Honeybath's Haven (22 page)

‘Well, Mr Honeybath, at least nothing of the sort can happen now. The man Prout can certainly be forced to resign those pictures – even if only as part of a bargain.'

‘An undertaking not to prosecute him, you mean? Wouldn't that be compounding a felony – or whatever the legal phrase may be?'

‘I think not. Tax evasion and unobtrusive tax recovery strike me as an analogy. But we'd have to be sure of our ground, of course. Consult high legal authority, as we regularly do. We don't break the law, you know. It would be a self-stultifying thing to do.'

‘What about Brown? Were there charges you knew you could have brought against him?'

‘No – or not with any assurance of success. He'd done his time for one thing and another. And he must have had a wretched time of it, don't you think? He knew who were out to get him.'

‘But they didn't succeed.'

‘That's true. But the just gods did, Mr Honeybath. He was killed by what I understand to have been quite a considerable work of art. There's a kind of poetic justice in that.'

‘I suppose so.' Honeybath glanced at his watch. He was feeling extremely tired. Adamson noticed the action.

‘Are you intending to go back to London tonight, Mr Honeybath?'

‘Most certainly I am. And never to see Hanwell Court again.'

‘That's very understandable.' Adamson, an acute man if not a wholly sympathetic one, may have felt that this eminent painter had had enough of coppers and narks alike. ‘I wonder,' he asked, ‘whether I might provide a car to take you home? It might be simpler than the train.'

Honeybath drained his glass and got to his feet.

‘Thank you,' he said. ‘I'd be most grateful.'

 

 

 

John Appleby first appears in
Death at the President's Lodging
, by which time he has risen to the rank of Inspector in the police force. A cerebral detective, with ready wit, charm and good manners, he rose from humble origins to being educated at ‘St Anthony's College', Oxford, prior to joining the police as an ordinary constable.

Having decided to take early retirement just after World War II, he nonetheless continued his police career at a later stage and is subsequently appointed an Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police at Scotland Yard, where his crime solving talents are put to good use, despite the lofty administrative position. Final retirement from the police force (as Commissioner and Sir John Appleby) does not, however, diminish Appleby's taste for solving crime and he continues to be active,
Appleby and the Ospreys
marking his final appearance in the late 1980's.

In
Appleby's End
he meets Judith Raven, whom he marries and who has an involvement in many subsequent cases, as does their son Bobby and other members of his family.

 

 

 

These titles can be read as a series, or randomly as standalone novels

 

 

 

These titles can be read as a series, or randomly as standalone novels

 

 

 

 

Published by House of Stratus

 

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The Ampersand Papers While Appleby is strolling along a Cornish beach, he narrowly escapes being struck by a body falling down a cliff. The body is that of Dr Sutch, an archivist, and he has fallen from the North Tower of Treskinnick Castle, home of Lord Ampersand. Two possible motivations present themselves to Appleby – the Ampersand gold, treasure from an Armada galleon; and the Ampersand papers, valuable family documents that have associations with Wordsworth and Shelley.

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Appleby and Honeybath Every English mansion has a locked room, and Grinton Hall is no exception – the library has hidden doors and passages…and a corpse. But when the corpse goes missing, Sir John Appleby and Charles Honeybath have an even more perplexing case on their hands – just how did it disappear when the doors and windows were securely locked? A bevy of helpful houseguests offer endless assistance, but the two detectives suspect that they are concealing vital information. Could the treasures on the library shelves be so valuable that someone would murder for them?

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	Appleby and the Ospreys Clusters, a great country house, is troubled by bats, as Lord and Lady Osprey complain to their guests, who include first rate detective, Sir John Appleby. In the matter of bats, Appleby is indifferent, but he is soon faced with a real challenge – the murder of Lord Osprey, stabbed with an ornate dagger in the library.

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Appleby at Allington Sir John Appleby dines one evening at Allington Park, the Georgian home of his acquaintance Owain Allington, who is new to the area. His curiosity is aroused when Allington mentions his nephew and heir to the estate, Martin Allington, whose name Appleby recognises. The evening comes to an end but just as Appleby is leaving, they find a dead man – electrocuted in the son et lumière box which had been installed in the grounds.