Death on a Quiet Day

While this isn't a typical Appleby mystery - after all, about 60% is a chase over the moors - it does display all of Innes' wonderful qualities: his smooth and literate prose, his love of whimsy and absurdity, There's a bit of a feel that things wind up rather perfunctorily but fans of this eccentric series know what the expect. So not a good place to start if you're new to Appleby (best to begin with one of the classic murder cases) but another ridiculously fun read which is intelligent and characterful.

Wonderful fun led by a literate, intelligent and cultured inspector, John Appleby. Such good writing and such an unexpected villain. Spies, brave university boys, blackmail, and impersonation. More, please.

Death on a Quiet Day was originally published as Appleby Plays Chicken in 1956. In one respect it is not a typical Appleby novel. Appleby doesn’t appear until over a third of the way through the book. Yet, in another respect, it IS typical. We get lots of quotations from Shakespeare and other poets.

David Henchman is a student forming part of a reading party, i.e. a bunch of students and their tutor are staying on Dartmoor, reading and exchanging views. David is a bit of a loner and goes for a long walk. He finds a corpse in the middle of the moor with a bullet hole in its forehead. David then finds that a chap appearing a few minutes later really doesn’t want David to publicise this and David must flee for his life. We are then treated to a highly exciting well-written chase sequence that is six chapters long.

Appleby is staying in the area with relations of his wife, Judith. However, when David leaps upon a riderless horse at a Point to Point in his efforts to evade pursuit, Appleby’s interest is piqued. When he sees the stray bullet embedded in David’s shoe, that interest deepens significantly.

Whilst, as I say, Appleby appears after the chase sequence, this is still a most enjoyable book. The chase is highly suspenseful with David’s safe escape always in doubt. The students provide light relief and act as a useful source of helpful assistants when Appleby needs them. There is perhaps a lot more tense action in this novel than in many, more cerebral, Appleby books – and the novel only covers 24 hours, so the action is highly compressed.

I consider this a faultless Appleby novel and strongly recommend it.

#DeathOnAquietDay #NetGalley

Death on a Quiet Day by Michael Innes is a welcome reissue of an Inspector Appleby book and one that I throughly enjoyed.

The story starts off with a game of dare or chicken that then moves into a chase across Dartmoor before its excellent conclusion

As with other Appleby books that I have read the writing and storytelling are brilliant and engaging and Death on a Quiet Day is definitely recommended

I really enjoyed this book. It has great main characters and a really good story line. I would highly recommend this book to anyone.

I haven't come across a story that has such a spectacular and nail-biting beginning. It just doesn't end there. Until the end, the reader is in for a whole lot of twists and turns and surprises. Totally entertaining and mind-blowing story this!

The storytelling is absolutely brilliant and entertaining. The plot to story development and character portrayal is magnificent. The ending is, again, full of twists and surprises. The identity of the rogues - unexpected. If I have to sum it up in two words then I would say Literary Indulgence!

Death on a Quiet Day by Michael Innes
An Inspector Appleby Book #16

Originally published in 1956 this murder mystery was written over seventy years ago. I have to say that as I began reading I realized once again that books written long ago have much more description and less dialogue and action...or it often seems so. And yet, there is something to be said for the style of Innes writing. He may tend to tell the story more than have it unroll like a modern movie filled with special effects but once I got into the rhythm of the story I was definitely intrigued and wanted to find out what would happen.

As I read I realized that this book takes place only a few years after the austerity of WWII in England. I just looked up to find out when food rationing was discontinued and it was in 1954. It put this entire story in a different light for some reason. Many of the characters had been in the military or perhaps even spies but were back to “real” life again. Gettinga glimpse of that time period was a treat.

David Henchman was an intriguing character. When he realizes his life is in danger he runs...and uses his brain to find a way to stay alive until he eventually runs into Inspector Appleby. Sir John Appleby may be on holiday in the area but his experiences before and now working for Scotland Yard have him seeing that David’s situation requires some looking into. As the two talk and David tells Sir John what he has experienced that morning the two realize that not only a murder or two have occurred but there is a mystery surrounding the deaths that needs to be looked into.

I found the process Appleby used to find out what was going on very interesting in deed. There were no cell phones or computers or forensic tools as modern as now exist but find the reason and the murderer Appleby did.

Did I like this book? Yes
Would I read more of this series? I might
Does this story stand the test of time? Yes
Do you need to read other books in the series before this one? No

Thank you to NetGalley and Agora Books for the copy to read – This is my honest review.

4-5 Stars

After the first chapter this book reads like a Richard Haney adventure _ then the surprises begin _ and when Inspector Appleby appears the story takes on all the characteristics of a classic crime novel. For this reader that is a treat indeed _ and this book does not disappoint. A fast pace, several red herrings and an ending with a few surprises and Appleby rounds it off _ Brilliant! Please bring on more Inspector Appleby.

Michael Innes does not disappoint in this story of adventure, murders, espionage and mystery. These older books really know how to tell a story, how to make it a page turner without the blood and gut of some modern stories. Written by wordsmiths who really knew how to tell a story, create atmosphere, and fill it with characters who come to life in ones mind and then add plenty of spice and mystery.
Great read.

Really enjoyed this novel by Micheal Innes although you can tell it was written a long time ago as some of the words used I had never heard of and had to google their meaning but this did not lessen my enjoyment. The novel starts with a bunch of students on a break and one of the students goes off on his own to reflect on an incident that had occurred the night previously, prior to leaving the inn one of the other guests remarks that climbing Knack Tor and the view would be enjoyable so off he goes. He eventually reaches his destination and is having second thoughts about the climb when he sees smoke at the top and curiosity gets the better of him. Sometime before reaching the summit he hears what he thinks is a gunshot and on reaching the summit he finds the body of a male who has been shot in the forehead. This is really where the adventure and action start and is well worth reading.

I have always been a fan of Golden Age Crime Fiction but somehow never got round to reading Michael Innes. I don’t know why because he inspired one of my favourite authors Edmund Crispin who took the surname of his pseudonym and his detective's first name from a character in Innes’ novel ‘Hamlet, Revenge!’

So I shall start with Death On A Quiet Day courtesy of Netgalley and Agora Books.

David Henchman is on a study holiday to Dartmoor with a tutor and some fellow students when he comes across a body with a gunshot wound to the head whilst out on a lone walk to rugged local beauty spot Knack Tor. The only other person he can see nearby quickly turns nasty and David goes on a run across country that would make a fell runner proud.
After this exciting, edge of your seat chase across the moor he happens upon Detective Inspector Appleby of Scotland Yard who is visiting his wife’s relatives locally and they return to the body together, and here we have the first twist, it is a different dead man.

I thoroughly enjoyed the chase across the moor and the later involvement of the other students in Appleby’s investigations.Although the local police were rather conspicuous by their absence, restricting themselves to one appearance in the police station and then happy to leave everything to good old Appleby.

Innes was obviously a man who could spin a cracking good yarn. Part murder mystery, part thriller in the John Buchan style, he also throws in poetic quotes willy nilly.
I will definitely be reading more from this series, and having just consulted Fantastic Fiction there are plenty.

I only quite recently realised how deficit my knowledge of old classic crime novels or even authors was. I am slowly working my way through (my) unknowns to identify if I am a true fan of the style of fiction. With this work as an example, I would say I need more familiarity with them but am definitely partial to the lot.

The reason for claiming I need to get used to the styles of these older authors is the speed of narration. The story only picks up beyond a point and some of them (like this one) do not provide too much of a character background in the time before the problem actually arises. If that bit had been shorter, I would have actually rated this five stars. A group out as a 'reading party' are enjoying a night out. This involves some rash decisions and a lot of jabbing each other with words. Finally, that scene ends and a new day dawns. This day sees our hero  David Henchman out for an early walk to gather his thoughts and ponder over existential thoughts and read a little. His trek has him lost and he tumbles on to an odd situation. He finds a body followed by a suspect. When he tries to keep the suspect in his sights, David has to run for his life quite literally and very very fast. The trail that David leaves behind and the man he befriends turns out to be an unlikely powerful hero. This is the John Appleby of the series. I have never encountered the man and his work before but his behaviour towards David is equal parts faith and other parts as an elder would talk to a child they are humouring. This combination makes for an interesting read.

Although the beginning of the tale was slow, once the plot thickened there was a lot to take in. It was funny in a serious fashion and overall was enjoyable. I could never have guessed the outcome although a few tricks were apparent. There are a lot of red herrings thrown our way but it is easy to accept the final reveal because of the gradual buildup. I would definitely pick up more books by the author and of John Appleby 

I received an ARC thanks to the publishers and NetGalley but the review is completely based on my own reading experience.