The Open House (1972)

Another Michael Innes, towards the end of his writing career ( and that of , now ex Scotland Yard Commissioner, Sir John Appleby, it must be) .

An excellent and intriguing opening but there after another " usual " convoluted mystery, reliant on convoluted facts, all very explicable, after the event without any suggestion of clues being hidden or rabbits being pulled out of thin air.

I quite like this type of book. They tend to merge with each other fairly quickly after having finished reading them, but enjoyable on the way through.

Have read a fair number of Innes now, most of which have been Appleby mysteries and there is a very wide range, but that is for another day.

It is not on a par with his " The Last Tressilians" , so much a favorite of A Penguin a Week, and which I agree is a far more rewarding read ( and written under his real name, J I M Stewart ). It does share one feature and that is a tendency to make an allusion ( and I have thought a fairly obvious one ) only to explain it a few pages later ( as if to make sure that the reader "gets" it).

In "The Open House" it is the initial reference to " a woman in white" when there is a sighting of a mysterious apparition , only for Appleby soon after noting that he ".... felt no disposition to digress upon the literary merits of Wilkie Collins".

A fairly obvious allusion one would have thought, particulary to any well read crime or mystery reader.

All similar allusions I have come across have been literary. I do not know whether is just I have picked up or a reflection of Innes/ Stewart' s "real" career as an English Don.

I noted when reading "The Last Tresselians" 2 or 3 of these, but when I went back to find and record them, could not quickly find them. My distinct recollection however was that one was a reference to an Australian novel, perhaps coming from Stewart's time as Professor of English at the University of South Australia.

I don't think this is great literature or a particularly good example of Innes' work, but having read so many of his works now, I will continue to look out for them and read them ( have now read 10 of the almost 40 I have).

18 January 2013 ( )

John Appleby, formerly of Scotland Yard, is traveling through unfamiliar countryside when his car breaks down. After setting off to find an inn and get a place to spend the night, his flashlight dies. He has no choice but to hike along the dirt road hoping to find shelter.

He is stunned - literally - when he discovers a large house blazing with light. After he recovers, he heads for the building, hoping to find someone at home. But he can see no one. He discovers dinner on the table, laid for one, a fire and pajamas in the bedroom, but not a single person. He finds the library and helps himself to a drink.

Just like that, Appleby has stumbled onto another of the strange sort of mystery stories that typify Michael Innes. It reminded me of [Death by Water] or [Sheiks and Adders], with that same sort of beginning. Not quite as much fun as those two books, it was still a good read. ( )

Far from the best Michael Innes novel and in fact quite seriously flawed in places, but it does have quite frankly one of the best opening sequences in British crime fiction. Appleby finds himself stranded in the middle of nowhere on a black, black night and then slowly tries to find his way towards civilisation when... well, you'll see. Entirely worth it for the first sixty or so pages, Innes doesn't exactly under deliver but it never fully matches those first moments. ( )