3½ stars. Fairly straightforward (for Innes!) police procedural mystery set in a small university. I couldn't figure out 'whodunit' but enjoyed the ride following Appleby's investigation in this 9th entry of the series. There were some great witty throwaway lines, such as "England is at best a semi-barbarous country and the demand for portraits of retired philosophy professors was small." (paraphrasing from memory so my apologies if not exactly as Innes wrote it) ( )

In my opinion, the explanation of the mysterious death was ridiculously out of left field. But trying to figure out the credible solution to a murder mystery is not why I read the Appleby mysteries. I read them for the descriptions of the places where he interviews suspects and witnesses and the interviews themselves. For me, they're well worth my reading time. ( )

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

Inspector Appleby is sent to investigate the death of a professor at Nesfield University. Professor Pluckrose was apparently killed by a meteorite, although one that had some months previously fallen to earth.

Although this had its moments of humour, and Appleby and his fellow police officer Hobhouse were likeable characters, I did not really enjoy this novel, There were countless whimsical and academic asides, which were uninteresting and often hard to grasp for those of us without a background in the Classics. The suspects were all men (women being mostly relegated to the roles of landlady and girlfriend) and hard to keep distinct in one's mind. The solution was explained in the most convoluted fashion of any detective novel I have read and not terribly satisfactory, although various earlier themes and clues were duly tied in.

I would not have persisted with this novel had I not been reviewing it, and will not be seeking out any further books by this author.

On a technical note, the plan of the courtyard was too small to make out and could not be enlarged on my Kindle. ( )

It was Professor Prisk in the courtyard with the meteorite. Or was it? A meteorite fell from the courtyard tower onto Professor Pluckrose. Was Professor Prisk the murderer or was he the intended victim? Or was it suicide by a professor suffering from that latest contribution to psychoanalytic theory, the Sisyphus Complex? And how does the bigamous young mathematics lecturer fit in?

Great fun. Though since it was written during the war but set before war, it is possible to feel that Appleby's foresight is more a matter of authorial hindsight. ( )

In this 9th entry of the Inspector Appleby series, Innes returns to (fairly) typical police procedural, which I found a relief after the bizarre "The Daffodil Affair".

While I am not sure that Innes' played "fair" in the sense of giving the reader all the clues necessary to solve the case independently of the detective, I enjoyed this mystery set in a small university. There was sly wit sprinkled throughout the book somewhat similar to that found in Edmund Crispin's mysteries. ( )