I may be a bit too much of a traditionalist in my mystery tastes but this was a bridge too far - this reads like a fever dream or a story told to you by a 4-year old (in the "and then this happened and then this happened and then and then....). A hard pass.

Usual Innes writing style but a little too weird for me. Couldn’t get my teeth into it.

I struggled to read this book and gave up in the end. I found the writing too meandering in style and the storyline too farfetched. I very much appreciate the opportunity to preview, but, not for me this one.

Written in the 1940s this book now appears dated and was hard to get into. It has its own unique style. It was an interesting read but I do not think I would read any more books by this author.

A good book even if it is a bit dated, especially in the way of writing.
Entertaining, a bit weird, a bit more adventurous than the typical mystery of the specific age.
It is not always easy to be involved but it is likeable.
Many thanks to Ipso Books and Netgalley

Michael Innes, The Daffodil Affair (1942)
This isn’t Innes at his best, because too much of it has to do with fantastical characters (including the theft of Daffodil, the horse) and a whole circus-worth of freaks, conjurors, mediums, and other strangely talented (or afflicted) types. Innes’s usual skill with layering Appleby’s investigations takes him, and a colleague, into darkest South America, where a certain Wine, a super-wealthy would-be Emperor, is building his kingdom. The book was written at the mid-point of WWII, and it shows. Since nobody’s name is actually ‘Wine’, a certain amount of suspicion is appropriate . Appleby finds his musings are unusually murky:
But the point, thought Appleby, is this: is the man, without knowing it, himself the product of the hour? And is the softening process not the source of the plot as well as its instrument? Was not Wine in some measure involved in his own twilight—and was he not vulnerable in terms of this? The point lay there.

He and his colleague, Hudspith (whose North Country name, perhaps from Durham), manage to follow westward and south, finding, as they do, a madman’s dream of outreach to a mystic otherworld. And the title? Daffodil is gentle horse.

This book gave me a blend of Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes vibes. It took me such a long time to get the writing flow because the characters were as dynamic as they came and once I got the pace and the humor it became an enjoyable read.
I'd recommend it to anyone who loves a good mystery with diverse characters, you'll love this book. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Michael Innes (the academic J I M Stewart), is hardly a neglected crime writer; I’ve had a lot of his books in green Penguin crime editions over the years and see that I still have a couple after numerous book purges. The Daffodil Affair was first published in 1942 and has now been reissued by Ipso Books, ‘a digital publishing company, dedicated to bringing readers dynamic writing from classic and contemporary authors.’ It begins so well. A young London girl disappears, presumed abducted. This is a matter for Scotland Yard detective Hudspith, who is obsessed by the terrible things that happen to girls. Almost simultaneously, an apparently valueless horse called Daffodil is stolen. This sends Innes’ hero Appleby up to Yorkshire at the request of his aunt, whose friend is upset by the loss of her favourite carriage horse. On a detour in Harrogate, Appleby fortuitously witnesses the disappearance of another girl, one with the reputation of being a witch. Back in London, an entire eighteenth century house, reputedly haunted, just disappears. What can be the connection between these strange events? Everything is set up for an Appleby investigation of something extraordinary.

Unfortunately, this is where the book lost me. We are to believe that an important man like Appleby would look into horse theft. Then, which really stretches credulity, that two Scotland Yard men travel to South America, in wartime, in pursuit of horse, girls and house, with no evidence of a crime. More, they travel in company with the people responsible and know they are doing so and might get bumped off at any moment. We then spend an uncomfortable time travelling up an unnamed South American river full of alligators to an unnamed jungle area full of ‘savages’. The crime is quite outside the scope of normal detective work. At one point, Hudspith says, ‘We’re in a sort of hodge-podge of fantasy and harumscarum adventure that isn’t a proper detective story at all. We might be by Michael Innes.’
‘Innes? I’ve never heard of him.’ Replies Appleby. Clever. The whole book is clever, full of allusions for those who get them. Of course, Appleby solves the case but the greatest mystery remains (for me), how did they get the horse back to England?

I admit that a lot of my disappointment with the book is due to my irrational dislike of anything to do with South American jungles. I always think of The Man Who Liked Dickens. If you have no such prejudices, this is a witty and entertaining novel. I read it thanks to NetGalley.

Whilst I really enjoy reading Michael Innes stories, they do require some getting into, unfortunately this one did not meet the mark. It was as if he wasn't sure where the story was going himself, and I felt I was in a "boys own" adventure book. It is quite typical of the era but a little too far fetch adventure for my taste, although as always well written and interesting in it own way.

Innes’ Appleby and Hudspeth remind me a lot of Christopher Fowler’s Bryant and May mysteries. They have the same improbabilities wrapped up in a (sort of) reasonable explanation. Appleby travels to South America to solve the disappearance of a witch, a house, and a horse. He sorted out the explanation far before I did!

Old-school, intellectual puzzler - Innes might be an acquired taste, but always entertaining.