Mon 16 May 2016
Archived Mystery Review: MICHAEL INNES – The Case of Sonia Wayward.
Posted by Steve under Reviews[3] Comments
MICHAEL INNES – The Case of Sonia Wayward. Dodd Mead, hardcover, 1960. Reprinted several times in paperback, including Penguin, 1972. First published in the UK as The New Sonia Wayward (Gollancz, hardcover, 1960).
It begins with Sonia dead, no mourning her. She had been a prolific writer of romances, trifles to be sure, but quite popular with certain segments of the population, and quite naturally Colonel Pettigate, her husband of long standing and forbearance, finds the need to carry on without her.
As he blithely blithers his way through her unexpected absence, leaving gaping holes carelessly strewn as he passes, he does manage to complete Sonia’s latest work-in-progress, giving rise as he does so to a good deal of deft tongue-in-check tomfoolery about the mysterious ways of artistic creation.
But at length blackmail and the social graces suggest that Sonia’s return, for at most a week, say, would do wonders for the colonel’s growing embarrassments. Of course there’s an obvious way out — an impersonation? — one that not even the colonel can miss.
It ends as a high-brow comedy, delicious and wholly captivating, though I shouldn’t say that many will be at all surprised with the ensuing vicissitudes of fate. Innes prepares us for them especially well in advance.
Rating: A minus.
May 16th, 2016 at 5:03 pm
We tend to think of Innes in relation to Appleby and the thrillers and forget the droll comedic books like this and CANDLESHOE which were a small but important part of his output.
Not that the Appleby’s weren’t droll, or the thrillers, for that matter, but there was a side still more playful.
These days you would only find this level of wit and intelligence in a literary thriller, not a book packaged as a mystery.
May 16th, 2016 at 7:44 pm
Some of Michael Innes’s book I’ve enjoyed immensely, others have left me scratching my head. It took me a while to remember any of the details of this one, but with the help of the review, I did. I wish I’d read more of his books, back in day. I wonder how well regarded (if remembered at all) he is by mystery readers today.
May 16th, 2016 at 9:14 pm
He has a better presence in ebook form than Carr so I have to wonder if he still doesn’t have a following. The books were easy to find in paperback well into the nineties.
Whether critics hold him in as high regard I don’t know, but just the ebook presence leads me to suspect he is still fairly widely read.