A Red Badge mystery. ( )

possibly wittiest of the Appleby series ( )

Seems like more than a bit of Cold Comfort Farm snuck into this very odd Appleby tale. Quite a strange installment in the series. ( )

On what seems to be an interminable railway journey to the village of Snarl in the depths of winter, John Appleby misses his connection because the timetable was printed long before Gregory Grope's grandmother fell down the well. He is invited to stay by a fellow passenger, Everard Raven, an encylopaedist and lexicographer only to find that the Raven family may be linked to the case he has been sent to investigate. Are the novels and stories of Everard's late father, the Victorian writer Ranulph Raven, starting to come true?

I was an avid Michael Innes fan in my teens and twenties and this was always my favourite because of its complete dottiness. It has stood up well to the lapse of time. ( )

If you can put up with the writing style, which is erudite to the point of pretention, and have a taste for the bizarre, then Innes will be your cup of tea.

While I am generally not sure I do like the writing style, I do appreciate the references and the plots always intrigue me. This one doesn't disappoint and there is a twist in the last sentence! ( )