Michael Innes - Lament for a Maker

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Appleby Titles in order of first publication

These titles can be read as a series, or randomly as standalone novels

1. Death at the President’s Lodging Also as: Seven Suspects 1936 2. Hamlet! Revenge 1937 3. Lament for a Maker 1938 4. Stop Press Also as: The Spider Strikes 1939 5. The Secret Vanguard 1940 6. Their Came Both Mist and Snow Also as: A Comedy of Terrors 1940 7. Appleby on Ararat 1941 8. The Daffodil Affair 1942 9. The Weight of the Evidence 1943 10. Appleby’s End 1945 11. A Night of Errors 1947 12. Operation Pax Also as: The Paper Thunderbolt 1951 13. A Private View Also as: One Man Show and Murder is an Art 1952 14. Appleby Talking Also as: Dead Man’s Shoes 1954 15. Appleby Talks Again 1956 16. Appleby Plays Chicken Also as: Death on a Quiet Day 1957 17. The Long Farewell 1958 18. Hare Sitting Up 1959 19. Silence Observed 1961 20. A Connoisseur’s Case Also as: The Crabtree Affair 1962 21. The Bloody Wood 1966 22. Appleby at Allington Also as: Death by Water 1968 23. A Family Affair Also as: Picture of Guilt 1969 24. Death at the Chase 1970 25. An Awkward Lie 1971 26. The Open House 1972 27. Appleby’s Answer 1973 28. Appleby’s Other Story 1974 29. The Appleby File 1975 30. The Gay Phoenix 1976 31. The Ampersand Papers 1978 32. Shieks and Adders 1982 33. Appleby and Honeybath 1983 34. Carson’s Conspiracy 1984 35. Appleby and the Ospreys 1986

Honeybath Titles in order of first publication

These titles can be read as a series, or randomly as standalone novels

1. The Mysterious Commission 1974 2. Honeybath’s Haven 1977 3. Lord Mullion’s Secret 1981 4. Appleby and Honeybath 1983

Synopses (Both Series & ‘Stand-alone’ Titles)

Published by House of Stratus

The Ampersand Papers

While Appleby is strolling along a Cornish beach, he narrowly escapes being struck by a body falling down a cliff. The body is that of Dr Sutch, an archivist, and he has fallen from the North Tower of Treskinnick Castle, home of Lord Ampersand. Two possible motivations present themselves to Appleby – the Ampersand gold, treasure from an Armada galleon; and the Ampersand papers, valuable family documents that have associations with Wordsworth and Shelley.

Appleby and Honeybath

Every English mansion has a locked room, and Grinton Hall is no exception – the library has hidden doors and passages…and a corpse. But when the corpse goes missing, Sir John Appleby and Charles Honeybath have an even more perplexing case on their hands – just how did it disappear when the doors and windows were securely locked? A bevy of helpful houseguests offer endless assistance, but the two detectives suspect that they are concealing vital information. Could the treasures on the library shelves be so valuable that someone would murder for them?

Appleby and the Ospreys

Clusters, a great country house, is troubled by bats, as Lord and Lady Osprey complain to their guests, who include first rate detective, Sir John Appleby. In the matter of bats, Appleby is indifferent, but he is soon faced with a real challenge – the murder of Lord Osprey, stabbed with an ornate dagger in the library.

Appleby at Allington

Sir John Appleby dines one evening at Allington Park, the Georgian home of his acquaintance Owain Allington, who is new to the area. His curiosity is aroused when Allington mentions his nephew and heir to the estate, Martin Allington, whose name Appleby recognises. The evening comes to an end but just as Appleby is leaving, they find a dead man – electrocuted in the son et lumière box which had been installed in the grounds.

The Appleby File

There are fifteen stories in this compelling collection, including: Poltergeist – when Appleby’s wife tells him that her aunt is experiencing trouble with a Poltergeist, he is amused but dismissive, until he discovers that several priceless artefacts have been smashed as a result; A Question of Confidence – when Bobby Appleby’s friend, Brian Button, is caught up in a scandalous murder in Oxford, Bobby’s famous detective father is their first port of call; The Ascham – an abandoned car on a narrow lane intrigues Appleby and his wife, but even more intriguing is the medieval castle they stumble upon.

Appleby on Ararat

Inspector Appleby is stranded on a very strange island, with a rather odd bunch of people – too many men, too few women (and one of them too attractive) cause a deal of trouble. But that is nothing compared to later developments, including the body afloat in the water, and the attack by local inhabitants.

Appleby Plays Chicken

David was hiking across Dartmoor, pleased to have escaped the oppressively juvenile and sometimes perilous behaviour of his fellow undergraduates. As far as he could tell, he was the only human being for miles – but it turns out that he was the only living human being for miles. At least, that is what he presumed when he found a dead man on top of the tor.

Appleby Talking

Arbuthnot is paying for a rash decision – he recently married a beautiful but slightly amoral girl whose crazy antics caught his rather cynical professional interest. His wife has taken a lover, Rupert Slade, and Arbuthnot wants nothing more than to see him dead – but the last thing he expected was that he’d walk into his living room and find just that!

Inspector Appleby shares the details of this and many other fascinating crimes in this un-missable collection.

Appleby Talks Again

Ralph Dangerfield, an Edwardian playwright who belonged to the smartest young set of his day, kept a scandalous diary recording the intimate details of his own life and those of his friends. After his death, it was believed that his mother had burnt the incriminating evidence, but fifty years later, a famous collector of literary curiosities claims to have the diary in his possession and threatens to blackmail fashionable London with belated secrets about people now in respectable old age. Sir John Appleby reveals how he uncovered this unscrupulous crime and talks about his key role in seventeen more intriguing cases.

Appleby’s Answer

Author of detective novels, Priscilla Pringle, is pleased to find that she is sharing a railway compartment with a gentleman who happens to be reading one of her books – Murder in the Cathedral. He is military officer, Captain Bulkington, who recognises Miss Pringle and offers her £500 to collaborate on a detective novel. To everyone’s surprise, Miss Pringle is rather taken with Captain Bulkington – is she out of her depth?