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Title: Appleby at Allington

Subtitle: An Inspector Appleby Mystery

Author: Michael Innes

Narrator: Gordon Dulieu

Format: Unabridged

Length: 5 hrs and 48 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-01-10

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 103 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Available to download for the very first time, the fantastic Inspector Appleby series by celebrated crime writer Michael Innes.

Sir John Appleby dines one evening at Allington Park, the Georgian home of his acquaintance Owain Allington, who is new to the area. His curiosity is aroused when Allington mentions his nephew and heir to the estate, Martin Allington, whose name Appleby recognises.

The evening comes to an end but just as Appleby is leaving, they find a dead man - electrocuted in the son et lumihre box which had been installed in the grounds. Legendary character Inspector John Appleby of Scotland Yard inspired a lasting vogue for donnish detective fiction. Innes's detective novels are playfully highbrow and rich in allusions to English literature and to Renaissance art.

Members Reviews:

quiet satire

As a mystery, this may not be the most exciting book or the most exciting narration. But this is more like a gentle satire of English class in the countryside (more like Barbara Pym than Agatha Christie). At first I thought the narrator was a little ponderous, but as I readjusted my expectations to the kind of book this is, I really enjoyed his deadpan humor.

Great set-up and ending!

I use audiobooks to lull myself to sleep, so this was great for me! That fact probably isn't a high recommendation to those who want excitement in a book, however.

After many great nights of sleep, I reached the ending and thought it was very sly. I actually listened to the beginning again, just because the murder itself was so unexpected......and slept really well again!

Why didn't they bother to edit it?

Would you try another book from Michael Innes and/or Gordon Dulieu?

I love Michael Innes but did not like the performance by Gordon Dulieu

How did the narrator detract from the book?

the narrator was not able to convey different voices well. For example, in a conversation between Appleby and his wife Judith, it was not possible to tell from the voice which character was speaking! There were also mistakes in the reading which were not edited out. I would guess ALL narrators make the occasional flub, and this one just corrected himself and went right on, probably expecting that someone would snip out the bad bit. But they never did.

Listen to the sample first

Once upon a time I was a huge Agatha Christie fan. I haven't read her books in years. Now I opt for Michael Connelly, Jeffrey Deaver, Henning Mankell, Laura Lippman, Steig Larsson, etc. I got this to tide me over before my next month's credits kicked in. First, it moves very slowly. No, not just the pace of the story, the narrator has long pauses. Second, because of this very old British language, it almost requires a dictionary to determine some of the words. This is the only audiobook in 5 years I have decided to not finish. It is so slow and so thick with this old vernacular, I can't get through it and enjoy the listen. Listen to the sample to see if it is your type of book or not.

Appleby Review

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The book is actually rather dry and slow moving.