This 1962 mystery is known as The Crabtree Case in the
US. It is a late novel with series hero Sir John Appleby in his retirement. It
begins with the Applebys taking a summer country walk and to Sir John’s
chagrin, Judith wants to barge in on Scroop House, to look over the valuable
antique furniture of a stately mansion.
Crossing an old canal and ending up at a pub run by on an
obnoxious poser, they fall into conversation with Seth Crabtree, a stage rustic
who seems to have walked out of Hardy’s The Woodlanders. As the former cabinet
maker for mansion, he tells them of the glory days of Scoop House and its owner
Mrs Coulson, a grand collector of objets d’art and antiques. Shortly after, the
Applebys find Crabtree floating in the canal, shot dead. Though not as dramatic
as the earlier novels, this still features tight, witty writing.
Judith looked south—which was
towards what Appleby had called the secondary motor road. All she saw was a
momentary glint of light.
‘I think,’ she said, `that I saw
the sun reflected from the wind screen of a passing car. Right?’
‘Right as far as you go. What
you saw was a silver-grey Rolls-Royce Phantom V.’
‘My dear John, it’s terribly
vulgar to name cars—particularly astoundingly expensive ones. It’s only done by
cheap novelists. You must just say: a very large car.’
Appleby received this with
hilarity.
Take that Ian Fleming, you brand name-dropper you. If you
find this kind of thing as hilarious as Sir John and I do, you should read
Michael Innes.
Other Reviews of Michael Innes’ Mysteries
Lament for a Maker (1938)
Appleby on Ararat
(1941)
One Man Show (1952)
Silence Observed (1961)
A Connoisseur’s
Case (1962)
Money from Holme (1964)
A Change of Heir (1966)
Death at the Chase (1970)
Appleby’s Answer (1973)
The
Mysterious Commission (1974)
The Ampersand
Papers (1978)
Lord Mullion’s Secret (1981)
No comments:
Post a Comment