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Over a period of twenty years, a series of highly elaborate art hoaxes have been perpetrated at carefully time intervals, and in each case, the victim has a very good reason for keeping quiet. Inspector Appleby's interest is kindled by an amusing dinner-party anecdote - when he enlists the help of his wife and son, the ensuing investigation is truly a family affair. The scenes shift swiftly between glorious stately homes and the not-so-glorious art gallery of the irrepressibly dubious show more Hildebert Braunkopf. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
The Applebys work together during Sir John's retirement to investigate what may be thefts of valuable art works or a series of practical jokes.
Hildebert Braunkopf's malapropisms and spelling accent have not worn well and the book ends rather abruptly, so not one of Innes's best.
Hildebert Braunkopf's malapropisms and spelling accent have not worn well and the book ends rather abruptly, so not one of Innes's best.
Nice entry in the series, with Appleby's son & wife taking a significant part (hence the original title, A Family Affair). This mystery is not a murder mystery but one about art theft (a favorite topic of Innes') in which the thefts are intertwined with practical jokes.
Nice entry in the series, with Appleby's son & wife taking a significant part (hence the original title, A Family Affair). This mystery is not a murder mystery but one about art theft (a favorite topic of Innes') in which the thefts are intertwined with practical jokes.
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#JustTheFacts2019Silver
60 works; 1 member
#MysteryBingo2019Silver(Original)
36 works; 1 member
#MysteryBingo2019Silver(Revised)
36 works; 1 member
Author Information

101+ Works 10,669 Members
John Innes Mackintosh Stewart was born in Edinburgh. He attended Oxford where he studied English. He taught English in universities at the University of Adelaide, in South Australia. Stewart published novels, short stories, studies in literature, biographies, and plays. Under his name, he wrote scholarly works such as Character and Motive in show more Shakespeare, Rudyard Kipling, and Thomas Hardy. As Michael Innes, he wrote over fifty detective novels with Inspector John Appleby of Scotland Yard in London as the main character. These titles include Death at the President's Lodging, The Journeying Boy, Lament for a Maker, Operation Pax, the Crabtree Affair and Silence Observed. Stewart died on November 12, 1994. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Series
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- A Family Affair
- Original title
- A Family Affair
- Alternate titles
- Picture of Guilt
- Original publication date
- 1969
- People/Characters
- John Appleby
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 121
- Popularity
- 263,899
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (3.88)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 10
- ASINs
- 3





























































