Cirrus@Austlit

Editor's preface: 'Michael Innes has been described by the Times Literary Supplement as "in a class by himself among writers of detective fiction", and his detective hero, John Appleby, as one of the most erudite sleuths in mystery fiction. Michael Innes' real name is John Innes Mackintosh Stewart. The son of a Scottish professor, he seemed destined from his youth for the life of an academic. Educated at Edinburgh Academy and Oriel College, Oxford, where he won the Matthew Arnold Memorial Prize, he spent five years at the University of Leeds as lecturer in English and ten years as Jury Professor of English at the University of Adelaide, Australia, before becoming a Student of Christ Church, Oxford.

Innes' interest in crime fiction developed as a form of relaxation from his tutorial duties; apart from several novels and collections of short stories under his own name, he has written 29 books about the immaculate Appleby, charting his career through the ranks at Scotland Yard until he is made Commissioner and retires with a knighthood, although even in retirement he finds himself continually being drawn into cases. Not surprisingly, a good number are set against academic backgrounds, but in 'A Derby Horse' we find him revealing more than a little insight into the world of horse racing.'