''Stop Press'' is a 1939

mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' *Mystery, a seahorse that SpongeBob SquarePants adopts in the episode " My Pre ...

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 specu ...

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 crim ...

. Breen p.194 It is the fourth in his series featuring John Appleby

Detective Inspector Inspector, also police inspector or inspector of police, is a police rank. The rank or position varies in seniority depending on the organization that uses it. Australia The rank of Inspector is present in all Australian police forces excep ...

Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's London boroughs, 32 boroughs. Its name derives from the location of the original ...

. It was written during the

Golden Age of Detective Fiction The Golden Age of Detective Fiction was an era of classic murder mystery novels of similar patterns and styles, predominantly in the 1920s and 1930s. While the Golden Age proper is usually taken to refer to works from that period, this type of f ...

and was first published by

Victor Gollancz Sir Victor Gollancz (; 9 April 1893 – 8 February 1967) was a British publisher and humanitarian. Gollancz was known as a supporter of left-wing politics. His loyalties shifted between liberalism and communism; he defined himself as a Christian ...

and in America by

Dodd Mead Dodd, Mead and Company was one of the pioneer publishing houses of the United States, based in New York City. Under several names, the firm operated from 1839 until 1990. History Origins In 1839, Moses Woodruff Dodd (1813–1899) and John S. ...

under the

alternative title An alternative title is a media sales device most prominently used in film distribution. Books and films are commonly released under a different title when they are screened or sold in a different country. This can vary from small change to the ...

''The Spider Strikes''. A

country house mystery The closed circle of suspects is a common element of detective fiction, and the subgenre that employs it can be referred to as the closed circle mystery. Less precisely, this subgenre – works with the closed circle literary device � ...

, it is the only novel in the series in which Appleby's sister Patricia appears.

Plot

Gentleman writer Richard Eliot's extremely popular fictional character The Spider seems to have come to life, performing a series of crimes and practical jokes apparently drawn from the author's subconscious. It seems probable that somebody wishes to drive him out of his mind and prevent the publication of his next novel, the thirty eighth in the series, by making him cry " stop press" to his publisher. His son brings several guests down for a weekend party at his estate Rust Hall, including an

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

and Appleby who is perplexed by the strange series of events and fears that an attempted murder is imminent. Once the setting shifts to nearby Shroom Abbey and its sinister owner things take a more violent turn and it is at last time for Appleby's convoluted unravelling of the case.

References

Bibliography

* Breen, John L. ''What about Murder?: A Guide to Books about Mystery and Detective Fiction. 1981-1991''. Scarecrow Press, 1993. * 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. 1939 British novels British mystery novels British crime novels Novels by Michael Innes Novels set in Oxford Novels set in London British detective novels Victor Gollancz Ltd books Dodd, Mead & Co. books {{1930s-crime-novel-stub