Private View, A (Inspector Appleby, 13) MP3 CD – Unabridged, July 5, 2016

... that Michael Innes needs to be taken in small doses. His short stories are fun and digestible. His novels are intricate and clever and utterly boring.

Too obvious who did it, not much mystery in it.

I'm half way through and its a good one!! If you love a very very well written classic mystery, Michael Innes is for you. So refreshingin todays world of violence and psycho fear factor. If you love and intelligent reading and want a good bedtime story, this is it.This had Judith in it too which is always a treat.

This has both Appleby and his wife, so it is more fun than the earlier ones. Read it and find out for yourself.

What begins as a tongue in cheek stroll through an art gallery rapidly becomes a one-man-showfor John Appleby, as he traces vicious murderers through a long night of car chases andgeneral pandemonium. And just as all seems lost, a stroke of luck! Fine tale.

This classic crime tale has lots of twists and turns that keep the reader involved.Lady Judith and Sir John Appleby go to a private viewing of paintings by Limbert, a recently murdered artist. Mr. Brown, the proprietor, is trying hard to have John puchase a painting, but suddenly they realize the painting has disappeared. A few hours later, Inspector Cadover and Sir John were talking about The Waterbath Research Station where some school boys had gotten in and taken pictures, and then that the Duke of Horton called about some pictures which were stollen as well as the Limbert which was stollen when Sir John was present. Sir John begins thinking about Limbert's murder and a missing girl in the apartment upstairs, and decides he should investigate things. He soon finds that Limbert had the Duke's stollen Stubbs hanging in his apartment, and that Limbert had also recently bought a canvas of the same size and shape of the stollen Vermeer Aquarium.They then realized that the death of Limbert was probably related to the stollen Vermeer, and Sir John went into detecting mode. They first talk to Mr. Brown to tell him Limbert's last painting was actually a Vermeer and knew that it had been in Old Moe Steptoe's shop. Thus, his first step was to go to Steptoe's shop. At first it seemed no one was there. However, he finally stirred up Moe, and Moe made a phone call which caused noises down stairs. Appleby manages to overpower Moe and chase downstairs where he jumped in the back of the van which was driving out of the yard. Meanwhile, Judith decides to do some looking around herself and overhears an important conversation and realizes she needs help. She calls the police, finds the missing girl, and Inpector Cadover picks them up and interviews them. Eventually, Judith joins Inspector Cadover in a search to find Sir John and the painting. We finally find out the connection between the Waterbath Research station and a stolen painting. It was an exciting chase for all!

A Private View by Michael Innes starts off well. An amusing look at the art world that leads to a robbery that leads to a murder with what seems to be a finite set of suspects. A perfect set-up for a mystery. And for the first half of the book, it seems to be a typical Golden Age play fair mystery. Even the shift from Sir John's POV to his wife's worked well and her initial work as a detective worked well. But then the tone shifts to more of a thriller/police procedural chase and while I kept reading to see how it all turned out, the final resolution comes more from serendipity rather than any deductions by anyone. It's true everything is explained at the end, but much of the final solution did not relie on clues in the book. The style of the book was enjoyable, and I found the amusing tone and somewhat satiric authorial tone. I enjoyed it more that Operation Pax, the last Michael Innes I read. However in both books, Innes leans more toward the thrillers of Buchan and Sapper than the cozy mysteries of Christie, Sayers, or Marsh.I received a free review copy via Crime Classics. This did not influence my review.

NOTE: In this edition the novel is followed by a short story, "Appleby's First Case", in which a 14 year old John Appleby thwarts an art theft. I found it delightful.I find the Inspector John Appleby books to be a mixed bag, with moments of tediousness, with some pretentious dialog, and then fast paced, whiz bang action.For me, the action and resolution of the mystery more than make up for the annoying pretentiousness, although this story's resolution has a few too many coincidences for me.This mystery includes murder in the art world, several sets of thieves, and other assorted mayhem.This book picks up rapidly when Lady Judith Appleby begins to do her own investigation, starting with some strange meetings in a bizarre nightclub.An important question is how/why is art valued? Is it for its monetary value, an appreciation of the artist's talent, or the sheer beauty it adds to our lives?Early in the book Judith Appleby is looking for a new piece of art to use behind a sculpture she is working on, where what she wants is certain firm lines and a particular shade of green. It's value is only as background.I did get this book for free from an agent of the publisher, but this is my honest evaluation.

This is Innes at his best and most thrilling, when Appleby was in his phase of Hannaying around London, rather than merely Marpling around the stately homes of England. The ending is little weaker than the beginning, but this is great, erudite crime fiction (with Innes's love of the visual arts prominently on display) .

Unfortunately I could not get into this story and gave up.It is very unbelievable and has a great deal of name dropping. When reading detective stories I am usually interested in the final outcome. This was a boring story and I lost interest.The setting around art and the people involved in art is to stereotypical.

I found the plotting of the book and the actions of Sir John Appleby ridiculous. I have enjoyed other Michael Innes books, but not this one.I confess that I struggled through to half way, then skipped to the last chapter - this was detailed enough that I don't think I missed anything of significance.

Classic early 20th century detection. On a par with Allingham and Sayers. Delighted to have found another author with a great central character.