''A Private View'' is a 1952

detective novel Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as spec ...

by the British writer

Michael Innes John Innes Mackintosh Stewart (30 September 1906 – 12 November 1994) was a Scottish novelist and academic. He is equally well known for the works of literary criticism and contemporary novels published under his real name and for the cr ...

. Hubin p.214It is the thirteenth in his series featuring John Appleby, now an Assistant Commissioner in the Metropolitan Police. It also features the characters of Inspector Cadover and the Duke of Horton who had previously appeared in '' What Happened at Hazelwood'' and ''

Hamlet, Revenge! ''Hamlet, Revenge!'' is a 1937 detective novel by Michael Innes (the pen name of J.I.M. Stewart), his second novel. It centres on the investigation into the murder of the Lord Chancellor of England during an amateur production of Shakespeare's ...

'' respectively. Appleby's wife Judith also plays a major role in the story.

Synopsis

London, 1951. Appleby accompanies his wife to a Private view at an art gallery featuring an exhibition of

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

s by a young

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, t ...

murdered several days earlier. While he is there, the last work ever painted by him is stolen in plain view, which Appleby at first takes to be part of a

publicity stunt In marketing, a publicity stunt is a planned event designed to attract the public's attention to the event's organizers or their cause. Publicity stunts can be professionally organized, or set up by amateurs. Such events are frequently utilize ...

by the gallery's owner. Intrigued, he visits the late painter's

studio A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial design, ...

just off the

King's Road King's Road or Kings Road (or sometimes the King's Road, especially when it was the king's private road until 1830, or as a colloquialism by middle/upper class London residents), is a major street stretching through Chelsea and Fulham, both ...

in Chelsea. There he discovers a work by Stubbs which soon proves to have recently been stolen from a

country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhouse (Great Britain), town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the cit ...

. Before long Appleby is plunged into considerable danger, as he runs across the stolen canvas that three different gangs are after for their differing reasons, including international spies. Judith Appleby takes up the investigation herself and then takes part in a cross-country police pursuit to come to her husband's assistance.

References

Bibliography

* Hubin, Allen J. ''Crime Fiction, 1749-1980: A Comprehensive Bibliography''. Garland Publishing, 1984. * Reilly, John M. ''Twentieth Century Crime & Mystery Writers''. Springer, 2015. * Scheper, George L. ''Michael Innes''. Ungar, 1986. 1952 British novels British mystery novels British crime novels Novels by Michael Innes Novels set in London Novels set in Berkshire British detective novels British thriller novels British spy novels Victor Gollancz Ltd books {{1950s-mystery-novel-stub