Appleby's End

Appleby's End is the funniest book I've ever read -- and I read it at least once a year, some 28 times at last count! Other Innes books -- Candleshoe, Journeying Boy, From London Far, Awkward Lie -- have very funny sections, but this one is a delight all the way through. For my money, much more amusing than Lucky Jim etc

Detective Inspector John Appleby loses his heart to Judith Raven in "Appleby's End" (1945) after floating down an icy river on top of a carriage with her, then spending part of the night burrowed together in a haystack. She beguiles him with gothic tales that were written by her Victorian great-uncle, Ranulph--tales that are now seemingly coming true. Marble cows and pigs are being substituted for unsuspecting livestock. Her brother Luke received a personalized tombstone in the mail, with his date of death carved on it. Spot, the horse is found hitched up to the carriage, facing backward. These all seem like minor pranks. Then Judith and John stumble across a dead body buried neck-deep in the snow on their way home from the haystack. Judith, herself a sculptor lives in Long Dream Manor, along with a parcel of eccentric relatives and retainers. This is certainly the perfect set of in-laws for Detective Inspector Appleby, who is sometimes referred to by his colleagues as 'that wayward Appleby.' In fact at one point in this mystery, we find him wistfully thinking, "Would it not be pleasant to retire from the elucidating of crime and give oneself to the creating of unashamed fantasies--in which champion milkers might turn to marble at one's whim..." This is the first of the Appleby mysteries in which the reader is introduced to the Ur-folk. It never fails to astonish me how much information a good author can pack into the monosyllabic expression, 'Ur.' This conversational art reaches its zenith in "Night of Errors" (1948) which is inhabited by a butler by the name of Swindle, whose utterances consist mainly of the croaked "Urrr" sound and displeasing snuffles through his nose. I have to read the Innes novels at least twice before I really understand the plot and the subtleties of conversation, but his mysteries are certainly worth rereading. If you are a fan of the British Golden Age of Mystery, I can almost guarantee that Michael Innes (J.I.M. Stewart) will insinuate himself somewhere near the top of your list of favorite authors.