Operation Pax
 | |
| Author | Michael Innes |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Series | Sir John Appleby |
| Genre | Detective/Thriller |
| Publisher | Gollancz Dodd, Mead(US) |
Publication date | 1951 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | |
| Preceded by | A Night of Errors |
| Followed by | A Private View |
Operation Paxis a 1951mysterythriller novelby the British writerMichael Innes.[1]It is the twelfth entry in his series featuringJohn Appleby,adetectivein theMetropolitan Police.The novel is thematically a thriller rather than the traditionalGolden Age of Detective Fictionmurder investigation that features in most of the series. As with other books in the series afarcicaltone is often maintained. It was released in the United States under thealternative titleThe Paper Thunderbolt.
Synopsis
[edit]A small-timeconfidence tricksteron the run stumbles across a sinister organisation, based at amanor housein theCotswolds,who are using a high-classclinicas a front for their more dishonest activities. About to be killed by them, he manages to turn the tables, steal theirformulaand make an escape. Pursued by his ruthless adversaries, he manages to reachOxfordand stash the stolen formula in theBodleian Librarybefore he is recaptured. Coincidentally Appleby is also in the city, called in by his younger sister Jane to find herfiancée,an undergraduate who is gone missing. It turns out that he has vanished in the vicinity of the manor house, as has a refugee Austriandoctorand her young son.
Only when Jane penetrates the clinic does she discover the full extent of the scheme. What the confidence trickster had thought was analchemist's operation to producegoldor at the very least forgedfive pound notesis in fact the development of abrainwashingtechnique that destroys any sense of human independence or resistance. The scheme is codenamed Operation Pax.
References
[edit]- ^Reilly p.845
Bibliography
[edit]- Hubin, Allen J.Crime Fiction, 1749-1980: A Comprehensive Bibliography.Garland Publishing, 1984.
- Reilly, John M.Twentieth Century Crime & Mystery Writers.Springer, 2015.
- Scheper, George L.Michael Innes.Ungar, 1986.
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