What do you think?
Rate this book
Prof. John Stubbs
Adventure with a Goat & Apollo wore a Wig
(From the dust jacket) The title story in this book is a light-hearted thriller of the time of the "phony war" in the 1930s & 40, in the tradition of John Buchan. It moves quickly and is full of thrills. Deaths and narrow escapes are the order of the day. The climax is fittingly exciting. A splendid turn.
In the second story, R. T. Campbell returns to the chronicle of the misadventures and deductions of house eccentric character, Professor John Stubbs, authority on botany and murder, and on many other things, including her. Here the murder takes place in a country house, the property of as rich and aimless young man. The setting is strange and the development of the story equally strange. No one ever probably down a Stibbs detective yarn. Here is really good value for for your money.
In the second story, R. T. Campbell returns to the chronicle of the misadventures and deductions of house eccentric character, Professor John Stubbs, authority on botany and murder, and on many other things, including her. Here the murder takes place in a country house, the property of as rich and aimless young man. The setting is strange and the development of the story equally strange. No one ever probably down a Stibbs detective yarn. Here is really good value for for your money.
263 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 1947
1 person want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 11, 2019
The book is in my hands, so I know it's real (typos in the description are my fault *beer instead of her). Goat is 4 stars, light-hearted Professor Stubbs mystery. Apollo is a rip-off (or homage) of 39 steps- but done very well! 5 stars for the fun romp. Both are quick reads
February 26, 2021
What a strange little pair of stories. The first, "Adventure with a Goat", is a benign little comic mystery featuring Professor, John Stubbs, the author's series character. Stubbs is the guest at a very rich young man's country home. There are a half dozen other guests there. They all have interesting quirks and unusual interests or backgrounds, of course. Then, the peaceful mood of everything taking advantage of a dissolute rich guy is broken by a murder, something which is just not done in such company. The police make an arrest, but Stubbs thinks they have the wrong person locked up. Their case is pretty thin, to be honest, and it's worrisome to think that people were probably hanged erroneously on the basis of that kind of evidence. Anyway, Stubbs sets out to determine the real killer, which he does, and it's exactly who I thought it was going to be. There's not much danger, or deduction, or ratiocination necessary to determine the solution. Stubbs just sort of figures it out, even after conducting an experiment that ultimately makes it seem more likely that the person in custody is guilty.
The second story, "Apollo Wears a Wig", is a complete change of direction, and far more entertaining than "Adventure". It's not a Prof. Stubbs story, and it's not a mystery, more of a wartime thriller. The unnamed narrator finds himself at odds with a terror group called the White Cross. The timeframe is not specified, but it seems to be just before World War 2. The White Cross is blasting propaganda all over England urging Britons to reject the lies they've been told by their government and to join a racially pure Anglo-German Empire. The group carries out several escalating terror attacks and the narrator decides to fight back. He finds himself in a series of difficult straits, extricates himself, and then gets caught again. There are comic tones to the story; the narrator is very snarky, saying things like, after having been shot at several times, "Someone had said that only one bullet in ten thousand kills a man but they had neglected to find out which bullet it was. It might be the first or the ten-thousandth or any of the ones in between and I had a strong feeling it was likely to be one of those in between."
Both stories are pretty quick reads and enjoyable enough. The second is better than the first. This book seems to be hard to find and while I wouldn't go out of my way to hunt it down if you do come across it's worth a couple of days of your time.
The second story, "Apollo Wears a Wig", is a complete change of direction, and far more entertaining than "Adventure". It's not a Prof. Stubbs story, and it's not a mystery, more of a wartime thriller. The unnamed narrator finds himself at odds with a terror group called the White Cross. The timeframe is not specified, but it seems to be just before World War 2. The White Cross is blasting propaganda all over England urging Britons to reject the lies they've been told by their government and to join a racially pure Anglo-German Empire. The group carries out several escalating terror attacks and the narrator decides to fight back. He finds himself in a series of difficult straits, extricates himself, and then gets caught again. There are comic tones to the story; the narrator is very snarky, saying things like, after having been shot at several times, "Someone had said that only one bullet in ten thousand kills a man but they had neglected to find out which bullet it was. It might be the first or the ten-thousandth or any of the ones in between and I had a strong feeling it was likely to be one of those in between."
Both stories are pretty quick reads and enjoyable enough. The second is better than the first. This book seems to be hard to find and while I wouldn't go out of my way to hunt it down if you do come across it's worth a couple of days of your time.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews