to get to them : ) (the fact that I need to read them or it will bother me doesn't count)

Abigail wrote: "Susan and Shaina, I agree with Judy that it’s a series that doesn’t really need to be read in order. Inspector Appleby does age and grow in his career over the course of the books, but there isn’t ..."

Abigail, I really stopped reading this author after Stop Press! lol

I look forward to the "sweets to come"

I have started re-reading the first in the series, so I will give them another go!

I finished the first one yesterday and will start the second one sometime next week.

I am also looking forward to the sweets to come! I used to be more keen on reading in order, but with so many GA series being reprinted I'm realising that I'm just never going to get to all the books by all the authors. ;)

For any Michael Innes fans visiting this thread, our buddy read of The Secret Vanguard will start around July 15.

I did re-read the first in the series. I will, slowly, hopefully catch you all up!

They’re not really sequential so you can join in without reading the intervening ones.

I know, Abigail. I am just unable to read a series out of order. It's my failing, I know.

I don't plan to read July's book but may join in later reads. Enjoy!

Just hope you don’t get snagged on Stop Press! It nearly killed me, and I’m an Innes/Stewart megafan!

Yes - Stop Press could bring anyone to a halt! After that they may be variable, in content and in enjoyment, but at least they seem to be a lot shorter!

I would agree, it could be a good idea to skip Stop Press, Susan!

I finished Hamlet, Revenge! today. Didn't really enjoy it. Death at the President's Lodging was so much better.

I have one more book to go 'Lament for a Maker' before the buddy read. I have already read Stop Press.

I like Lament for a Maker, but the Scots narrator seems to put some people off.

I read Appleby On Ararat since we’re skipping it in the buddy reads because it’s not widely available. It’s rather awful, actually, full of jingoistic bits about an Afro-British character and “natives”. No loss!

Thank you Abigail - from your description and review, I'm guessing that may be why it has been missed out from the republication of the series!

I don't think I've ever read Appleby on Ararat - even in the old days, when I borrowed them from the library. Reading reviews, I haven't been tempted to try to buy a copy.