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Sir John Appleby #5
The Secret Vanguard
Nobody, she said to herself, is necessarily what he appears to be; nobody. On an ordinary train journey to Scotland, Sheila Grant becomes embroiled in a plot that is anything a chemist has gone missing, an artist has been kidnapped, and a poet has been murdered. As Sheila begins to understand the enormity of the situation, she realizes her life is in grave danger and must flee across the Scottish Highlands in search of assistance and a man named Appleby. In London, Appleby is trying to piece together a kidnapping, a death, and a disappearance as the world wavers on the brink of another war. He has no idea he is Sheila’s best hope of survival. When the clock is ticking and no one is quite who they claim to be… will Appleby find Sheila before it’s too late? The Secret Vanguard was originally published in 1940. PRAISE FOR MICHAEL INNES AND THE SECRET VANGUARD ‘This comes closer to the pattern and standard set by the late John Buchan in his Richard Hannay stories than any other writer today who deals with secret intelligence. A good, fast-paced yarn … but tightly plotted and entertaining reading.’ — Kirkus ‘Spies, chases, kidnapping, murder. A brilliant combination .’ — Reader Review ‘Mr Innes is in a class by himself among detective story writers.’ — Times Literary Supplement ‘Wickedly witty.’ — The Daily Mail ‘As farfetched and literary as Sayers’ — Cambridge Companion on Crime Fiction
228 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1940
54 people are currently reading
183 people want to read
About the author
Michael Innes
125 books89 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 49 reviews
July 27, 2022
One of the signs for me that World War II was an apocalyptic conflict is the fact that so many sober-minded British writers turned to melodrama and conspiracy in the novels they published during that era. As an American born long after the conflict ended, it’s hard for me to imagine what it must have been like to try to keep one’s psychological balance during those times. But it’s downright startling to see one of the most cerebral of mystery writers, Michael Innes (the pseudonym of literature professor J. I. M. Stewart), fall into that style. After The Secret Vanguard, I believe, he abandoned returned to his more typical mode—which is probably just as well, though I enjoyed this book as a type of gothic fantasy.
It begins mildly enough with a glimpse into the life of Philip Ploss, a penner of midlevel nature poetry, enjoying his peaceful life in 1939. At the end of chapter 1 he is sitting placidly in his garden gazebo overlooking his bucolic surroundings; so it is a shock to the system when the next chapter begins, “‘Ploss,’ said John Appleby deliberately, ‘Philip Ploss, the Cow-and-Gate poet. Who would want, now, to shoot a quiet fellow like that?’”
Appleby is Michael Innes’s main detective, the center of more than 30 mysteries and several short story collections. He’s talking to an archaeologist friend who has a delightful cameo role in this book, and it’s Appleby’s job to unravel the mystery of Ploss’s death. His first clues come from Ploss’s diary and involve the poetry of Swinburne. Don’t expect to understand at this point, though the mystery plays second fiddle to action through most of the book and is pretty speedily unraveled.
Next we switch to a bright young woman named Sheila Grant on her way to Scotland, and she has her own baffling encounter with Swinburne’s verse just before getting pitched into thriller land. Most of the book is taken up with her flight and the evildoers’ pursuit. It’s clear quite early on that the evildoers are a nest of German spies planted rather improbably in a deserted stretch of Scottish highland, but there they are and the reader is best off simply going with the flow of the story, no matter how unreal it becomes.
Innes is a master at portraying scholarly types who are nevertheless capable of effective action when circumstances demand, and the circumstances certainly demand a lot of them in this book. His writing is not for everyone but it is very much for me, so regardless of how silly the action became, I enjoyed traveling with all the characters. There’s even a ghost of a romance, unusual for an Innes novel. Appleby spends a lot of time in the background, but he is on the scene when he needs to be, and in the meantime Sheila makes for a strong focus.
If you don’t look for too much plausibility, this book offers a delightful ride.
It begins mildly enough with a glimpse into the life of Philip Ploss, a penner of midlevel nature poetry, enjoying his peaceful life in 1939. At the end of chapter 1 he is sitting placidly in his garden gazebo overlooking his bucolic surroundings; so it is a shock to the system when the next chapter begins, “‘Ploss,’ said John Appleby deliberately, ‘Philip Ploss, the Cow-and-Gate poet. Who would want, now, to shoot a quiet fellow like that?’”
Appleby is Michael Innes’s main detective, the center of more than 30 mysteries and several short story collections. He’s talking to an archaeologist friend who has a delightful cameo role in this book, and it’s Appleby’s job to unravel the mystery of Ploss’s death. His first clues come from Ploss’s diary and involve the poetry of Swinburne. Don’t expect to understand at this point, though the mystery plays second fiddle to action through most of the book and is pretty speedily unraveled.
Next we switch to a bright young woman named Sheila Grant on her way to Scotland, and she has her own baffling encounter with Swinburne’s verse just before getting pitched into thriller land. Most of the book is taken up with her flight and the evildoers’ pursuit. It’s clear quite early on that the evildoers are a nest of German spies planted rather improbably in a deserted stretch of Scottish highland, but there they are and the reader is best off simply going with the flow of the story, no matter how unreal it becomes.
Innes is a master at portraying scholarly types who are nevertheless capable of effective action when circumstances demand, and the circumstances certainly demand a lot of them in this book. His writing is not for everyone but it is very much for me, so regardless of how silly the action became, I enjoyed traveling with all the characters. There’s even a ghost of a romance, unusual for an Innes novel. Appleby spends a lot of time in the background, but he is on the scene when he needs to be, and in the meantime Sheila makes for a strong focus.
If you don’t look for too much plausibility, this book offers a delightful ride.
January 8, 2018
I enjoyed The Secret Vanguard very much. It is a departure from Michael Innes's previous Appleby mysteries, which are extremely intricate, donnish puzzles; this is a 1939 tale of spies and kidnapping set largely in the Scottish Highlands and which has strong echoes of John Buchan in its plot and setting, but which preserves much of Innes's dry wit in the telling.
The death of a minor poet and an overheard conversation on a train lead to the discovery of a sinister plot (presumably by the Nazis, although this is never explicitly stated) to steal a vital chemical formula. This develops into a lengthy chase story with plenty of close shaves and unexpected turns. It's a hopelessly improbable romp with just sufficient plausibility to be an enjoyable and rather engrossing read. In addition, Innes's characters are nicely done – the doughty young woman, the distracted but determined academic, and the great Appleby himself, among others – and he paints a good picture of remote Scotland.
As usual, the chief pleasure for me is in Innes's style and in his sometimes quite acute observations about people and social mores. As a distinguished Professor of English, Innes expects his audience to be unfazed by references to Swinburne, for example, or exchanges like this about the murder victim, with no further explanation:
"He had been listening to Opus 131."
"Ah."
Innes rejoices in the use of quite recondite language – the words otiose, belletrist and crepuscular all occur in a single paragraph at one point, for example – which gives the narrative a wry, slightly ironic feel. Personally, I find all this very entertaining, and if you feel the same way, I can recommend The Secret Vanguard as an amusing and surprisingly rewarding read.
(I received an ARC via Netgalley.)
The death of a minor poet and an overheard conversation on a train lead to the discovery of a sinister plot (presumably by the Nazis, although this is never explicitly stated) to steal a vital chemical formula. This develops into a lengthy chase story with plenty of close shaves and unexpected turns. It's a hopelessly improbable romp with just sufficient plausibility to be an enjoyable and rather engrossing read. In addition, Innes's characters are nicely done – the doughty young woman, the distracted but determined academic, and the great Appleby himself, among others – and he paints a good picture of remote Scotland.
As usual, the chief pleasure for me is in Innes's style and in his sometimes quite acute observations about people and social mores. As a distinguished Professor of English, Innes expects his audience to be unfazed by references to Swinburne, for example, or exchanges like this about the murder victim, with no further explanation:
"He had been listening to Opus 131."
"Ah."
Innes rejoices in the use of quite recondite language – the words otiose, belletrist and crepuscular all occur in a single paragraph at one point, for example – which gives the narrative a wry, slightly ironic feel. Personally, I find all this very entertaining, and if you feel the same way, I can recommend The Secret Vanguard as an amusing and surprisingly rewarding read.
(I received an ARC via Netgalley.)
August 2, 2022
Appleby is investigating the murder of a poet when he is made aware of the disappearance of a young woman in the Scottish Highlands. Sheila Grant has unwittingly uncovered a plot and is now on the run. Appleby needs to come to her rescue, but time is not on his side.
This is a crazy concoction of espionage, kidnapping and murder, very enjoyable if sometimes clunky in its connections. I quite enjoyed the investigation of the murder in London, especially a sweetly comic scene in a library where the murdered man did his research, and then there was a rather abrupt switch to the thriller scenario in Scotland. This had an echo of The Thirty Nine Steps about it, and was quite exciting if a bit unlikely.
As always with Innes, there are plenty of sly literary allusions and plays on words, and excellent descriptions of the Scottish landscape that really brought it to life. Very enjoyable and exciting thriller.
This is a crazy concoction of espionage, kidnapping and murder, very enjoyable if sometimes clunky in its connections. I quite enjoyed the investigation of the murder in London, especially a sweetly comic scene in a library where the murdered man did his research, and then there was a rather abrupt switch to the thriller scenario in Scotland. This had an echo of The Thirty Nine Steps about it, and was quite exciting if a bit unlikely.
As always with Innes, there are plenty of sly literary allusions and plays on words, and excellent descriptions of the Scottish landscape that really brought it to life. Very enjoyable and exciting thriller.
November 14, 2018
The cultured, well read but never pompous Appleby is back. This novel was written in 1939, as war was imminent. For that reason alone it makes a fascinating read. It is proof that there were authors who saw this with great clarity. “You know what this is? It’s some two hundred million people crouching ready to cut each other‘s throats.”
Early in the book Innes describes a bookish character,
“Reason tells us that we cannot seep into or shelter behind the monuments of art…he threw up all this culture around him simply in a vain attempt to burrow out of an increasingly terrifying universe.”
I know the feeling.
The action is absorbing and our main character is a bad-ass young woman who uses her smarts and toughness rather than her sexuality.
Early in the book Innes describes a bookish character,
“Reason tells us that we cannot seep into or shelter behind the monuments of art…he threw up all this culture around him simply in a vain attempt to burrow out of an increasingly terrifying universe.”
I know the feeling.
The action is absorbing and our main character is a bad-ass young woman who uses her smarts and toughness rather than her sexuality.
September 11, 2010
Self-consciously literate, but ultimately rather silly WWII suspense/propaganda novel. After a slow start, the action becomes breakneck, but never believable. The main characters fear nothing, exude insufferable British pluck, and quote obscure literature even as they dodge enemy bullets (and the German spies are all halfwits).
February 24, 2018
What a rollicking adventure! It’s full of murder, kidnapping, chases, spies, shoot-outs, escapes, disguises, and rescues. Innes created a fine melodramatic, action-packed, completely unbelievable story. I finally decided that I would enjoy this as simply a pulp thriller and that helped me accept the crazy twists, and wild improbabilities. After a while, it got to be kind of fun just seeing how the author got his characters out of such improbable situations.
What a boring, irritating, slow story! It’s full of long descriptive passages, literary references, poetry, psychological musings, and more literary references. I am still talking about the same book. After about the first quarter of the book the action starts to move a bit, but before that, it was so slow… I felt that to really understand what was going on, I would have had to be familiar with all of Sir Walter Scott’s works and numerous poets and painters. That stopped after a while, but the annoying digressions into musings continued throughout. That might be fine at the beginning, during the train ride, or over dinner; but as she runs through gunfire? For me, that sort of thing distracts from the action and plot and accounted for most of the parts I disliked.
I enjoyed and didn’t enjoy parts in about equal measure, but the ending was wild enough to make me say I enjoyed the story. I don't know if I would ever be tempted by anything else Innes wrote though.
Content warning…
There were a few passages that each had several curse words. There were a couple of side characters that did most of the swearing, so when they weren’t speaking it was quite clean.
Early in the book, there is a mention of a dirty joke and one of the characters being in a situation in their past when someone ‘tried to make love to them’. There are no offensive details given.
I received this book as a free ARC through NetGalley and Ipso Books. No favorable review was required.
What a boring, irritating, slow story! It’s full of long descriptive passages, literary references, poetry, psychological musings, and more literary references. I am still talking about the same book. After about the first quarter of the book the action starts to move a bit, but before that, it was so slow… I felt that to really understand what was going on, I would have had to be familiar with all of Sir Walter Scott’s works and numerous poets and painters. That stopped after a while, but the annoying digressions into musings continued throughout. That might be fine at the beginning, during the train ride, or over dinner; but as she runs through gunfire? For me, that sort of thing distracts from the action and plot and accounted for most of the parts I disliked.
I enjoyed and didn’t enjoy parts in about equal measure, but the ending was wild enough to make me say I enjoyed the story. I don't know if I would ever be tempted by anything else Innes wrote though.
Content warning…
There were a few passages that each had several curse words. There were a couple of side characters that did most of the swearing, so when they weren’t speaking it was quite clean.
Early in the book, there is a mention of a dirty joke and one of the characters being in a situation in their past when someone ‘tried to make love to them’. There are no offensive details given.
I received this book as a free ARC through NetGalley and Ipso Books. No favorable review was required.
May 2, 2018
Spies and murder
The book describes a great struggle across the South, London and the Highlands between the British forces and intelligence and German spies. The plot is convoluted and perhaps too far fetched for these days but Michael Innes keeps the story rattling on and this reader had to learn the end. There are too many loose ends left untied for a 5 star but worth reading nonetheless.
The book describes a great struggle across the South, London and the Highlands between the British forces and intelligence and German spies. The plot is convoluted and perhaps too far fetched for these days but Michael Innes keeps the story rattling on and this reader had to learn the end. There are too many loose ends left untied for a 5 star but worth reading nonetheless.
November 16, 2020
Very good, brisk WWII spy/chase story through Scotland. Quite reminiscent of The 39 Steps, but with an excellent female lead, a dollop more of quirky British/Scots characters, and quite a bit more literary allusion. Never have I ever come away from a book wanting to read Sir Walter Scott before.
February 26, 2023
Feb. 2023 reread:
This 5th book in the Appleby series is more about espionage than criminal detection. Luckily I like a good spy story :) Lots of overtones of Buchan's 39 Steps (especially in the middle)...
This 5th book in the Appleby series is more about espionage than criminal detection. Luckily I like a good spy story :) Lots of overtones of Buchan's 39 Steps (especially in the middle)...
February 11, 2018
I enjoyed The Secret Vanguard very much. It’s the fifth in Michael Innes’ Inspector Appleby series and is very different from the first one Death at the President’s Lodging, which I read several years ago, a book that had little action, much description and a lot of analysis. Set in 1939 on the edge of war, The Secret Adversary is full of action, a story of spies, kidnapping and a race through the Scottish Highlands to save a scientist. It reminded me in the Highlands section of John Buchan’s The Thirty-Nine Steps.
It begins with the murder of poet, Philip Ploss at his home in the Chilterns and Appleby is mystified wondering why anyone would have wanted to kill him. He had been shot in the middle of his forehead whilst in a gazebo with a magnificent view of the surrounding countryside.
It then moves to Sheila Grant, travelling by train to Scotland when she overhears a conversation about poetry as one of the passengers quotes from a poem by Swinburne. She thinks it is odd that he had added in four lines of his own and realises that the words were a sort of code that he was passing on. And, indeed this discovery leads her into danger but before she can alert anyone else she is captured and held prisoner, eventually escaping in a desperate search for assistance.
I liked all the twists and turns in this somewhat improbable story as Sheila, with much courage and luck scrapes through several dangerous escapades until Appleby comes to the rescue. I enjoyed the descriptions both of London and the Highlands as I raced through this book. I also really like Innes’ writing style, detailed, formal and scattered with frequent literary allusions and quotations. He has packed a lot into The Secret Vanguard.
My thanks to Ipso Books for a review copy via NetGalley.
It begins with the murder of poet, Philip Ploss at his home in the Chilterns and Appleby is mystified wondering why anyone would have wanted to kill him. He had been shot in the middle of his forehead whilst in a gazebo with a magnificent view of the surrounding countryside.
It then moves to Sheila Grant, travelling by train to Scotland when she overhears a conversation about poetry as one of the passengers quotes from a poem by Swinburne. She thinks it is odd that he had added in four lines of his own and realises that the words were a sort of code that he was passing on. And, indeed this discovery leads her into danger but before she can alert anyone else she is captured and held prisoner, eventually escaping in a desperate search for assistance.
I liked all the twists and turns in this somewhat improbable story as Sheila, with much courage and luck scrapes through several dangerous escapades until Appleby comes to the rescue. I enjoyed the descriptions both of London and the Highlands as I raced through this book. I also really like Innes’ writing style, detailed, formal and scattered with frequent literary allusions and quotations. He has packed a lot into The Secret Vanguard.
My thanks to Ipso Books for a review copy via NetGalley.
December 31, 2017
I would blame it all on me, this time. I guess I picked up the wrong book. But it isn't often that I come across a blurb that promises something but the book itself doesn't deliver any of it. What I thought I was getting into was a good mystery that would keep me engrossed in the story but all I found was irrelevant topics, characters, instances and build-ups. It's one thing to read a complex mystery and another to read a confusing one. Evidently, this book was the latter. Except for a few bits here and there, nothing made sense to me—nothing, nada! I wouldn't call it my writing tastes differing because as far as I could grasp, the author's writing style was good enough, even though the descriptions might have well be cut-off. Then again, I wouldn't have mind if most of the story had been trimmed to get straight to the point.
Anyway, I can feel this review getting out of hands and before putting in any more energy into this, I would wrap it up with simply asking those who like complicated mysteries to look for some positive reviews and analyze if it's good for you, and then pick it up. Don't read it on whim like I did.
Disclaimer: I received a digital copy of this book via Netgalley but that in no way influences my rating and/or opinions about it. Thank you Ipso Books and Michael Innes!
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December 31, 2019
Couldn't resist bringing a Michael Innes novel to read on the plane, and this one was really great. Set at the beginning of WWII, it involves Nazi spies in Scotland, and scholars and poets and lots of action. Also lots of description of the countryside. I have a feeling that I don't need to worry about running out of Michael Innes books, because I'll just re-read them. Highly recommended.
July 15, 2018
The fifth John Appleby whodunnit, this time written just before WWII, and involves spies and traitors and a vital formula. An intellectual 39 Steps, with much taking place in the Scottish lochs and heather, it is an exhilarating adventure, full of grotesque fantasy and an ever-twisting plot. Wonderful.
The GR blurb:
'Successful minor poet, Philip Ploss, lives a peaceful existence in ideal surroundings, until his life is upset when he hears verses erroneously quoted as his own. Soon afterwards, he is found dead in the library with a copy of Dante's Purgatory open before him.'
The GR blurb:
'Successful minor poet, Philip Ploss, lives a peaceful existence in ideal surroundings, until his life is upset when he hears verses erroneously quoted as his own. Soon afterwards, he is found dead in the library with a copy of Dante's Purgatory open before him.'
June 1, 2013
OK but not his best. Reminds me of Agatha Christie's spy novels which range from acceptable (N or M?) to dire. I suppose before John Le Carré, people had no idea what spies actually did.
September 17, 2014
To say I found this book confusing would be a massive understatement!
October 21, 2016
Not the best of the series. Here Appleby is in search of a girl who's gone missing. And discovers a nest of spies.
December 22, 2024
This is a clever post-Buchan thriller published near-sultaneously with Hammond Innes' not-similar Wreckers Must Breath. A strong female lead and some very jocose authorial elan make it a success.
* * *
[....] ‘Rodney Orchard,’ he asked, ‘is important, I suppose?’ The tall man stopped abruptly in the middle of the room. ‘Orchard is a great mathematician. For some reason – I don’t understand such things – that makes him the best chemist in the country. We’ve been trying to rope him in for years. No good – a very abstract scientist indeed. But he walked into the Ministry the morning after Prague.’ ‘I see.’ ‘He is very important. And quite a bit mad. In Germany his opposite numbers have a bodyguard and travel behind four-inch glass. We don’t need all that – if a man has some sense. Orchard has none – only genius. Garden fled north warn Forth branch. In other words, Orchard has gone off on a walking tour by himself in Scotland and the tip is to be given to a foreign intelligence organization based somewhere between Stirling and North Berwick. And then this girl of yours disappears after some involvement with a poem on a garden between Edinburgh and Perth.’ The tall man strode over to the desk and picked up a telephone. ‘We can make sure about Orchard.’ There was coming and going – rather a lot of it, Appleby thought, but efficient enough in its somewhat hierarchical way. And in the upshot it was found that Rodney Orchard had indeed disappeared. Ten days ago he had drawn fifty pounds from the bank, told his housekeeper that he would be away for a fortnight, and strolled out of the house with a briefcase and a rucksack. Nothing had been heard of him since.
The tall man nodded. ‘And apparently with a damned ironical result each time. The person to be fooled – a professional counter-espionage man – was fooled, while a casual onlooker tumbled to the game.’
* * *
[....] Once more Sheila produced the pistol. ‘I shot a man,’ she said wearily. ‘He fell into the ditch. I don’t know.’ He took the pistol from her hand as he drove. ‘You fired this?’ His tone was incredulous; he put the muzzle of the weapon cautiously and obliquely to his nose and sniffed. ‘Good lord!’ He set the pistol down in the glove box before her and accelerated slightly. ‘Well,’ – his voice was now briskly practical – ‘we’d better push along to that police sergeant.’ There was a long silence. ‘It was a spy,’ said Sheila. ‘I beg your pardon?’ ‘It was a spy – a German spy. I found out something I wasn’t meant to. He was hunting me. A lot of them were. I shot him.’ The car slackened pace. The young man, intermittently giving his attention to the road, eyed her seriously and curiously. ‘You are an educated lady?’ he said. The question was odd, and oddly phrased. But Sheila answered automatically. ‘Yes – I suppose so.’
* * *
[....] ‘Rodney Orchard,’ he asked, ‘is important, I suppose?’ The tall man stopped abruptly in the middle of the room. ‘Orchard is a great mathematician. For some reason – I don’t understand such things – that makes him the best chemist in the country. We’ve been trying to rope him in for years. No good – a very abstract scientist indeed. But he walked into the Ministry the morning after Prague.’ ‘I see.’ ‘He is very important. And quite a bit mad. In Germany his opposite numbers have a bodyguard and travel behind four-inch glass. We don’t need all that – if a man has some sense. Orchard has none – only genius. Garden fled north warn Forth branch. In other words, Orchard has gone off on a walking tour by himself in Scotland and the tip is to be given to a foreign intelligence organization based somewhere between Stirling and North Berwick. And then this girl of yours disappears after some involvement with a poem on a garden between Edinburgh and Perth.’ The tall man strode over to the desk and picked up a telephone. ‘We can make sure about Orchard.’ There was coming and going – rather a lot of it, Appleby thought, but efficient enough in its somewhat hierarchical way. And in the upshot it was found that Rodney Orchard had indeed disappeared. Ten days ago he had drawn fifty pounds from the bank, told his housekeeper that he would be away for a fortnight, and strolled out of the house with a briefcase and a rucksack. Nothing had been heard of him since.
The tall man nodded. ‘And apparently with a damned ironical result each time. The person to be fooled – a professional counter-espionage man – was fooled, while a casual onlooker tumbled to the game.’
* * *
[....] Once more Sheila produced the pistol. ‘I shot a man,’ she said wearily. ‘He fell into the ditch. I don’t know.’ He took the pistol from her hand as he drove. ‘You fired this?’ His tone was incredulous; he put the muzzle of the weapon cautiously and obliquely to his nose and sniffed. ‘Good lord!’ He set the pistol down in the glove box before her and accelerated slightly. ‘Well,’ – his voice was now briskly practical – ‘we’d better push along to that police sergeant.’ There was a long silence. ‘It was a spy,’ said Sheila. ‘I beg your pardon?’ ‘It was a spy – a German spy. I found out something I wasn’t meant to. He was hunting me. A lot of them were. I shot him.’ The car slackened pace. The young man, intermittently giving his attention to the road, eyed her seriously and curiously. ‘You are an educated lady?’ he said. The question was odd, and oddly phrased. But Sheila answered automatically. ‘Yes – I suppose so.’
December 22, 2024
This is a clever post-Buchan thriller published near-sultaneously with Hammond Innes' not-similar Wreckers Must Breath. A strong female lead and some very jocose authorial elan make it a success.
* * *
[....] ‘Rodney Orchard,’ he asked, ‘is important, I suppose?’ The tall man stopped abruptly in the middle of the room. ‘Orchard is a great mathematician. For some reason – I don’t understand such things – that makes him the best chemist in the country. We’ve been trying to rope him in for years. No good – a very abstract scientist indeed. But he walked into the Ministry the morning after Prague.’ ‘I see.’ ‘He is very important. And quite a bit mad. In Germany his opposite numbers have a bodyguard and travel behind four-inch glass. We don’t need all that – if a man has some sense. Orchard has none – only genius. Garden fled north warn Forth branch. In other words, Orchard has gone off on a walking tour by himself in Scotland and the tip is to be given to a foreign intelligence organization based somewhere between Stirling and North Berwick. And then this girl of yours disappears after some involvement with a poem on a garden between Edinburgh and Perth.’ The tall man strode over to the desk and picked up a telephone. ‘We can make sure about Orchard.’ There was coming and going – rather a lot of it, Appleby thought, but efficient enough in its somewhat hierarchical way. And in the upshot it was found that Rodney Orchard had indeed disappeared. Ten days ago he had drawn fifty pounds from the bank, told his housekeeper that he would be away for a fortnight, and strolled out of the house with a briefcase and a rucksack. Nothing had been heard of him since.
The tall man nodded. ‘And apparently with a damned ironical result each time. The person to be fooled – a professional counter-espionage man – was fooled, while a casual onlooker tumbled to the game.’
* * *
[....] Once more Sheila produced the pistol. ‘I shot a man,’ she said wearily. ‘He fell into the ditch. I don’t know.’ He took the pistol from her hand as he drove. ‘You fired this?’ His tone was incredulous; he put the muzzle of the weapon cautiously and obliquely to his nose and sniffed. ‘Good lord!’ He set the pistol down in the glove box before her and accelerated slightly. ‘Well,’ – his voice was now briskly practical – ‘we’d better push along to that police sergeant.’ There was a long silence. ‘It was a spy,’ said Sheila. ‘I beg your pardon?’ ‘It was a spy – a German spy. I found out something I wasn’t meant to. He was hunting me. A lot of them were. I shot him.’ The car slackened pace. The young man, intermittently giving his attention to the road, eyed her seriously and curiously. ‘You are an educated lady?’ he said. The question was odd, and oddly phrased. But Sheila answered automatically. ‘Yes – I suppose so.’
* * *
[....] ‘Rodney Orchard,’ he asked, ‘is important, I suppose?’ The tall man stopped abruptly in the middle of the room. ‘Orchard is a great mathematician. For some reason – I don’t understand such things – that makes him the best chemist in the country. We’ve been trying to rope him in for years. No good – a very abstract scientist indeed. But he walked into the Ministry the morning after Prague.’ ‘I see.’ ‘He is very important. And quite a bit mad. In Germany his opposite numbers have a bodyguard and travel behind four-inch glass. We don’t need all that – if a man has some sense. Orchard has none – only genius. Garden fled north warn Forth branch. In other words, Orchard has gone off on a walking tour by himself in Scotland and the tip is to be given to a foreign intelligence organization based somewhere between Stirling and North Berwick. And then this girl of yours disappears after some involvement with a poem on a garden between Edinburgh and Perth.’ The tall man strode over to the desk and picked up a telephone. ‘We can make sure about Orchard.’ There was coming and going – rather a lot of it, Appleby thought, but efficient enough in its somewhat hierarchical way. And in the upshot it was found that Rodney Orchard had indeed disappeared. Ten days ago he had drawn fifty pounds from the bank, told his housekeeper that he would be away for a fortnight, and strolled out of the house with a briefcase and a rucksack. Nothing had been heard of him since.
The tall man nodded. ‘And apparently with a damned ironical result each time. The person to be fooled – a professional counter-espionage man – was fooled, while a casual onlooker tumbled to the game.’
* * *
[....] Once more Sheila produced the pistol. ‘I shot a man,’ she said wearily. ‘He fell into the ditch. I don’t know.’ He took the pistol from her hand as he drove. ‘You fired this?’ His tone was incredulous; he put the muzzle of the weapon cautiously and obliquely to his nose and sniffed. ‘Good lord!’ He set the pistol down in the glove box before her and accelerated slightly. ‘Well,’ – his voice was now briskly practical – ‘we’d better push along to that police sergeant.’ There was a long silence. ‘It was a spy,’ said Sheila. ‘I beg your pardon?’ ‘It was a spy – a German spy. I found out something I wasn’t meant to. He was hunting me. A lot of them were. I shot him.’ The car slackened pace. The young man, intermittently giving his attention to the road, eyed her seriously and curiously. ‘You are an educated lady?’ he said. The question was odd, and oddly phrased. But Sheila answered automatically. ‘Yes – I suppose so.’
November 6, 2025
On one hand, Mr. Stewart is continuing to diversify his style; each Appleby book so far has been significantly different in tone, style, approach, Appleby-ness, and quality. On the other hand, The Secret Vanguard has very little Appleby, a perplexing tone, and not terribly riveting quality. But if you like stories that are mostly chase scenes featuring a character you know nothing about and have no interest in or connection to and aren't even sure if she is supposed to be the main character, here's a book you may enjoy.
As the perspicacious among us know, the stormtroopers were intentionally missing Luke, Leia, and Han so they could get away and lead the Death Star to the base. One gets the feeling that is happening here, too, but for no good reason. This supergirl can dodge bullets; evade trucks, trolleys, boats, cars, trains, trams, and all sorts of transports; decipher abstruse and incorrect poetry; and more, all on no sleep, no food, no water, and no problem. Must have been wearing Easy Spirit pumps.
The final chapter tells you nothing is resolved, and that's true. It's a wartime book about mysterious agents who have infiltrated Her Majesty's Nobility, but since the war is still going on, Mr. Stewart hasn't the confidence to say it will be all right in the end. Our heroes stop whatever who-knows badguy is in the book from getting away with some who-cares formula about we-don't-know-what since 90% of the book is following Sheila Supergirl escape in circles from people who leave doors unlocked and keys in motorboat ignitions, and where the smeg is Appleby? And why are there a bajillion clones or secret agent dopplegangers who just so happen to know what fourth-tier government flunkie to call themselves?
At least it's short. If Mr. Stewart combined the interesting plot of Stop Press with the brevity of Secret Vanguard, he'd be writing some highly enjoyable mysteries. But, he's trying to make them all different, apparently. Ah, well.
As the perspicacious among us know, the stormtroopers were intentionally missing Luke, Leia, and Han so they could get away and lead the Death Star to the base. One gets the feeling that is happening here, too, but for no good reason. This supergirl can dodge bullets; evade trucks, trolleys, boats, cars, trains, trams, and all sorts of transports; decipher abstruse and incorrect poetry; and more, all on no sleep, no food, no water, and no problem. Must have been wearing Easy Spirit pumps.
The final chapter tells you nothing is resolved, and that's true. It's a wartime book about mysterious agents who have infiltrated Her Majesty's Nobility, but since the war is still going on, Mr. Stewart hasn't the confidence to say it will be all right in the end. Our heroes stop whatever who-knows badguy is in the book from getting away with some who-cares formula about we-don't-know-what since 90% of the book is following Sheila Supergirl escape in circles from people who leave doors unlocked and keys in motorboat ignitions, and where the smeg is Appleby? And why are there a bajillion clones or secret agent dopplegangers who just so happen to know what fourth-tier government flunkie to call themselves?
At least it's short. If Mr. Stewart combined the interesting plot of Stop Press with the brevity of Secret Vanguard, he'd be writing some highly enjoyable mysteries. But, he's trying to make them all different, apparently. Ah, well.
May 16, 2024
A war-time installment in the John Appleby series. As always, an understanding of the baffling, even absurd crimes that kick off the book, requires erudition. In this particular case, a harmless minor poet is shot in his garden and a young woman vanishes off a train in Scotland. The only thing these victims have in common is that they had noted and remarked upon a fellow train passenger's misquoting of some lines of poetry. It must follow that the misquoted poetry had some special significance for one of the other passengers in the compartment... and off we are to a complex story of spies running around the Scottish countryside and speeding across the lochs, complete with impersonations, a runaway train and Caravaggio sketches.
This is a spy thriller rather than a mystery, and here and there it reminded me of The 39 Steps , what with hiking across the Scottish hills and remote houses and sinister traitors and all.
Good entertainment, yet probably emblematic of concerns and fears that were very vivid in the UK in 1940 (year of publication).
This is a spy thriller rather than a mystery, and here and there it reminded me of The 39 Steps , what with hiking across the Scottish hills and remote houses and sinister traitors and all.
Good entertainment, yet probably emblematic of concerns and fears that were very vivid in the UK in 1940 (year of publication).
November 27, 2021
No idea why I chose to read this. The upside is I can't think of much like it (maybe John Buchan?),
but there are a lot of downsides.
We have here an odd combination of an erudite and academic writing style with an antic plot. It's rare that I encounter English words unfamiliar to me, but there were several here. And the literary allusions never stop. A Swinburn poem is central to the plot, but its significance was challenging to parse. Other references: Caravaggio, Spengler, Wordsworth, Galsworthy and undoubtedly more.
The plot was confusing, at least for me. And the machinations of the good guys defied credibility.
There is not much character definition or development, which means one has to rely on the plot, which was not ideal in this case.
This is still an interesting period piece, and certainly a fast read. Oxford meets WWII, maybe, but also Virginia Wools meets Abbott and Costello. So it goes.
but there are a lot of downsides.
We have here an odd combination of an erudite and academic writing style with an antic plot. It's rare that I encounter English words unfamiliar to me, but there were several here. And the literary allusions never stop. A Swinburn poem is central to the plot, but its significance was challenging to parse. Other references: Caravaggio, Spengler, Wordsworth, Galsworthy and undoubtedly more.
The plot was confusing, at least for me. And the machinations of the good guys defied credibility.
There is not much character definition or development, which means one has to rely on the plot, which was not ideal in this case.
This is still an interesting period piece, and certainly a fast read. Oxford meets WWII, maybe, but also Virginia Wools meets Abbott and Costello. So it goes.
January 28, 2018
An Appleby mystery that contains but a wisp of Appleby and focuses, instead, on a 39 Steps/Rogue Male redux with a heartily annoying young woman whose knowledge of poetry and general toffee-nosed-ness gets her involved with some genuine nonsense in Scotland. Look, one of the positives of a Michael Innes novel is that it eschews that formulaic but here he rather over steers into the skid. As such, we end up on on the other side with almost a parody of this type of novel rather than a work itself. I recommend approaching this one as source material for an early Hitchcock and it gets better, if not by much.
I recevied an ecopy from the publishers and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I recevied an ecopy from the publishers and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
February 21, 2021
This was not a murder mystery by any means: written at the beginning of World War II, it is most definitely a spy thriller, action-packed and definitely much more fast-paced than any of the Appleby novels before this one. It starts out slowly, but the slow description of the life of Ploss comes to an end fairly quickly and then the action starts. Appleby becomes a bit of an action hero in this one rather than a detective, and once again for much of the story he is not the point of view character. The story follows the adventures of Sheila Grant, and is mostly told from her perspective. There is an "uncertain" ending - which I particularly liked, given the wartime uncertainty of the book. It worked.
August 19, 2020
More a thriller than a detective story. And it is a very thrilling story, a kind of Pauline in peril story. But Pauline here is Sheila. The adventures start in a train when Ploss and Sheila understands the reference in a poem recited on the train. Ploss is eventually murdered and Sheila has to run for her life. She has some harrowing adventures and narrow escapes. The people she meets are often not who they say they are. I missed the detection of Appelby even though he features in the story. I enjoyed the book but find it improbable that a secret message is conveyed in a carriage of a train in front of other people.
July 5, 2022
Another of this author's books that has been a disappointment. The overall pot was quite good but it did seem very implausible to me. A women told to amble around in a field wearing a light coloured raincoat, so she would be taken as a sheep, was ridiculous! However the stamina of this woman who had been knocked out, deprived of sleep and not eaten, was to be envied. Another amazing character has to be Macintosh, from Scotland Yard with his feats of activity. The author's references to Swinburne, I'm afraid meant nothing to me. As I mentioned, there was a lot of activity within this story and to me that is what gave it two stars instead of one.
December 23, 2025
A departure of form for Innes. Instead of a super-complex and scholarly mystery, he generates an improbable, but exciting Perils of Pauline-type pulpy melodrama with a plucky young woman escaping from trap after trap, foiling German spies, while detective Appleby plays catch-up. There are still the occasional erudite references I had to look up: Do you know what "My pedigree’s Mitropa out of Wagons-Lits" means without looking it up? You also need to know that in this work, "gazebo" refers to a multi-story stone folly tower with a library room at the top and extraordinary views. The whole exercise gets over-the-top silly at times, but good tongue-in-cheek fun.
January 4, 2024
Who is Sheila? What is she? A young Scottish blonde who knows her Swinburne? Athletic and courageous to a fault, with a flair for self-preservation? All of the above? Yes, indeed! She’s practically the only woman in the book, and, in fact, the central character, but Sheila’s just a wind-up action figure who’s given lots of impossible stuff to do. That’s it. Innes can often make nonsense fun, but here there’s not enough nonsense, and no fun. Mostly just a tedious “thriller” without suspense.
December 11, 2017
I had forgotten what rousingly good mysteries the “Appleby” books are! Appleby himself takes second stage to the main characters, amateurs Stella Grant and Dick Evans, who get caught up in a nest of spies and with relatively minor help from the authorities (including Appleby himself), manage to bring down the baddies and rescue the valuable boffin.
January 14, 2018
This was a good mystery novel but definitely not for everyone. I would say that it gives you a complex feel for the story and makes you feel like your actually in the book but some might find all that confusing. I did enjoy this one even though i had to stop a few times and re-read parts to actually get what was going on.
AGAIN NOT FOR EVERYONE. Thanks NetGalley and everyone involved!!
AGAIN NOT FOR EVERYONE. Thanks NetGalley and everyone involved!!
March 28, 2022
This didn't take me that long to read, but rather the beginning took me that long to get into so I put it at the bottom of my currently reading stack.
This is a product of its time (1941) with some things from the past (memorized poetry) aging okay but others not as well.
Still it was an entertaining romp that moved quite faster than it had started.
This is a product of its time (1941) with some things from the past (memorized poetry) aging okay but others not as well.
Still it was an entertaining romp that moved quite faster than it had started.
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