Reviews

Death at the President's Lodging by Michael Innes

mckeanja's review against another edition

adventurous challenging tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

shellydennison's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

lauraborkpower's review against another edition

3.0

I'm glad to have discovered Innes and his terrific detective inspector Appleby, and I quite enjoyed this mystery, although the reveal wasn't as exciting as I'd have liked it to be. But the setting was great (a crime that takes place in a secluded, locked courtyard, inhabited only by the president and a number of professors, on the campus of a private English university. I mean, that's perfect, right?). The plot was convoluted but a lot of fun and the characters were a terrific group of nerdy academics. The narrator is also spot-on and I'm disappointed that he doesn't read all of the Innes novels on Audible (And I'm also tremendously disappointed that they don't have the second Appleby book. If you're going to have the first, have the second! Some people [me] are maniacs and can't skip around in a series!).

lynn_pugh's review against another edition

challenging mysterious slow-paced

3.0

melissa_who_reads's review against another edition

4.0

The president of a college is found dead in his study/library. There is a locked gate, which narrows the suspects down to seven (Seven Suspects was the alternate title) - but does it? It is a very academic mystery, filled with all the traditions of early-twentieth century British academia, and sometimes it gets a little ponderous ... and the solution is twisted and improbable in the complications of what turns out to be a very simple murder.

erin230's review

Ugh!!! This is not my kind of book at all. So tedious I refused to go past the first couple of chapters.

steller0707's review against another edition

5.0

Very British. A intellectual inspector from Scotland Yard is called on to solve a murder at his alma mater, a college patterned on Oxford or Cambridge. The case is complicated because of the cerebral bent of the suspects. If you like Inspector Morse, you'll like Inspector Appleby, who pre-dates him.

benjaminparris's review against another edition

challenging dark funny lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

aphraclare's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicide, Violence, Blood, and Murder

ashleylm's review against another edition

2.0

It's the sort of book that I might have read ten years ago, not liked very much, and then forgotten ... or possibly the sort of book that I might have read ten years ago, not liked very much at first, but then about a third of the way in it really took off—but I doubt it. I've read 20% of it, and it's boring. All the characters are old white men in exactly the same profession (I'm so tired of mysteries where each suspect is near-identical save for their name) and it'll be a struggle to keep them apart. The mystery element seems to be blah-blah-blah keys and blah-blah-blah locked gate, as if (at a University!) no one's managed to figure out how to climb over a building and drop daintily down into a courtyard, for Pete's sake.

And compared to the other books I have going right now, it suffers. Still, I gave it a go, and it wasn't really for me.

(Note: I'm a writer, so I suffer when I offer fewer than five stars. But these aren't ratings of quality, they're a subjective account of how much I liked the book: 5* = an unalloyed pleasure from start to finish, 4* = enjoyed it, 3* = readable but not thrilling, 2* = disappointing, and 1* = hated it.)