Sir John Appleby

John Appleby
First appearance	Death at the President's Lodging
Last appearance	Appleby Talks About Crime
Created by	Michael Innes
In-universe information
Gender	Male
Occupation	Police officer
Nationality	British

Sir John Applebyis a fictional detective created byMichael Innesin the 1930s who appeared in many novels and short stories.

Character overview

Appleby had perhaps the longest career of any of the great detectives. InSilence Observedhe states that his age is fifty-three, which, if the action of the book takes place in the year of publication, would mean that he was born in 1907 or 1908. This is contradicted inThe Gay Phoenixwhere he says that he was 29 when he married. He becomes engaged inAppleby's End,published 1945, which would mean that he was born in 1916.

Appleby's background remains enigmatic although certain clues emerge in several novels. He was born inKirkby Overblow(as mentioned inHare Sitting Up) and brought up in a back street in aMidlandstown (Appleby's Other Story). His grandfather had been a baker and he himself had won a scholarship to university (There Came Both Mist and Snow).

He first appeared as a youthful Detective Inspector from Scotland Yard inDeath at the President's Lodging(Seven Suspectsin the United States) in 1936. He retired from Scotland Yard at a very early age just afterWorld War II,on marrying Judith Raven, a sculptor first encountered inAppleby's End.He had two younger sisters, Patricia (Stop Press) and Jane (Operation Pax), both of whom figure prominently in one novel each and then are never mentioned again.

He then reappeared asCommissionerof theMetropolitan Police,a position rewarded by a knighthood. Although he later retired to Long Dream Manor, his wife's family home in the countryside, he continued to solve crimes well into the 1980s, his last appearance being inAppleby and the Ospreysin 1986, 50 years after his fictional debut. For a couple of the later tales his son Bobby serves as the chief protagonist.

In 2010, eighteen previously uncollected short stories appeared inAppleby Talks About Crime.

Appleby is mentioned in theEdmund CrispinnovelHoly Disordersand theIsaac AsimovUnion Club short story "The Three Goblets."

Appleby stories

Novels

• Death at the President's Lodging(1936) (also known asSeven Suspects)
• Hamlet, Revenge!(1937)
• Lament for a Maker(1938)
• Stop Press(1939) (also known asThe Spider Strikes)
• The Secret Vanguard(1940)
• There Came Both Mist and Snow(1940) (also known asA Comedy of Terrors)
• Appleby on Ararat(1941)
• The Daffodil Affair(1942)
• The Weight of the Evidence(1943)
• Appleby's End(1945)
• A Night of Errors(1947)
• Operation Pax(1951) (also known asThe Paper Thunderbolt)
• A Private View(1952) (also known asOne-Man ShowandMurder Is an Art)
• Appleby Plays Chicken(1957) (also known asDeath on a Quiet Day)
• The Long Farewell(1958)
• Hare Sitting Up(1959)
• Silence Observed(1961)
• A Connoisseur's Case(1962) (also known asThe Crabtree Affair)
• The Bloody Wood(1966)
• Appleby at Allington(1968) (also known asDeath by Water)
• A Family Affair(1969) (also known asPicture of Guilt)
• Death at the Chase(1970)
• An Awkward Lie(1971),ISBN0-396-06345-4
• The Open House(1972),ISBN0-396-06524-4
• Appleby's Answer(1973),ISBN0-396-06744-1
• Appleby's Other Story(1974),ISBN0-396-06715-8
• The Gay Phoenix(1976),ISBN0-396-07442-1
• The Ampersand Papers(1978),ISBN0-396-07663-7
• Sheiks and Adders(1982),ISBN0-396-08063-4
• Appleby and Honeybath(1983),ISBN0-396-08247-5
• Carson's Conspiracy(1984),ISBN0-396-08395-1
• Appleby and the Ospreys(1986),ISBN0-396-08950-X

Short story collections

• Appleby Talking(1954) (also known asDead Man's Shoes)
• Appleby Talks Again(1956)
• Appleby Intervenes(1965)
• The Appleby File(1975),ISBN0-396-07279-8
• Appleby Talks About Crime(2010),ISBN978-1-932009-91-0

Adaptations

Television

A Connoisseur's CaseandLesson in Anatomywere adapted for the 1960s BBC anthology seriesDetective,with Appleby being played byDennis PriceandIan Ogilvy,respectively.

Radio

Two of the Appleby stories were adapted for BBC Radio'sSaturday Night Theatre:Appleby's Endin 1982, withJohn Hurt,andLament for a Makerin 1988, withMichael MacKenzie.