Death at the President's Lodging (The Inspector Appleby Mysteries Book 1)

While I enjoy reading good descriptive prose, Mr. Innes' use of archaic and pedantic language, as well as extremely verbose descriptions unfortunately bored me. I read the entire book because I wanted to know which person was the murderer. I pride myself somewhat on having a large vocabulary and read voraciously, but I constantly read words in this story that I've never read in 60 years. About two thirds through the book, editing failed for several sentences, including Appleby's name. By the end of the book when Appleby was revealing the murderer, I found myself skipping page after page of over-description. I dislike writing critical reviews but felt it necessary here, because the mystery itself is interesting.

Not for everyone. Very British. Writing very high level, plots very intellectual and complex, Vocabulary very high.Innes is a great writer. I enjoyed the complexity. Some may not like the detail and find it pedantic.If you like intelligent British mysteries, you will enjoy.Main inspector very intelligent and witty

Great read. Not a cozy mystery. A convoluted one!Written in Agatha Christie's time but still entertaining today.Interesting look at the English college system.

Excellent reader, very complex plotting which was somewhat difficult to follow at times. I'm happy I read it and felt disappointed it wasn't "a Classic" as it was extremely well written.

This was definitely the most hilariously convoluted mystery I ever read. It is a must-read for anyone who has spent any time at all in academia. The preciousness of academic types, the backbiting, the mutual loathing--it's all here. And Innes' writing is very, very elevated. Here we have exquisitely crafted sentences which actually required me to haul out my dictionary a number of times. If you want a respite from idiocy and vulgarity, Innes is it.By the author of "It All Started with a Bicycle"

I only gave this four stars because it was SO elaborately plotted as to make it nearly impossible to follow. Seven suspects, indeed. Good fun, Innes has quite the mind. Appleby is delightful!

The best part of the book was in the first or so half. It felt like taking a ride in the narrator's brain. Then my brain became scrambled trying to keep track with all the times and characters whereabouts. The later part of the read seemed less intimate but necessary. Still in general it was a bit of a let down.

My favorite Inspector Appleby mysteries take place in an academic setting. This subset of his mystery novels is undoubtedly a byproduct of the many years that Michael Innes (whose real name was John Innes Mackintosh Stewart) spent laboring in the halls of academia. Among the seats of learning where he taught are Queen's University in Belfast, and the universities of Oxford, Adelaide, and Leeds.The author could not help but involve a legion of eccentric, pompous, and even murderous professors in the death of the president of St. Anthony's College (modeled after the colleges at Oxford University). Their academic spats and bumblings are a good part of what makes this book readable. Innes is wickedly funny when it comes to poking fun at the habits of his donnish colleagues and undergraduates."Death at the President's Lodging" starts out as a locked room mystery where the only suspects are locked into the college grounds for the night. The president's body is found in his own library, but we gradually learn that the corpse was subject to a great deal of postmortem perambulation as his colleagues try to establish their own alibis and manufacture evidence that points to their academic enemies. Nothing is as it first seems, not even time of death.A trio of undergraduates provides the comic relief as they chase one of the suspects (supposedly at an archeological dig in the Middle East) across the English countryside and finally deliver him to Inspector Appleby in a large wicker clothes basket (shades of Falstaff!).As Inspector Appleby winds his way through the skeins of plot and counter-plot created by great intellects gone murderously askew, his intuition is played off against the rather unimaginative plodding of local Constable Dodd. Dodd is a bit of a dry stick compared to the irrepressible Appleby, who in his very first appearance in this mystery (published in 1936), is already showing signs of what his successor at Scotland Yard refers to as his 'waywardness.'Enjoy Inspector John Appleby's literary debut for the hijinks of the undergraduates, the plots and counter-plots of their devious professors, and the erudite style of their donnish creator. The plot is overly complex, but it is brilliantly resolved and a lot of fun to read.

If you want to be gripped by a crime thriller, then this Thirties detective fiction is not for you. However, if you enjoy a slower pace and a fiendishly complex puzzle to ponder over, then this perfectly fits the bill.The story is mostly told from the viewpoint of Inspector Appleby from Scotland Yard, brought in to investigate the murder of a professor at an Oxbridge type college. As he interviews seven suspects he realises this is a case with such an abundance of evidence it is a challenge to work out what is relevant or not. The plot is precise down to the minute and at times the complexities can confuse. Personally, I enjoyed the leisurely pace of the narrative and ever since C.P.Snow I find the older Oxbridge setting and culture intriguing. Some of the characters, mainly the three undergraduates, are hard to take seriously but overall, this is a well-written novel from a highly skilled manipulator of plotting devices.

As an academic himself Mr Innes was at ease in the Oxbridge-type college setting for this Thirties whodunnit and his enjoyment is evident throughout. He was also something of an afficianado of the crime writing genre with frequent references to Poe, 'shockers', Sherlock Holmes, 39 Steps and 'Trents Last Case'. His main love is the 'locked room' mystery which gets a plug as early as page 6 and this is fostered by his ongoing description of the college as a 'submarine'; no way in or out for the murderer!The book has the feeling of a Victorian stage play from the outset. Our hero in this extensive series is Inspector Appleby of the Yard who refers to 'the elaborately constructed stage' for the murder scene and to 'that gruesome decor' for the corpse. Meanwhile the gruff, dogged local policeman Dodd, prefers the blunter 'livestock' as his description of the elite intelligentsia who make up the dramatis personae.Mr Innes was surely using Appleby as his voice stating that the whole investigation was,'a frankly enjoyable intellectual game' whilst Dodd gets on with the 'rough work'.Unfortunately for me this is just not my type of crime writing. Mr Innes revels in the cast list of suspects, the motives, the opportunites, the alibis and the red herrings. 'A red herring may be a rat with a deceptive fish-like smell', is a line worth a star on its own! Regrettably I felt that I needed an Excel spreadsheet by the end. In other words the problem solving had overtaken the novel. Lots of people love this type of crime writing and, for them, this book is strongly recommended.

This is not a book to skim through. I expect anyone who has read Michael Innes before will already know what to expect in terms of scholarship, and this is no exception. The plot is basically simple: who had access to the Prsident's Lodging? The contortions associated with the various wanderings of the characters under suspicion make the solution to the mystery into a tortuous narrative. It all depends on the reader enjoying being taken on diversions and byways and working out who is who as to whether he or she will have the stamina to reach the end. Fashions in the style of detective stories have changed since this was written. Punchy, pithy and rapid this is not, but it is nevertheless an enjoyable read. Not for everyone though. I doubt if I would have read it in my youth.

I remember my father used to read the detective stories of Michael Innes so I thought I would like to try one.I found it very slight and it did not thrill, inspire or scare me. However, I could see it was the start of a genre of intellectual thrillers which have been done so many times since - Morse comes to mind, also P D James' Adam Dalgleish.Mind you, I stayed in the Gothic splendour of Keble College Oxford last week and I did feel a little creepy remembering the story of keys, the Quad, the staircase etc etc so perhaps the book does have "something" after all.

I dowloaded this book by mistake as I already have a paperback version. As with all Inness’ books it is loaded with literary references some of which are obscure but this is due to my limited literary reading. The book is very well written.