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Sir John Appleby #6
There Came Both Mist and Snow
Stunning Belrive Priory, consisting of a mansion, park and medieval ruins, is surrounded by the noise and neon signs of its gaudy neighbours - a cotton-mill, a brewey and a main road. Nevertheless, Arthur Ferryman is pleased to return for a family Christmas, but is shocked to discover that his cousins have taken up a new pastime - pistol-shooting. Inspector Appleby arrives on the scene when one of Ferryman's cousins is found shot dead in the study, in a mystery built on family antagonisms.
194 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1940
65 people are currently reading
237 people want to read
About the author
Michael Innes
123 books87 followersMichael Innes was the pseudonym of John Innes MacKintosh (J.I.M.) Stewart (J.I.M. Stewart).
He was born in Edinburgh, and educated at Edinburgh Academy and Oriel College, Oxford. He was Lecturer in English at the University of Leeds from 1930 - 1935, and spent the succeeding ten years as Jury Professor of English at the University of Adelaide, South Australia.
He returned to the United Kingdom in 1949, to become a Lecturer at the Queen's University of Belfast. In 1949 he became a Student (Fellow) of Christ Church, Oxford, becoming a Professor by the time of his retirement in 1973.
As J.I.M. Stewart he published a number of works of non-fiction, mainly critical studies of authors, including Joseph Conrad and Rudyard Kipling, as well as about twenty works of fiction and a memoir, 'Myself and Michael Innes'.
As Michael Innes, he published numerous mystery novels and short story collections, most featuring the Scotland Yard detective John Appleby.
He was born in Edinburgh, and educated at Edinburgh Academy and Oriel College, Oxford. He was Lecturer in English at the University of Leeds from 1930 - 1935, and spent the succeeding ten years as Jury Professor of English at the University of Adelaide, South Australia.
He returned to the United Kingdom in 1949, to become a Lecturer at the Queen's University of Belfast. In 1949 he became a Student (Fellow) of Christ Church, Oxford, becoming a Professor by the time of his retirement in 1973.
As J.I.M. Stewart he published a number of works of non-fiction, mainly critical studies of authors, including Joseph Conrad and Rudyard Kipling, as well as about twenty works of fiction and a memoir, 'Myself and Michael Innes'.
As Michael Innes, he published numerous mystery novels and short story collections, most featuring the Scotland Yard detective John Appleby.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews
April 4, 2020
The Golden Age crime writers were an erudite lot and usually pretty unafraid to wear that erudition on their sleeves. Innes/ Stewart was probably the most guilty of this - able to write genuine classics of the genre but sometimes just a little too pleased by how clever he obviously was and more than happy to show it
When this works well, you get Appleby’s End which is this totally unique, heady stew of a book - knotty, florid prose jostling up against a brilliantly gothic setting and a bunch of unique ideas. And when it doesn’t it’s this, which relies on knowing minutiae of English literature for no real reason other than showing off. Innes dangles an interesting plot at us, but swiftly the whole thing dissipates into unfocused prose (which he tries to hide behind the narrator being a literary author) and muddled writing
And basically if any novel deserves to be a short story it’s this one. It literally turns into a rip off of two far more famous and better novels by the second half. The first one is The Poisoned Chocolates Case by Anthony Berkeley, but in this case replayed simply as showing off/ padding. The second is literally one of the most famous Golden Age crime novels ever written and I won’t give the title because it will give away the whole sorry plot to this thing in an instant. And just me not telling you that title almost certainly means you have guessed it and as such I have freed you from this disappointment
Only Appleby himself acquits himself well but really that’s not enough. Maddening
When this works well, you get Appleby’s End which is this totally unique, heady stew of a book - knotty, florid prose jostling up against a brilliantly gothic setting and a bunch of unique ideas. And when it doesn’t it’s this, which relies on knowing minutiae of English literature for no real reason other than showing off. Innes dangles an interesting plot at us, but swiftly the whole thing dissipates into unfocused prose (which he tries to hide behind the narrator being a literary author) and muddled writing
And basically if any novel deserves to be a short story it’s this one. It literally turns into a rip off of two far more famous and better novels by the second half. The first one is The Poisoned Chocolates Case by Anthony Berkeley, but in this case replayed simply as showing off/ padding. The second is literally one of the most famous Golden Age crime novels ever written and I won’t give the title because it will give away the whole sorry plot to this thing in an instant. And just me not telling you that title almost certainly means you have guessed it and as such I have freed you from this disappointment
Only Appleby himself acquits himself well but really that’s not enough. Maddening
May 2, 2020
Reviewed for Books and livres
I borrowed this at my library because no reader borrowed it and I wanted to find out why - at first sight, it looked rather good ? This was book #6 in a series, but often time, you don't need to have read the rest to understand the story.
Now, I know. It's dull, the characters are horrible and I simply couldn't finish it. I tried !
It starts in a way that made me think about the Victorian period with industries surrounding an old upper class estate, the upper class feeling superior comparing to the middle class, yet the middle class gaining more money than them and gaining entry into their society while they despise them. Then followed too numerous pages with a gathering of pedantic parasites who played intellectual games without doing much of their lives. They bickered, they were all insufferable, you could see the plot coming from very far away - no orignality. I thought maybe when the murder was committed, it would be better ? Nope. Same, you see it coming from far away.
I tried to keep up until the middle of the book and then, finally, I gave up ! Some books and authors are forgotten, but there's a reason why.
I borrowed this at my library because no reader borrowed it and I wanted to find out why - at first sight, it looked rather good ? This was book #6 in a series, but often time, you don't need to have read the rest to understand the story.
Now, I know. It's dull, the characters are horrible and I simply couldn't finish it. I tried !
It starts in a way that made me think about the Victorian period with industries surrounding an old upper class estate, the upper class feeling superior comparing to the middle class, yet the middle class gaining more money than them and gaining entry into their society while they despise them. Then followed too numerous pages with a gathering of pedantic parasites who played intellectual games without doing much of their lives. They bickered, they were all insufferable, you could see the plot coming from very far away - no orignality. I thought maybe when the murder was committed, it would be better ? Nope. Same, you see it coming from far away.
I tried to keep up until the middle of the book and then, finally, I gave up ! Some books and authors are forgotten, but there's a reason why.
November 16, 2020
This is one of the more amusing of the John Appleby books, as the young Appleby is invited to dine with the Roper family as they celebrate Christmas with the various branches of the family. There's a shooting virtually just as he comes in the door. The whole story is related by a cousin, Arthur Ferryman, a rather stuffy novelist, coopted as Appleby's confidante. From various evidence, I wonder whether Innes was reading Ivy Compton-Burnett before writing this novel. Sooner than later, each member of the family proposes one of the others as a murderer, at least in mind if not in deed. Appleby wanders through the events trying to remember a line of poetry which he's sure will explain the whole situation--which it does!
June 6, 2018
A very wry plot.
The book carries the occasional conceit of a murder and mystery writer of having the narrator as the villain of the piece. It’s well written as you’d expect, with well drawn characters and places. Nothing drags and the writer makes you want to turn the next electronic page.
The book carries the occasional conceit of a murder and mystery writer of having the narrator as the villain of the piece. It’s well written as you’d expect, with well drawn characters and places. Nothing drags and the writer makes you want to turn the next electronic page.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 12, 2023
2014 review:
A fun mystery with a young Inspector Appleby. I haven't been able to pinpoint any literary pastiche this time (but maybe I just don't recognize it) but the there are plenty of suspects and motives which kept me guessing up to the very end.
A fun mystery with a young Inspector Appleby. I haven't been able to pinpoint any literary pastiche this time (but maybe I just don't recognize it) but the there are plenty of suspects and motives which kept me guessing up to the very end.
December 25, 2019
I found this, my first Michael Innes, received through the Crime Classics Review Club, a bit of a mixed bag. The early chapters presented a group of insufferable people engaging in tedious and too-clever-by-half conversation within a first person narrative. Fortunately, with the arrival of Inspector Appleby on the scene, the narrative takes up the puzzle of the attempted murder, the tedious conversation recedes and the reader (at least this one) engages.
The device of airing the theories and prejudices of the players is entertaining - but would become boring if repeated in other books in the series. Even though this is told through the eyes of Ferryman, there is enough of Detective Appleby to interest an avid detective fiction reader into trying more in the series.
The device of airing the theories and prejudices of the players is entertaining - but would become boring if repeated in other books in the series. Even though this is told through the eyes of Ferryman, there is enough of Detective Appleby to interest an avid detective fiction reader into trying more in the series.
December 9, 2020
I'm sorry but what the hell did I just read?
This was bad. Very bad. And not at all Christmassy.
I am disappointed.
This was bad. Very bad. And not at all Christmassy.
I am disappointed.
December 25, 2020
Michael Innes (along with his more serious alter ego J. I. M. Stewart) is a favorite author of mine but this is not a favorite among his books. His style always pleases me, both rhythmically and substantively—his sentences are euphonious and always carry a fine point in the Henry James style. (In fact, one of the inside jokes in this book is that it is narrated by a novelist whose works owe a debt to James.) But in this story Innes seems to be playing a game with himself, a form of play that always leaves a reader feeling left out.
Our narrator, Arthur Ferryman, is invited to Belrive, a cousin’s estate, for a winter family house party. We are treated to the usual house party guests—the gruff patriarch, the artistic type, the vague author, the clever young things, the pompous ass. They play parlor games and engage in a pistol-shooting competition for sport. The estate is an oddly situated one; an industrial town has grown up on all sides and the description of this unhappy juxtaposition is delightfully macabre. Unfortunately, the thematic potential of the setting is never realized because the writer is distracted by his game. Before dinner one evening, a member of the party is shot in the host’s study, though not fatally, and hard on the heels of this event our hero, Inspector Appleby, appears on the doorstep (by chance: he has been invited to dinner). So investigation of the shooting begins almost immediately.
There are many twists and turns because part of Innes’s game is to make sure that every character is equally likely to have done the shooting. After a bit, though, he tires of playing out the endless scenarios and simply throws everyone into a room to accuse one another (or, in a few cases, themselves). At this point the story degenerates into farce and Inspector Appleby is made to act in some very implausible ways.
One of the pleasures of the mystery genre is its cathartic power. The reader wants to see true evil, and wants to see good triumph in the end against all odds. Innes’s game with himself, which I can’t reveal without giving everything away, sadly cheats the reader of that emotional satisfaction, which is why I can’t rate the story more highly despite my affection for the setting, the writing, and Inspector Appleby. There was no emotional payoff, I was only a bemused bystander at a clever but pointless game.
Note that this book has also been published under the title The Comedy of Terrors.
Our narrator, Arthur Ferryman, is invited to Belrive, a cousin’s estate, for a winter family house party. We are treated to the usual house party guests—the gruff patriarch, the artistic type, the vague author, the clever young things, the pompous ass. They play parlor games and engage in a pistol-shooting competition for sport. The estate is an oddly situated one; an industrial town has grown up on all sides and the description of this unhappy juxtaposition is delightfully macabre. Unfortunately, the thematic potential of the setting is never realized because the writer is distracted by his game. Before dinner one evening, a member of the party is shot in the host’s study, though not fatally, and hard on the heels of this event our hero, Inspector Appleby, appears on the doorstep (by chance: he has been invited to dinner). So investigation of the shooting begins almost immediately.
There are many twists and turns because part of Innes’s game is to make sure that every character is equally likely to have done the shooting. After a bit, though, he tires of playing out the endless scenarios and simply throws everyone into a room to accuse one another (or, in a few cases, themselves). At this point the story degenerates into farce and Inspector Appleby is made to act in some very implausible ways.
One of the pleasures of the mystery genre is its cathartic power. The reader wants to see true evil, and wants to see good triumph in the end against all odds. Innes’s game with himself, which I can’t reveal without giving everything away, sadly cheats the reader of that emotional satisfaction, which is why I can’t rate the story more highly despite my affection for the setting, the writing, and Inspector Appleby. There was no emotional payoff, I was only a bemused bystander at a clever but pointless game.
Note that this book has also been published under the title The Comedy of Terrors.
December 7, 2020
1.5*
I have no idea what the book tried to be, got really confused about what the plot tried to do, didn't find any of the characters entertaining (I don't need to like them, but they should keep me reading), and the solution to this story was utterly ridiculous.
I have no idea what the book tried to be, got really confused about what the plot tried to do, didn't find any of the characters entertaining (I don't need to like them, but they should keep me reading), and the solution to this story was utterly ridiculous.
April 24, 2021
I wouldn’t read this unless you like shaggy dog stories. Very arch and clever shaggy dog stories, but still. Definitely don’t read this if you expect a normal classic mystery. Beautiful cover.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 4, 2018
This is the third book I've tried to read by Innes. I enjoyed the first, Appleby and Honeybath quite a bit and started looking for others. I couldn't get through The Long Farewell, despite trying several times. After reading this one I'm beginning to think Innes isn't for me.
This was very hard going at first, boring and shapeless, but at about one third of the way in things picked up a bit. There are several problems with the beginning. For one thing, there are a lot of characters and they all seem to be snobby and unpleasant, and I don't like reading about only unlikable people. Also, the first chapters reminded me of stream-of-consciousness as the narrator chatters on about these relatives with no perspective or sense to anything he says. It's like living inside the head of someone who isn't very bright and doesn't think clearly but is just recording every little comment anyone made. It drove me batty. Finally, nothing happens for the first third of the book. When someone finally does get shot I actually thought, "Oh, good." And wished someone would take out a few more of these pompous, stuck-up people, who never felt real for a moment, but only like stick figures with names.
When the detective, Appleby, shows up the book picked up a bit so I kept reading. With some plot to cover the writing becomes better - less tedious and rambling. But the last portion of the book is all dialogue, with everyone accusing everyone else in a ridiculous style that just felt like the author showing off by telling us every possible theory he could come up with. Then we got to the ending and I was completely disgusted. I can't imagine a less satisfying ending.
As another reviewer said, just because it's a mystery written in the 1940s doesn't mean it's good. This one isn't.
This was very hard going at first, boring and shapeless, but at about one third of the way in things picked up a bit. There are several problems with the beginning. For one thing, there are a lot of characters and they all seem to be snobby and unpleasant, and I don't like reading about only unlikable people. Also, the first chapters reminded me of stream-of-consciousness as the narrator chatters on about these relatives with no perspective or sense to anything he says. It's like living inside the head of someone who isn't very bright and doesn't think clearly but is just recording every little comment anyone made. It drove me batty. Finally, nothing happens for the first third of the book. When someone finally does get shot I actually thought, "Oh, good." And wished someone would take out a few more of these pompous, stuck-up people, who never felt real for a moment, but only like stick figures with names.
When the detective, Appleby, shows up the book picked up a bit so I kept reading. With some plot to cover the writing becomes better - less tedious and rambling. But the last portion of the book is all dialogue, with everyone accusing everyone else in a ridiculous style that just felt like the author showing off by telling us every possible theory he could come up with. Then we got to the ending and I was completely disgusted. I can't imagine a less satisfying ending.
As another reviewer said, just because it's a mystery written in the 1940s doesn't mean it's good. This one isn't.
December 23, 2017
I was pleased to be given a free digital copy of this book by the Crime Classics Advanced Readers Club in return for an honest review, because I’ve been a great fan of the Golden Age of crime writing since my school days a long time ago. But despite owning several of Michael Innes novels in the original green and white Penguin format, have never actually read any.
Unfortunately I found this one very hard work and tedious in the extreme. I was reminded of a piece of school literary criticism, which I thought of as one of my better efforts, being returned with two words written in red at the bottom, ”Verbal Diarrhoea” ! The rambling wordiness is even worse in this age of the tweet . I would love to have read this author‘s comments on the current crop of so called “physiological thrillers“...Michael Innes is the pseudonym of J I M Stewart , a professor of English who ignored the fact that the style of academia wasn’t that required for the popular crime fiction of the day. I’m afraid that this work came over to me as pompous and self indulgent. Is it possible that he felt that, writing in 1940, in a high brow English style of several decades previously, elevated him above the ordinary detective novel then being written . Indeed some of his vocabulary may even then have been passing out of common usage. Others have outlined the plot which is barely existent and very tedious.. You are nearly a third of the way into the book before anything really begins to happen and Inspector Appleby appears. The characters, mostly middle and upper class, are not well drawn and failed to engage me. In the end I just couldn’t care less who had fired the shot or what their motive was. I just wanted to finish the book.
I don’t feel that my time was completely wasted. I now realise that I was wrong in thinking that all pre and immediately post war detective fiction is a gem worthy of revival.. There are exceptions. I shall leave my original 1958 Penguin copy on the shelf, solely as decoration.
Unfortunately I found this one very hard work and tedious in the extreme. I was reminded of a piece of school literary criticism, which I thought of as one of my better efforts, being returned with two words written in red at the bottom, ”Verbal Diarrhoea” ! The rambling wordiness is even worse in this age of the tweet . I would love to have read this author‘s comments on the current crop of so called “physiological thrillers“...Michael Innes is the pseudonym of J I M Stewart , a professor of English who ignored the fact that the style of academia wasn’t that required for the popular crime fiction of the day. I’m afraid that this work came over to me as pompous and self indulgent. Is it possible that he felt that, writing in 1940, in a high brow English style of several decades previously, elevated him above the ordinary detective novel then being written . Indeed some of his vocabulary may even then have been passing out of common usage. Others have outlined the plot which is barely existent and very tedious.. You are nearly a third of the way into the book before anything really begins to happen and Inspector Appleby appears. The characters, mostly middle and upper class, are not well drawn and failed to engage me. In the end I just couldn’t care less who had fired the shot or what their motive was. I just wanted to finish the book.
I don’t feel that my time was completely wasted. I now realise that I was wrong in thinking that all pre and immediately post war detective fiction is a gem worthy of revival.. There are exceptions. I shall leave my original 1958 Penguin copy on the shelf, solely as decoration.
November 15, 2019
Not a cozy Chrismas mystery! This book appears on some web lists as a Christmas mystery, and the word "Christmas" appears a couple of times in the book, but there is nothing about Christmas (parties, Christmas trees, decorations, shopping, revelry, etc.) in the entire book. Those who put together these lists must search for the word "Christmas" in the book, and if it appears, it must qualify it as a Christmas mystery.
Otherwise, this is a conventional British mystery written in 1940. The emphasis is on character development and dialogue, not much action or mystery. The edition I read had 241 pages, and the first 74 were introductions of the cast of characters and conversations among them. A shooting occurs on page 75, but the victim survives. Then nothing happens until page 153 when a book is stolen from the library. On page 179 a man is hit on the head with a rock but he survives. On page 200 there is a confession which turns out to be false. The final 41 pages sort of unravels the mystery of who was responsible, but it is ridiculous and unbelievable.
The basis for the crimes was "Situs inversus," a congenital condition in which the major visceral organs are reversed or mirrored from their normal positions. One of the victims had this condition and the prepretrator wanted to somehow preserve this for some reason.
I have given this book one star which I save for only the worst books I have ever read. This book joins Lords of the Starship, Dinosaur Planet Survivors, The Inheritors, Blood Upon the Snow, and Foggy Foggy Dew among the worst books I have ever read since I learned to read over 60 years ago. I am really angered that a writer could produce such junk, an editor would approve it, and a publisher would print it. I suppose in the 1940s they were desperate to publish anything. I hope never to read one of these British mysteries ever again.
Otherwise, this is a conventional British mystery written in 1940. The emphasis is on character development and dialogue, not much action or mystery. The edition I read had 241 pages, and the first 74 were introductions of the cast of characters and conversations among them. A shooting occurs on page 75, but the victim survives. Then nothing happens until page 153 when a book is stolen from the library. On page 179 a man is hit on the head with a rock but he survives. On page 200 there is a confession which turns out to be false. The final 41 pages sort of unravels the mystery of who was responsible, but it is ridiculous and unbelievable.
The basis for the crimes was "Situs inversus," a congenital condition in which the major visceral organs are reversed or mirrored from their normal positions. One of the victims had this condition and the prepretrator wanted to somehow preserve this for some reason.
I have given this book one star which I save for only the worst books I have ever read. This book joins Lords of the Starship, Dinosaur Planet Survivors, The Inheritors, Blood Upon the Snow, and Foggy Foggy Dew among the worst books I have ever read since I learned to read over 60 years ago. I am really angered that a writer could produce such junk, an editor would approve it, and a publisher would print it. I suppose in the 1940s they were desperate to publish anything. I hope never to read one of these British mysteries ever again.
July 17, 2018
An Appleby mystery that indulges in the sort of cross-talk and snobbery of the English country house mystery with not a lot more to hang the reader's hat on. It picks up at the end but you're wading through some real nonsense to get there. I'd not recommend this one but I think the completists for the series won't be too disappointed.
I received an ecopy from the publishers and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I received an ecopy from the publishers and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
January 26, 2024
This seems to be part of a series, but I didn't notice that while reading, and I don't think having more knowledge about the detective would have made the experience better...
The setting is a bit Agatha Christie-esque, but without her charm and talent for writing interesting characters. I didn't like anyone and sometimes had to go back and check who's who because most of the male characters felt somewhat similar. The protagonist and narrator is an author, and his style and comments were the only good thing for me.
The ending was the biggest disappointment because literally *nothing* happened. There was no crime, nothing changed, and we can all go home now. Why did I read 250 pages?"
The setting is a bit Agatha Christie-esque, but without her charm and talent for writing interesting characters. I didn't like anyone and sometimes had to go back and check who's who because most of the male characters felt somewhat similar. The protagonist and narrator is an author, and his style and comments were the only good thing for me.
The ending was the biggest disappointment because literally *nothing* happened. There was no crime, nothing changed, and we can all go home now. Why did I read 250 pages?"
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 9, 2024
Als Hörbuch „gelesen“. Vermutlich als Krimi-Parodie oder als Meta-Krimi gedacht, mit den Schwächen, die sowas meistens hat: man schnallt es irgendwann und verliert dann, wie auch bei konventioneller literarischer Meta-Fiktion, das Interesse an der Sache. Phasenweise sehr witzig, im Ganzen sehr gut geschrieben & vorgetragen, deswegen haben wir es auch nicht abgebrochen. Wenn man auf der Suche nach nem klassischen Krimi ist, aber nicht die beste Wahl.
August 22, 2021
What can I say? I finished what could be one of the most boring books of my existence, for the mere fact of wanting to give it a bad rating on this website.
From the 163 pages of this book, 100 could have been scrapped off and it would still be way too long. A useless mistery that brings absolutely nowhere, with an even more disappointing ending. A million possibilities that all end up in the most improbable reality. Honestly, it was a whole waste of time.
From the 163 pages of this book, 100 could have been scrapped off and it would still be way too long. A useless mistery that brings absolutely nowhere, with an even more disappointing ending. A million possibilities that all end up in the most improbable reality. Honestly, it was a whole waste of time.
February 4, 2025
Der Anfang des Buches war sehr lang gezogen, sodass es mir ehrlich gesagt etwas zu langweilig und überflüssig erschien. Trotzdem würde ich sagen, dass das Buch wenigstens 2 Sterne verdient, da es Richtung Ende trotzdem ziemlich spannend ist, trotz des hin und her. Was mir gut gefallen hat, waren am Ende die Kapitelenden, so wurde es immer spannender und man wollte eigentlich immer weiterlesen.
February 13, 2025
Die ersten hundert Seiten hätten auch was kürzer sein können - hab mich da nicht so ganz reinlesen können. Die letzten 30 Seiten waren gut und spannend.
March 10, 2012
Originally published on my blog here in July 1998.
There Came Both Mist and Snow is another early Appleby novel, one which reads almost more like a spoof of the crime genre.
The story is narrated by Arthur Ferryman, a literary author who goes to stay with his cousin, Basil Roper, at his mansion Belrive Priory. This was originally in the countryside, but is now surrounded by a manufacturing town; the ruins of the medieval priory are now lit up at night by a huge neon sign advertising Cudbird's Brewery.
As often happens in detective stories, Ferryman arrives at the houseparty to discover that vast numbers of mutually antipathic relatives are to be at the Priory that weekend. The non-family guests are rivals attempting to buy out the Priory - which Roper is selling to finance a polar expedition - including Horace Cudbird, owner of the brewery - and Appleby. It is a little bit strange that he is invited, given his non-interest in the question of whether or not Belrive Priory should be sold.
Investigations into the shooting of Roper that occurs are hampered by the fact that it's not clear whether the shots were meant for him or whether he was mistaken for someone else. In the end, every single person possible is accused in turn, and all are mystified except Appleby. Ferryman expresses great delight at the bemusement of his cousin, a detective writer named Lucy Chigwidden. She enables Innes to make his satirical points about the crime genre very easily; this is though, a relatively subtle satire and would be easy to read missing what he is doing.
There Came Both Mist and Snow is another early Appleby novel, one which reads almost more like a spoof of the crime genre.
The story is narrated by Arthur Ferryman, a literary author who goes to stay with his cousin, Basil Roper, at his mansion Belrive Priory. This was originally in the countryside, but is now surrounded by a manufacturing town; the ruins of the medieval priory are now lit up at night by a huge neon sign advertising Cudbird's Brewery.
As often happens in detective stories, Ferryman arrives at the houseparty to discover that vast numbers of mutually antipathic relatives are to be at the Priory that weekend. The non-family guests are rivals attempting to buy out the Priory - which Roper is selling to finance a polar expedition - including Horace Cudbird, owner of the brewery - and Appleby. It is a little bit strange that he is invited, given his non-interest in the question of whether or not Belrive Priory should be sold.
Investigations into the shooting of Roper that occurs are hampered by the fact that it's not clear whether the shots were meant for him or whether he was mistaken for someone else. In the end, every single person possible is accused in turn, and all are mystified except Appleby. Ferryman expresses great delight at the bemusement of his cousin, a detective writer named Lucy Chigwidden. She enables Innes to make his satirical points about the crime genre very easily; this is though, a relatively subtle satire and would be easy to read missing what he is doing.
November 12, 2016
Belrive Priory, consisting of a mansion, park and medieval ruins, is surrounded by the noise and neon signs of its gaudy neighbours - a cotton-mill, a brewey and a main road. Nevertheless, Arthur Ferryman is pleased to return for a whole-family Christmas. Will the head of the family sell to the mill-owner or brewer? The latter two plus a doctor are there too.
Inspector Appleby arrives on the scene when one of the family is shot in the study. Full of false confessions and accusations, I defy you to solve this until the very end!
The usual erudite fun. A take on the country house sub-genre, this is good, but fails to be as sparkling as usual, I suspect because the story is narrated by Ferryman, and there is not enough of Appleby's dialogue or a narrator's descriptive flights of fancy.
Inspector Appleby arrives on the scene when one of the family is shot in the study. Full of false confessions and accusations, I defy you to solve this until the very end!
The usual erudite fun. A take on the country house sub-genre, this is good, but fails to be as sparkling as usual, I suspect because the story is narrated by Ferryman, and there is not enough of Appleby's dialogue or a narrator's descriptive flights of fancy.
December 26, 2020
I include this in my Christmas mystery list only because the setting is a family gathering at Christmas time at Belrive Priory, but after establishing that, Christmas has nothing to do with it. There are no presents or decorations or anything else to do with Christmas that has a bearing on the mystery. The point of view is Arthur Ferryman's and early on he describes each of the family gathered but he says, "I must be forgiven if I do not here work out a family tree; it is a writer's instinct to stick to prose, and in plain prose I think I can make everything clear." Nevertheless, I had to draw a picture of the family tree to help me keep the people straight.
In the course of the mystery, two people are attacked, one shot, one hit on the head, but neither dies, so there is no murder. There is plenty of mystery, though, and as to whodunit, everyone is suspect, even it turns out, John Appleby, who is one of the policemen called in to solve these incidents.
I read the Penguin edition which is only 164 pages long, but it took 5 days. The type is small, and because I read it during our own Christmas preparations, time was short. Still, it felt like a long and sometimes tedious read. I had no stake in any of the characters nor in the stately home which is now surrounded by industry and on prime real estate. The owner wishes to sell and no one in the family is particularly against this. So why these murderous attempts?
I thought leaving the narrative to one of the family members, even if he was a (rather pedantic) writer, created a boring point of view. Occasionally there were flashes of humor, but they were erudite flashes--often I would find myself thinking two or three sentences later, "Oh, that was a joke!" Leaving Appleby to be a quiet observer on the sidelines diminished any suspense.
The explication of the mystery at the end took several chapters while each person was considered and blamed in turn. I really got impatient with this. And in the end...was it worth it? Wasn't there a simpler, more direct way? I think so, even though the revelation of the perp was a rabbit-out-of-a-hat surprise.
In the course of the mystery, two people are attacked, one shot, one hit on the head, but neither dies, so there is no murder. There is plenty of mystery, though, and as to whodunit, everyone is suspect, even it turns out, John Appleby, who is one of the policemen called in to solve these incidents.
I read the Penguin edition which is only 164 pages long, but it took 5 days. The type is small, and because I read it during our own Christmas preparations, time was short. Still, it felt like a long and sometimes tedious read. I had no stake in any of the characters nor in the stately home which is now surrounded by industry and on prime real estate. The owner wishes to sell and no one in the family is particularly against this. So why these murderous attempts?
I thought leaving the narrative to one of the family members, even if he was a (rather pedantic) writer, created a boring point of view. Occasionally there were flashes of humor, but they were erudite flashes--often I would find myself thinking two or three sentences later, "Oh, that was a joke!" Leaving Appleby to be a quiet observer on the sidelines diminished any suspense.
The explication of the mystery at the end took several chapters while each person was considered and blamed in turn. I really got impatient with this. And in the end...was it worth it? Wasn't there a simpler, more direct way? I think so, even though the revelation of the perp was a rabbit-out-of-a-hat surprise.
May 12, 2024
I do love the John Appleby mysteries! They are unabashedly erudite, and they simply brim over with eccentric characters. Where else can you find a family gathering where the guests compete with each other in remembering quotes about bells from Shakespeare? Where a self-made man tells the story of starting his business career out of a love of.... canaries? Where an inexplicable attachment between an elderly Harley Street physician and a pompous schoolmaster leads to the schoolmaster fleeing the house by climbing out of the window?
The setting is that of a Christmas gathering of an extended family - what could be more classic as a narrative framework for a mystery novel? Of course someone will be discovered shot in the study! We were waiting for this from page 1! And of course it will turn out that several members of the family were openly or covertly in disagreement with each other! The story is written from the point of view of Arthur Ferryman, one of the house guests. As he points out himself, he has to be considered as a sort of Watson to John Appleby, who happens to arrive at the mansion's doorstep for dinner just as the body is discovered. Arthur fancies himself as a psychologist and detects the uncomfortable undercurrents in the interactions within the family and between the family and their guests, including two neighboring businessmen and Dr. Wade. At the same time, he recoils from the idea that anyone in his family could be a murderer.
The final solution to the mystery is wholly satisfying. And one of my favorite parts in the book is the description of the gaudy neon publicity sign for Cudbird's brewery: a moving neon sign showing a bottle of beer that tilts over and pours out a stream of amber light, then disappears and starts the movement over again. Who doesn't love those signs? Even the prissy narrator has to admit that he is fascinated by the incongruous sight of the sign's light effect spilling over the ancient ruins on the estate. This interplay between modern vulgarity and the 300-year old house plays a major role in the detection - who saw what at what precise moment?
The setting is that of a Christmas gathering of an extended family - what could be more classic as a narrative framework for a mystery novel? Of course someone will be discovered shot in the study! We were waiting for this from page 1! And of course it will turn out that several members of the family were openly or covertly in disagreement with each other! The story is written from the point of view of Arthur Ferryman, one of the house guests. As he points out himself, he has to be considered as a sort of Watson to John Appleby, who happens to arrive at the mansion's doorstep for dinner just as the body is discovered. Arthur fancies himself as a psychologist and detects the uncomfortable undercurrents in the interactions within the family and between the family and their guests, including two neighboring businessmen and Dr. Wade. At the same time, he recoils from the idea that anyone in his family could be a murderer.
The final solution to the mystery is wholly satisfying. And one of my favorite parts in the book is the description of the gaudy neon publicity sign for Cudbird's brewery: a moving neon sign showing a bottle of beer that tilts over and pours out a stream of amber light, then disappears and starts the movement over again. Who doesn't love those signs? Even the prissy narrator has to admit that he is fascinated by the incongruous sight of the sign's light effect spilling over the ancient ruins on the estate. This interplay between modern vulgarity and the 300-year old house plays a major role in the detection - who saw what at what precise moment?
December 22, 2022
Oh dear! This started off so well - a dysfunctional family gathering for Christmas in an old country house that has gradually become surrounded by factories and roads. Inspector Appleby has been invited as a 'treat' for one of the family members, an eccentric and slightly scatty crime novelist - but of course, he arrives just moments after someone has been shot and seriously injured.
Unfortunately, the book starts to fizzle out from this point, rather like a damp yule log! It ends with every character accusing one of the others of the murder. Until finally, we have the shock reveal that
I've read elsewhere that this book is supposed to be some kind of spoof of a detective novel. If that's true, it makes a little more sense of the way that it is written, but I still don't think it works. You shouldn't need to have the purpose of a novel explained to you before you can enjoy it!
2 stars for some really good characterisation.
Unfortunately, the book starts to fizzle out from this point, rather like a damp yule log! It ends with every character accusing one of the others of the murder. Until finally, we have the shock reveal that
I've read elsewhere that this book is supposed to be some kind of spoof of a detective novel. If that's true, it makes a little more sense of the way that it is written, but I still don't think it works. You shouldn't need to have the purpose of a novel explained to you before you can enjoy it!
2 stars for some really good characterisation.
November 29, 2017
Thank you to NetGalley and Ipso Books for the digital review copy.
First published 1940,under this title in Britain, and in the US as “A Comedy of Terrors”, this is the sixth John Appleby Mystery.
It is unusual in that it has a first person narrator, author Arthur Ferryman, who gives an account of the events surrounding the shooting of his cousin, Wilfred Foxcroft, at the family house, Belrive Priory, one Christmas.
Belrive is full of relatives of the current owner, Sir Basil Roper, who is intent on selling the house and estate.We have his nephews Wilfred and Cecil, his brother Hubert and nephew Geoffrey, his sister,Lucy, and second cousin, Anne, as well as a doctor, two local industrialists and assorted servants…and Appleby.
I found the book wholly tiresome. The “witty” dialogue, the literary games and allusions, the studied cleverness all became rather wearing . Everyone has a theory to propound and we hear them all. Although, as might be expected, the book’s title (from “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”), is significant, the solution is not remotely guessable by any reader, apart from the most expert. It is ingenious , but ultimately, rather a let down.
First published 1940,under this title in Britain, and in the US as “A Comedy of Terrors”, this is the sixth John Appleby Mystery.
It is unusual in that it has a first person narrator, author Arthur Ferryman, who gives an account of the events surrounding the shooting of his cousin, Wilfred Foxcroft, at the family house, Belrive Priory, one Christmas.
Belrive is full of relatives of the current owner, Sir Basil Roper, who is intent on selling the house and estate.We have his nephews Wilfred and Cecil, his brother Hubert and nephew Geoffrey, his sister,Lucy, and second cousin, Anne, as well as a doctor, two local industrialists and assorted servants…and Appleby.
I found the book wholly tiresome. The “witty” dialogue, the literary games and allusions, the studied cleverness all became rather wearing . Everyone has a theory to propound and we hear them all. Although, as might be expected, the book’s title (from “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”), is significant, the solution is not remotely guessable by any reader, apart from the most expert. It is ingenious , but ultimately, rather a let down.
February 24, 2018
Having enjoyed two of Michael Innes’ Inspector Appleby novels last year – Hamlet, Revenge! and Lament for a Maker – I was drawn to this one next, because I liked the title and thought it would be appropriate as we'd had some snowy weather here recently. Actually, although the novel is set during the Christmas period and there are a few mentions of snow, it doesn’t have a particularly wintry feel and could be read at any time of year.
It begins with our narrator, Arthur Ferryman, arriving at a family gathering at Belrive Priory, the home of his cousin, Basil Roper. The priory has been in the family for generations and nobody feels a closer affinity with its ancient stone walls, formal gardens and soot-blackened ruins than Arthur does. It comes as a shock, then, when he hears that Basil is planning to sell the estate to finance an expedition. As more members of the Roper family descend, along with various cousins and friends, it becomes clear that Arthur is not the only one unhappy with Basil’s decision. When one of the party is found shot while sitting at the desk in the study, there are plenty of suspects and plenty of motives. With perfect timing, Inspector Appleby arrives at the door just as the body is discovered, having received an invitation from Basil. Can Appleby find the culprit before someone else is hurt?
There Came Both Mist and Snow is my least favourite of the three Innes novels I’ve read so far. The mystery itself was well-constructed; Appleby seems to play a bigger role than in the other two books (certainly than in Lament for a Maker, where he only appeared near the end) and I enjoyed following the course of his investigations, with Arthur Ferryman as a sort of Watson character. There are several possible theories which are put forward by various members of the party and all of them seem plausible, which means the reader is constantly being led in the wrong direction. I would never have guessed the eventual solution; the clues aren’t concealed from the reader, exactly, but it’s definitely not something that is easy to deduce for yourself.
My problem with the book was due mainly to the length of time it took to get started. In the opening chapters we are given a lot of information on the Roper family background, the history of Belrive Priory and the changes that have come to the surrounding area as the neon lights of breweries and factories begin to shine into the priory’s ancient grounds. This information wasn’t completely insignificant, but I felt that it could have been woven more gradually into the story so that we could have reached the crime itself more quickly.
I think I would also have found the book more enjoyable if the characters had not been such an unpleasant and uninteresting group of people! I did like one of them – Arthur’s cousin Lucy Chigwidden, who happens to be a crime novelist, which gives Innes a chance to poke fun at his own profession – but none of the others were what I would consider strong or memorable characters. I was a bit disappointed by this one, especially after enjoying the others so much, but I will continue to read the Appleby mysteries.
It begins with our narrator, Arthur Ferryman, arriving at a family gathering at Belrive Priory, the home of his cousin, Basil Roper. The priory has been in the family for generations and nobody feels a closer affinity with its ancient stone walls, formal gardens and soot-blackened ruins than Arthur does. It comes as a shock, then, when he hears that Basil is planning to sell the estate to finance an expedition. As more members of the Roper family descend, along with various cousins and friends, it becomes clear that Arthur is not the only one unhappy with Basil’s decision. When one of the party is found shot while sitting at the desk in the study, there are plenty of suspects and plenty of motives. With perfect timing, Inspector Appleby arrives at the door just as the body is discovered, having received an invitation from Basil. Can Appleby find the culprit before someone else is hurt?
There Came Both Mist and Snow is my least favourite of the three Innes novels I’ve read so far. The mystery itself was well-constructed; Appleby seems to play a bigger role than in the other two books (certainly than in Lament for a Maker, where he only appeared near the end) and I enjoyed following the course of his investigations, with Arthur Ferryman as a sort of Watson character. There are several possible theories which are put forward by various members of the party and all of them seem plausible, which means the reader is constantly being led in the wrong direction. I would never have guessed the eventual solution; the clues aren’t concealed from the reader, exactly, but it’s definitely not something that is easy to deduce for yourself.
My problem with the book was due mainly to the length of time it took to get started. In the opening chapters we are given a lot of information on the Roper family background, the history of Belrive Priory and the changes that have come to the surrounding area as the neon lights of breweries and factories begin to shine into the priory’s ancient grounds. This information wasn’t completely insignificant, but I felt that it could have been woven more gradually into the story so that we could have reached the crime itself more quickly.
I think I would also have found the book more enjoyable if the characters had not been such an unpleasant and uninteresting group of people! I did like one of them – Arthur’s cousin Lucy Chigwidden, who happens to be a crime novelist, which gives Innes a chance to poke fun at his own profession – but none of the others were what I would consider strong or memorable characters. I was a bit disappointed by this one, especially after enjoying the others so much, but I will continue to read the Appleby mysteries.
January 1, 2018
I read about this book in an overview of some period mysteries with unusual elements, so when I saw it at NetGalley I requested it at once - thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity.
I enjoyed it overall, though it’s a mixed bag of elements I don’t see often enough (a rare whodunnit) and elements I loathe (at one point Appleby is horrifyingly unprofessional, and everyone is veddy blasé about it).
Most of the country manor characters are present and much of the type, so you may love or hate them - I enjoyed the narrator and his intermittent awareness of his own foibles. I particularly liked one of the minor characters, a village boy made good as a successful brewer.
In spite of the unusual ending, the book didn’t completely succeed for me as a mystery, and I don’t think it’s a good “deduce for yourself” book. But Innes has an engaging voice, and I’ll gladly read more of Inspector Appleby.
I enjoyed it overall, though it’s a mixed bag of elements I don’t see often enough (a rare whodunnit) and elements I loathe (at one point Appleby is horrifyingly unprofessional, and everyone is veddy blasé about it).
Most of the country manor characters are present and much of the type, so you may love or hate them - I enjoyed the narrator and his intermittent awareness of his own foibles. I particularly liked one of the minor characters, a village boy made good as a successful brewer.
In spite of the unusual ending, the book didn’t completely succeed for me as a mystery, and I don’t think it’s a good “deduce for yourself” book. But Innes has an engaging voice, and I’ll gladly read more of Inspector Appleby.
July 12, 2022
No geral, uma boa leitura. Não me agradou o narrador ou a maioria dos personagens, mesmo o investigador (ou investigadores). Também não fiquei fã do rebuscamento do texto. Em geral leio em inglês como segunda língua com facilidade, mesmo se tratando de textos de autores de séculos anteriores (não é à toa que Jane Austen é minha escritora favorita). Em geral, também, a leitura no Kindle facilita bastante a busca de palavras obscuras de um vocabulário de 80 anos atrás. Porém, ou a busca foi precarizada ou a palavra se perdeu no tempo. Acho difícil, há poucas coisas sobre as quais o google não dá pelo menos uma dica. Nada que torne o texto ininteligível, apenas irritante. O autor é suficientemente intrigante que me levou a adquirir outro livro dele apenas com a leitura do primeiro capítulo como chamariz no final deste. Já estou achando tão complicado quanto. Vamos adiante, para decidir se esse é um autor a se "perseguir".
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August 31, 2020The US title, A Comedy of Terrors, is justified in the end, but the UK There Came Both Mist and Snow fits the whole book better. While Inspector Appleby is an invited guest at this country-house Christmas party, the narrator is a member of the extended family and a novelist besides. Another family member (the older of the two, and only two, women present) writes detective fiction, and Appleby has been invited on her account. The result is an entertaining puzzle, not only a whodunit but working out exactly what is done. Though it was published in 1940, the war is not a factor: nobody is in the military or performing any war work, and the festivities are not hindered by rationing. Seeing Appleby through the eyes of a participant just continues the impression of him as a clever, quirky character. I must have read this when I bought it (1980s), but didn’t remember anything.
December 13, 2020
This is the fourth book I have read by this author. The first I found interesting, but from there they have really lost all my attention. I can't think why I keep reading"just another". Maybe it is in the hope that they get better, or just that they take up space. I thought this one a weak 2 star, the extra star being that the description of a body at a factory, did make me smile.
At the start and for a long way into the book, we are introduced to the family members, which is fine, but then it turned into a complete farce. Every member being suspicious of the others was fair enough, but then they all decided to get up at a meeting and confess to the crime. It read as if it had been written for a play, and the author wanted to give each actor their part in the limelight. As for the Inspector hitting a suspect with a rock, just showed how far the depths of ridiculous the author was willing to go.
I really must stop reading these books in hope .
At the start and for a long way into the book, we are introduced to the family members, which is fine, but then it turned into a complete farce. Every member being suspicious of the others was fair enough, but then they all decided to get up at a meeting and confess to the crime. It read as if it had been written for a play, and the author wanted to give each actor their part in the limelight. As for the Inspector hitting a suspect with a rock, just showed how far the depths of ridiculous the author was willing to go.
I really must stop reading these books in hope .
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