When tycoon, Charles Povey, is killed in a bizarre boating accident, his corrupt, look-alike brother, Arthur, adopts his identity and his financial empire. But the charade becomes complicated when one of Charles's many mistresses sees through the guise and blackmails Arthur. Enter retired detective, Sir John Appleby...
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"Has all the marks of character that made Innes a classic" -- Spectator
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About the Author
Born in Edinburgh in 1906, the son of the city's Director of Education, John Innes Mackintosh Stewart wrote a highly successful series of mystery stories under the pseudonym Michael Innes. Innes was educated at Oriel College, Oxford, where he was presented with the Matthew Arnold Memorial Prize and named a Bishop Frazer's scholar. After graduation he went to Vienna, to study Freudian psychoanalysis for a year and following his first book, an edition of Florio's translation of Montaigne, was offered a lectureship at the University of Leeds. In 1932 he married Margaret Hardwick, a doctor, and they subsequently had five children including Angus, also a novelist. The year 1936 saw Innes as Professor of English at the University of Adelaide, during which tenure he wrote his first mystery story, 'Death at the President's Lodging'. With his second, 'Hamlet Revenge', Innes firmly established his reputation as a highly entertaining and cultivated writer. After the end of World War II, Innes returned to the UK and spent two years at Queen's University, Belfast where in 1949 he wrote the 'Journeying Boy', a novel notable for the richly comedic use of an Irish setting. He then settled down as a Reader in English Literature at Christ Church, Oxford, from which he retired in 1973. His most famous character is 'John Appleby', who inspired a penchant for donnish detective fiction that lasts to this day. Innes's other well-known character is 'Honeybath', the painter and rather reluctant detective, who first appeared in 1975 in 'The Mysterious Commission'. The last novel, 'Appleby and the Ospreys', was published in 1986, some eight years before his death in 1994. 'A master - he constructs a plot that twists and turns like an electric eel: it gives you shock upon shock and you cannot let go.' - Times Literary Supplement.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Another witty variation on Innes' favorite plot device,
By E. A. Lovitt "starmoth" (Gladwin, MI USA) - See all my reviews (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER) (TOP 100 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: The Gay Phoenix (Inspector Appleby Mystery S.) (Paperback)
Golden Age British Mystery Author, Michael Innes was very fond of the `assumed identity' plot. He employed it in "The Gay Phoenix" (1976), A Change of Heir(1966), Going It Alone(1980), and (in a sense) The New Sonia Wayward(1960).
Arthur Povey is down on his luck and agrees to go cruising on his wealthy brother, Charles' yacht, `The Gay Phoenix.' He might not have a penny to his name, but he is the better sailor of the two. Unfortunately during a storm in mid-Pacific, the yacht's mainmast snaps, killing its owner and leaving the improvident Arthur adrift well away from the shipping lanes. Once he steals his brother's identity disk and heaves Charles' body over-board, Arthur is alone with a crazy, half-formed plan as his only company. Many months later, a battered, jury-rigged yacht wanders into port in Adelaide, Australia, its sole occupant very near death from exposure. His mind also seems to have been damaged by his long sea voyage. At times, he claims to be wealty businessman, Charles Povey. At other times he believes himself to be Charles' younger brother, Arthur. His physicians discover his identity disk, and slowly bring him back to health and sanity as `Charles.' `Charles' returns to England and eventually buys back the old family estate, which makes him the neighbor of retired New Scotland Yard Commissioner, Sir John Appleby. Oops. Michael Innes has produced another amusing, but sharp-edged comedy-of-manners that had me smiling when I wasn't commiserating with the false Charles. He seemed like a better sort of minor crook, whose wealthy, deceased brother turned out to be a villain of much greater scope. `Charles' is beset by blackmailing former servants, lovers, unwed mothers, and business partners as soon as he returns to England. I had to keep reading to find out if Innes's somewhat weak-willed anti-hero would wriggle out of the blackmailing clutches of his staff and his deceased brother's former lovers. Will Sir John Appleby, Innes' most famous serial detective discover which brother has moved in to Brockholes Abbey? What will he do if he does? Don't be too sure. "The Gay Phoenix" has a rather unusual twist at its end.
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