Michael Innes Books In Order

Publication Order of Inspector Appleby Books

Publication Order of Inspector Appleby Collections

Publication Order of Charles Honeybath Books

Publication Order of Staircase In Surrey Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of J.I.M. Stewart Short Story Collections

Publication Order of Short Story Collections

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Michael Innes was a Scottish novelist, born John Innes Mackintosh Stewart on September 30, 1906. He passed away 1994.

Mr. Innes was educated at Edinburgh Academy and then Oriel College, Oxford. He did his B.A. Honours in English in 1928 and spent the next two years in Austria and Germany to study Freudian psychoanalysis. After his first book, an edition of Florio’s translation of Montaigne, he was offered a lecture chair at University of Leeds.

In 1932, he married Margaret Hardwick, who was a doctor. They eventually had five children, one of whom was also a novelist (Angus).

In 1936, while Professor of English at University of Adelaide, he wrote his first mystery, ‘Death at the President’s Lodging’. His second, ‘Hamlet Revenge’, established his reputation as an entertaining and talented writer.

After World War II, he returned to the UK and spent two years at Queen’s University, Belfast, where in 1949 he wrote the ‘Journeying Boy’, notable for highly effective comedic use of an Irish setting. Following that, he was a Reader in English Literature at Christ Church, Oxford, and retired from there in 1973.

The contribution of Michael Innes is incredible in the world of English Literature, as he is one of the greatest classic crime fiction writers. Between 1936 and 1986, he published close to fifty crime novels and short story collections.

His most well-known detective is Sir John Appleby, first met in Death at the President’s Lodging as a Detective Inspector at Scotland Yard. Appleby is tasked with solving the murder of Professor Umpleby, president of St. Anthony’s College, shot in his lodgings.

It soon becomes evident that the only people with motive to murder him are the only people who had opportunity, because the lodgings are locked at night and only Fellows of the College have keys. Appleby features in many novels and short stories, eventually becoming Metropolitan Police Commissioner.

Other novels feature portrait artist and Royal Academician, Charles Honeybath, a sleuth who is an amateur but very effective. These two detectives meet in Appleby and Honeybath. Later stories feature Appleby’s son Bobby as a detective.

Michael Innes was an extraordinary writer of crime fiction who won the hearts of his fans with ambiance, characters, and the creative plot twists of his stories. His work is still highly regarded.