The Weight of the Evidence: A Sir John Appleby Mystery

The setting of "The Weight of the Evidence" (1943) is undoubtedly a product of the many years that Michael Innes (whose real name was John Innes Mackintosh Stewart) spent laboring in the halls of academia. Among the seats of learning where he taught are Queen's University in Belfast, and the universities of Oxford, Adelaide, and Leeds. The author could not help but involve a legion of eccentric, pompous, and even murderous professors in his narrative and their quarrels (the matter of the shared telephone), naps (a fatal pastime for Professor Pluckrose), and hobbies (Pluckrose appeared to have been smashed by his 'own' meteorite, which was a sort of poetic justice since he had originally stolen it from the Duke of Nesfield) are a good part of what makes this book sparkle. Since this mystery takes place in one of England's provincial universities, Innes also cocks an occasional snoot at its parvenu ways: "The staff--a word which at Oxford or Cambridge might be used of persons employed in a hotel--is not accommodated in spacious common rooms or cozy suites." After Professor Pluckrose is found under his meteorite in his usual napping spot in the courtyard of Nesfield University, Inspector Appleby and his provincial comrade-in-arms, Hobhouse set out to examine the clues of the numerous false beards, the green bust, the false passports and the polygamous student, the darkroom maze, the meteorite, and of course, the murder. And by the way, who turned on the courtyard fountain just as the Dean was passing by? All of these elements must come together before book's end when Appleby reveals the solution to this complicated puzzle. If you haven't already discovered Michael Innes, "The Weight of the Evidence" is a good place to start among his donnish Appleby mysteries, although my personal favorite is "Death at the President's Lodging" (1936) if only because its setting bears a close resemblance to Oxford University.