An Awkward Lie

Far more conventional that The Daffodil Affair, which I read just previous to this one (I'm reading these in the order I come across them, rather than in publication order, which may be a mistake but oh well). It's not Sir John but rather his son Bobby Appleby who takes center stage in this story, stumbling across a body in a golf course bunker which subsequently disappears. An good premise, but the story doesn't go very far and I was quite disappointed in the ending.

Bobby Appleby finds a body in the first bunker on the local golf course. He asks a girl to watch over it while he goes to phone the police. When he returns with the police the body and the girl have both vanished.

Not one of Innes's best. I much prefer Sir John to his son.

Bobby Appleby, Sir John's son, plays a larger part than his father in this highly implausible comedy thriller. In the section of the book set in Bobby's old prep school Innes seems to be trying to emulate Evelyn Waugh at times, which frankly doesn't come off. (A mystery which remains unsolved is why his parents would have sent him to such an appallingly bad school.) A body found in a golf bunker (hence the title) which subsequently disappears, together with a girl who vanishes at the same time, combine to form an intriguing if not very original opening, but the denouement is just unbelievable.

This entry in the Appleby series again features Sir John's youngest son Bobby; in fact, Sir John is very much in the background. At this time, Bobby has graduated from Oxford & become a novelist. While visiting his family home, he discovers a dead body during an early morning round of golf - and a beautiful girl too.

I don't want to say more as it is impossible to go on without spoilers. Bobby is shaping up into a good replacement protagonist for his father!

best tite pun I know of - book is at Greenwood - last seen if family room - no shelf space my studio