The Weight of the Evidence
The Weight of the Evidence An Inspector Appleby Mystery by Michael Innes Ipso Books General Fiction (Adult) , Mystery & Thrillers Pub Date 12 Jan 2018
Review
The Inspector Appleby mysteries are clever, well written, and always a challenge for the armchair detective. The Weight of the Evidence is a bizarre mystery, but one that is all the more entertaining for the variety of potential motives and suspects. The characters themselves are the strange assortment that you find at almost any educational institution, set in their habits and more likely than not, not to notice anything out of the ordinary. When Professor Pluckrose is killed by a falling meteorite (one falling from the roof, not the sky), Inspector Appleby is called in to determine the culprit. What makes things all the more difficult is that the various academics are easily distracted and have only a vague notion of truth and reality. On top of that, each professor has his own suspicions about the murder and its relation to the practical jokes that have been occuring on campus. Inspector Appleby takes a relaxed, systematic approach to the investigation. The end result came as a surprise, but was nonetheless satisfying.
The Weight of the Evidence is a clever, well written story with very little violence. It is a classic British police procedural that focuses on the puzzle as well as the strange assortment of characters involved. It is a relaxing read, light on tension and full of curious bits of humor.
4 / 5
I received a copy of The Weight of the Evidence from the publisher and Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.
-- Crittermom
Description
Nesfield University has awoken to a bizarre discovery: Professor Pluckrose is dead, apparently struck down by a falling meteorite. Inspector Appleby is called and it soon becomes clear that the meteorite didn’t fall from the sky, but from the tower looming above a courtyard in which the Professor routinely took his breaks. Was Pluckrose’s death an unfortunate accident? Or is there a murderer lurking in Nesfield’s hallowed halls? Navigating the competing accounts of rival academics, each with their own motivations, agendas and egos, Appleby struggles to join the dots. And when every conversation unveils a new suspect Appleby feels the truth slipping further and further from his grasp. Drawn in to the suffocating world of university jealousies and obsessions, will Appleby reveal the truth… or has he finally met his intellectual match? The Weight of the Evidence was first published in 1944
