I tried, I really tried but this just wasn't for me. I really wanted to like this as my husband read it and enjoyed but I just couldn't get into it. Hence the 2 starts

I have read and enjoyed one previous work by the author, Death on a Quiet Day, and I was happy to try another by the author. After my last read, I was a little apprehensive when I saw how much the first chapter leaned into Shakespeare. My next to nothing knowledge on the topic made me fear being left out of the entire narrative, but I was happily mistaken.

There are some narrative styles that one clicks with and for some reason, I like Sir Appleby and way his mind works. He has a very systematic approach and for the most part, keeps us, the reader in the loop. This last part is not very common in the books that I have read of sleuths/cops based in that period. On a random trip to Italy, Sir John happens to meet an old friend who delights in the most random of things, and he sends him off with very odd thoughts both voiced and implied. Soon after, the man is no more. The circumstances surrounding his death are strange, to say the least, and after a few instances of goading as well as the memory of the peculiar last meeting gets an investigation underway with Sir John heading down to the scene of the crime. As he gets to the point, he meets the odd members of the situation in an orderly fashion giving us an entertaining introduction to them all. There are more oddball characters thrown in than I would have expected from a tale of this size, but they were essential to the narrative increasing the stakes of the background. Finally, the ending. The resolution happened in a surprising twist after I was lulled into thinking I knew where it was going, and like a majority of the times that has happened, I enjoyed the suddenness. The whole situation stretches over just a couple of days before being wrapped up.

I would definitely pick up more books by this author the next chance I get. I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley (the reprint published last year) and the publishers, but the review is solely based on my affinity to the writing style and my reading experience as a whole.

From Crime Classics I was lucky to be sent a free copy of Michal Innes book The Long Farewell. It is number 17 in the Sir John Appleby series.
The story starts in Italy, where Appleby and his wife are on vacation . He visits one of his acquaintances - Lewis Packford - who for a period of time lives at the Garda. He is a literary detective and very interested in Shakespeare and on the verge of new discoveries. They have long discussions on litterature and Appleby tries to find out what it is Lewis is on to, but with no succes. After dinner they part, and it is the last time Appleby sees him alive.
Later back in England he attends Lewis' funeral and speaks with his lawyer Mr Rood. Rood is not satisfied with the verdict of suicide, and asks Appleby to look into the matter. This takes Appleby to Lewis' home - Urchins.
Here he finds a mixed bag of scholars, collectors two wives and a brother all with a possible motive for murder.
As always in the company of Appleby you are very well entertained.

I had read a few Michael Innes/Inspector Appleby books many years ago, in paperback, and remembered them favorably, but without much detail. And I usually have a soft spot for British mysteries too, so I was happy to receive an ARC of The Long Farewell from Agora Books/NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review. It’s about half-way through the series, which appears to be being re-issued in e-book by Agora.

One of the things I tend to like about British mysteries is the sly, dry and sometimes quirky British humor in many of them, and The Long Farewell is a great example of this. In fact, for me, the sharp, slightly academic writing style (which makes sense since the author was also an academic himself - Michael Innes is a pen name), is good enough that I wouldn’t have minded much if the plot weren’t great. However, I found the plot also amusing and engaging. The book flew by for me and I read it over only a couple of days, which means I liked it, and is a nice compliment.

In older British mysteries, I sometimes get a little uncomfortable with the clear divisions between classes, but this book is not too bad with that, and it’s really a characteristic of the mysteries of that era. I get uncomfortable with the same thing even in some Agatha Christie books.

All-in-all, I really enjoyed this book, and I hope to read more Michael Innes e-books in the future. Please note that for me, 4 stars out of 5 is a really good ranking. I reserve 5 stars for a very few absolute favorite books; probably no more than one in twenty or thirty books that I read. And once again, my thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for the advance review copy

The Long Farewell is book 17 in the series Inspector Appleby mysteries. This book was originally published in 1958, but has been re-released by Agora Books. This was my first book in the Inspector Applyby mysteries, and I felt that it wasn't a problem that I hadn't read the others. This can easily be a stand-alone.

The writing is excellent. It is sharp and witty and was wonderful to read. There were lots of twists and turns to keep the reader guessing, and I had fun thinking I knew the answer, then clearly being wrong, and trying again.

I would recommend this book for readers that enjoy British mysteries. It's an intriguing read with a good story!

I was provided an advanced reader's copy of this book for free. I am leaving my review voluntarily.

"The Long Farewell" could have more aptly been entitled, "The Very Long Beginning". The book lurches from an unnecessarily convoluted introduction, which tries to set up some of the motivation for the later death (murder?/suicide?) of the character Appleby visits, to an awkward funeral scene, to even more awkward introductions of the remaining characters..
I got the feeling that Innes started with a Shakespeare quotation he thought intriguing, and tried to weave a plot around it, but didn't have the energy or conviction to make it work. He kept plodding on anyway, painfully trying to dress it up with literary allusions. The result is unconvincing.

The Empathetic Appleby.....
The empathetic Appleby is on the trail of a suspicious death in ‘The Long Farewell’ - a friend of the Inspector who apparently has committed suicide. Faced with a host of suspects, motives and secrets Appleby sets out to get to the truth. Hugely enjoyable classic crime with red herrings aplenty, an eccentric cast of well drawn characters and told with author’s trademark wit. Excellent.

I had never read this author before and altho I took a while to get used to his writing style it was fairly enjoyable bit too many Shakespeare allusions for me though,I think the culprit was obvious early on but I did enjoy the twists getting there

Another outing for Inspector Appleby. An enjoyable tale full of twists and turns which I enjoyed much as the previous ones in the series. Characters are interesting if not always likeable. Didn't fully guess the culprit until late on!

Another story featuring Inspector Appleby, which I enjoyed. Well worth a read. Can't wait to read the next one from Crime Classics.

This is another Appleby novel with a trademark cast of curious suspects, this time a group of eccentric academics and various other scholars, dabbling in skullduggery involving bigamy and Shakespeare. Not only does all this make for an entertaining story, it does a good job obscuring the actual misdeeds, which in and of themselves make a solid mystery.

The Long Farewell was a fun read, as are all Appleby books. I enjoyed being being taken along for the ride and questioning my own deductions. I happened to be right, but I didn't figure out all of the nuances related to the reasons for the crime. That, for me, makes it all the more fun to read! Michael Innes is a great author, and I am looking forward to reading my next Appleby.

I loved this book. The literary illusions were fun, the characters were eccentric, intellectual and lived in a very elite environment of rare books and mysteries. It is loaded with twists and turns with moments of wry humor interspersed. This book may not be everyone's cup of tea but for those of us that love elegant mysteries you will really enjoy it... Five Stars

My thanks to Netgalley and Agora Books

Good stuff. Odd characters and an entertaining, complicated plot. It's hard to wrong with Shakespeare included a little into the story. Nice twists as well. This is my first Innes novel but won't be my last. A solid mystery.

Thanks very much for the review copy!!

“Farewell, a long farewell!” This line from Shakespeare’s Henry VIII is written on a piece of paper found next to the body of Lewis Packford, shot dead in his own library. The words are in Packford’s handwriting, but is this really suicide or is it a cleverly disguised murder? There’s certainly no shortage of suspects; the dead man had been hosting a house party and his home, a small country estate called Urchins, was full of guests at the time of the shooting. Sir John Appleby of Scotland Yard is sent to investigate, but Sir John also has a personal involvement in the case – he had visited Packford earlier in the year at his Italian villa and got the impression even then that something wasn’t quite right…

I have read several of Michael Innes’ Inspector Appleby novels over the last few years and I’ve found them to be of very mixed quality. I’ve loved a few of them, but some have had such bizarre plots I haven’t enjoyed them much at all. I’m pleased to say that I think The Long Farewell is one of the better ones. In comparison to some of the others, it’s quite a conventional murder mystery with plenty of suspects, clues and red herrings. It’s also the type of mystery I prefer, concerned mainly with the motives of the characters and the relationships between them, rather than getting too caught up with alibis, times on clocks and layouts of rooms.

After a brief opening section in which Appleby visits Packford in Italy and they have a discussion about fraud, forgery and Shakespeare, we get straight to the murder and the investigation, so there’s no long build-up. It’s a short book, but I thought it was just the right length for the story that is being told. Although Packford’s home in England, the strangely named Urchins, is full of his fellow eccentric academics who have stayed on after his death to assist with the inquiries, with the exception of the opening chapter I’ve just mentioned there are very few of the scholarly, erudite conversations you often find in novels by Innes. No knowledge of Shakespeare is needed to be able to understand and enjoy the mystery either!

The Long Farewell was originally published in 1958 and I found the portrayal of the female characters in the book particularly interesting. There are two women amongst the guests at Urchins – Ruth and Alice – who come from very different walks of life and who both had different reasons for wanting to marry Lewis Packford. Without going into too much detail here and spoiling things, it occurred to me that had the book been written in the modern day, this part of the plot wouldn’t have worked at all.

Overall, this is an entertaining Appleby mystery (I loved the farcical scene which unfolds in the library late at night) and although it falls somewhere in the middle of the series I think it could be a good one to start with if you’re new to Michael Innes.

I like the Appleby series but didn’t feel this was one of the better ones. It took a while to secure my interest and it didn’t grip me in the way other books featuring Appleby have, such as Death in the President's Lodgings. However, any Appleby novel makes for a good read and I did enjoy the book. As usual, the characters were well drawn and plausible and the plot was sound. I would recommend this book but there are others in the series I would recommend more.

5.0 out of 5 stars Appleby on form
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 4 January 2020
Format: Kindle Edition
A Michael Innes 'Appleby Mystery' and a clever and well written novel.A friend of Appleby's the well known scholar Lewis Packford is visited by Appleby while they are both holidaying in Italy.Packford drops some hints that he may have an exciting announcement to make about a thrilling find ,the sort of breakthrough that has made his reputation.Once both have returned to England news breaks that Packford has married not once but twice and has committed suicide to escape the scandal.
At the funeral Packfords' solicitor expresses his suspicions that Packford was murdered.and this starts Appleby on his own investigation.He journeys to Packfords house which is full of his scholastic 'friends' his brother and his two 'wives'.
Now set up like a typical 'golden age' detective story the author has some fun particularly in a scene set in the library where he lays in wait for the murderer after dropping hints that the great discovery is in fact hidden in there.Of course as all the guests at the house are scholars or collectors lets just say that the field of suspects is not appreciably narrowed. Another murder further complicates matters before Appleby cracks the case in his own inimitable manner.
A lovely well written murder mystery with an unusual premise a group of well sketched characters a few red herrings and well thought out resolution.Smashing most enjoyable

This well-crafted story opens with our hero, Sir John Appleby, visiting our soon-to-be-murdered victim Lewis Packford, , who is a larger than life character who would have fit in nicely in a John Dickson Carr locked-room adventure. Michael Innes kills off Lewis Packford promptly, introduces better than half a dozen likely suspects - conveniently packing them all into the same mansion, throws in enough red herrings to stock a pond, obliges with the mandatory second murder and teases the reader with literary references. This book is am outstanding example of a Michael Innes mystery and is thoroughly satisfying.

Set and written in the 1950s this book is of its time, slow, almost ponderous at times, and a refreshing change from the frenetic 21st century. You can feel yourself relaxing, taking breath and thinking as you read. More should try it. Place and people are well-described and life of this academic class is comfortable. They happily immerse themselves in Shakespeariana, writing commentary, snide remarks, jealousy and back biting as, possibly, only academics and devoted collectors can. Inspector Appleby visits one of these characters, Lewis Packard, whilst on holiday and is almost enthused to find that Lewis has made the discovery of scribbles allegedly by Shakespeare on an old manuscript. Lewis is then found dead in his English home, suicide say the police, murder says Appleby and Lewis' solicitor, Rood. The various collectors and academics, present in the house at the time of death, make for a lovely mix of suspects but also, so do the two wives - Lewis never did anything by halves apparently. How Appleby questions and reveals the murdered, as there was indeed such a person, is in the quiet tradition of British detectives and makes for an engrossing read. Thanks to NetGalley and Agora Books for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

I loved the premise of this book. Appleby is on holiday in Italy and calls upon an old acquaintance, Lewis Packford. Packford is a hugely respected but mischievous Shakespearean scholar who loves to drop hints about his latest discovery before making a big announcement. Unfortunately, this time, Packford dies before he can make the announcement. He appears to have committed suicide on the night that his two (oops!) wives arrive at his house when he is hosting a gathering of scholars.

What was Packford’s discovery? Was it a physical object that was so important, someone murdered him to get it?

I am delighted that Agora are re-releasing so many Michael Innes books on Kindle but I confess to some disappointment with The Long Farewell. It was first published in 1958, about half-way through Innes’ career as a novelist. As my first sentence says, I think the idea of a huge discovery about Shakespeare is a brilliant idea. And, given the author was a real-life Professor of English at Oxford University, it ought to be a six-star novel.

However, I think the dialogue is below par for Innes. Some of the sentences are convoluted and unrealistic, even allowing for most of the characters being scholars.

I also felt that Innes was confused about the character of Mrs Husbands, the housekeeper. On the one hand, Mrs Husbands states that Packford “… would often produce what were clearly quotations with only a very partial application to the circumstances prompting them.” “Mrs Husband’s speech, it occurred to Appleby, was decidedly that of an educated woman.” And we, the reader, would agree. Yet that is sandwiched between “It was obvious that […] she was not a woman of much intelligence” and “Mrs Husbands, it seemed to Appleby, if not very intelligent…” Those latter two statements, clearly unsupported by what we (and Appleby) observe, just made me wonder how engaged Innes was in writing the book.

In summary, a brilliant idea but not carried through as it should have been.

#TheLongFarewell #NetGalley