Order of Inspector Appleby Books
Inspector Appleby is the protagonist in a series of crime fiction novels by Scottish novelist Michael Innes (James Innes Mackinstosh Stewart). Sir John Appleby starts out as a detective inspector with Scotland Yard. As time passes, he moves up the ranks of the outfit.
Michael Innes began his Inspector Appleby series in 1936 with the novel Death at the President’s Lodging. The series includes 32 novels and 4 short story collections. The last novel in the series is Appleby and the Ospreys, published in 1986. In 2010, 18 uncollected stories were released in the collection Appleby Talks About Crime. Below is a list of Michael Innes’ Inspector Appleby books in order of when they were first released (which is the same as their chronological order):
Publication Order of Inspector Appleby Books
| Death at the President's Lodging / Seven Suspects | (1936) |    |
| Hamlet, Revenge! | (1937) | |
| Lament for a Maker | (1938) | |
| Stop Press / The Spider Strikes | (1939) | |
| The Secret Vanguard | (1940) | |
| There Came Both Mist and Snow / A Comedy of Terrors | (1940) | |
| Appleby on Ararat | (1941) | |
| The Daffodil Affair | (1942) | |
| The Weight of the Evidence | (1943) | |
| Appleby's End | (1945) | |
| A Night of Errors | (1948) | |
| Operation Pax / The Paper Thunderbolt | (1951) | |
| A Private View / One-Man Show / Murder Is an Art | (1952) | |
| Appleby Plays Chicken / Death On a Quiet Day | (1957) | |
| The Long Farewell | (1958) | |
| Hare Sitting Up | (1959) | |
| Silence Observed | (1961) | |
| A Connoisseur's Case / The Crabtree Affair | (1962) | |
| The Bloody Wood | (1966) | |
| Appleby At Allington / Death By Water | (1968) | |
| A Family Affair / Picture of Guilt | (1969) | |
| Death at the Chase | (1970) | |
| An Awkward Lie | (1971) | |
| The Open House | (1972) | |
| Appleby's Answer | (1973) | |
| Appleby's Other Story | (1974) | |
| The Gay Phoenix | (1976) | |
| The Ampersand Papers | (1978) | |
| Sheiks and Adders | (1982) | |
| Appleby and Honeybath | (1983) | |
| Carson's Conspiracy | (1984) | |
| Appleby and the Ospreys | (1986) | |
Publication Order of Inspector Appleby Collections
| Appleby Talking | (1954) | |
| Appleby Talks | (1954) | |
| Appleby Talks Again | (1956) | |
| Appleby Intervenes | (1965) | |
| The Appleby File | (1975) | |
| Appleby Talks About Crime | (2010) | |
Notes: Death at the President’s Lodging was also published as Seven Suspects. Stop Press was also titled The Spider Strikes. There Came Both Mist and Snow was also known as A Comedy of Terrors. Operation Pax was also released as The Paper Thunderbolt. A Private View was also published under the titles of One-Man Show and Murder is an Art. Appleby Plays Chicken was also known as Death on a Quiet Day. A Connoisseur’s Case was also titled The Crabtree Affair. Appleby at Allington was also published under the title Death by Water. A Family Affair was also released under the title Picture of Guilt. Appleby Talking was also known as Dead Man’s Shoes.
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Inspector Appleby Synopsis: The first novel to feature Sir John Appleby is Death at the President’s Lodging by Michael Innes. When the president of St. Anthony’s College is found dead – murdered – in his lodging, Inspector Appleby is called in. It is soon apparent that the only people who had motive to kill him are the only ones who had the opportunity. His lodging is locked at night, and the only ones with keys are the Fellows.
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