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Famous writer, Richard Eliot, has written numerous detective novels, featuring 'The Spider', a daring, clever criminal in earlier books, and an equally canny private investigator in later ones. But when he comes to life - first to burgle an odd neighbour, then to harass the Eliot family, and finally to attend his own 'birthday party' - Inspector John Appleby is sent to investigate.Tags
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Member Reviews
Feb 2023 reread:
Even having read this book before, it was still more perplexing than was enjoyable. Even Appleby's explanation at the conclusion of the book was a bit hard to follow....
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A non-murder mystery but too convoluted! This 4th entry in the Appleby series rivals The Daffodil Affair for one of the most bizarre mysteries I have ever read.
Even having read this book before, it was still more perplexing than was enjoyable. Even Appleby's explanation at the conclusion of the book was a bit hard to follow....
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A non-murder mystery but too convoluted! This 4th entry in the Appleby series rivals The Daffodil Affair for one of the most bizarre mysteries I have ever read.
Timmy Eliot's father is the author of a series of thrillers starring the Spider, who seems to be coming alive and playing tricks on the family. Timmy's Oxford tutor agrees to come and help find out what's going on. As things become more mysterious and threatening at the annual Spider party, Timmy's sister's friend, Patricia Appleby, calls in her brother for help.
My somewhat scanty acquaintance with Pope's poetry meant a lot of the banter was over my head in this one. Still, lots of humour and some very tense moments.
My somewhat scanty acquaintance with Pope's poetry meant a lot of the banter was over my head in this one. Still, lots of humour and some very tense moments.
Richard Eliot is the author of 37 books featuring The Spider, and he plans to write at least a few more. The Spider has had a tortuous career, something reminiscent of G.K. Chesterton's Flambeau, beginning as diabolical, though literary, criminal, altering direction over the years, and now changing sides and engaging in crime-detection. The critics applaud this plastic nature, this subtle development of character. But the truth is that Mr Eliot tires of his creation, and the changes are necessary to keep him interested in his task. Continued
A non-murder mystery but too convoluted! This 4th entry in the Appleby series rivals The Daffodil Affair for one of the most bizarre mysteries I have ever read.
I do enjoy these surprisingly literary mysteries.
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Author Information
101+ Works 10,658 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
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title*
- ¡Paren las máquinas!
- Original title
- Stop Press
- Original publication date
- 1939
- People/Characters
- John Appleby
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
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Statistics
- Members
- 130
- Popularity
- 250,484
- Reviews
- 5
- Rating
- (3.55)
- Languages
- English, Spanish
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 14
- ASINs
- 14
