 American first edition | |
| Author | Michael Innes |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Series | Sir John Appleby |
| Genre | Detective/Thriller |
| Publisher | Gollancz Dodd, Mead (US) |
Publication date | 1957 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | |
| Preceded by | Appleby Talking |
| Followed by | The Long Farewell |
Appleby Plays Chicken is a 1957 detective novel by the British writer Michael Innes.[1] It is the fourteenth novel in the long-running series by Innes featuring John Appleby, a senior detective with the Metropolitan Police. It blends the traditional Golden Age detective story with a mystery spy thriller plot. It was published in the United States under the alternative title Death on a Quiet Day.
Anthony Berkeley reviewing the novel in The Guardian observed "Michael Innes's appeal is to the intelligence, sometimes almost too much so; but in Appleby Plays Chicken he tells a straightforward story, based upon blackmail. Straightforward, that is, for this author; for there are the usual pleasant Innes quirks, such as an exhausted fugitive coming suddenly upon a point-to-point race and making his escape by mounting a riderless horses and joining in. As usual, too, the author enjoys himself vastly in the person of Sir John Appleby; and since Mr. Innes is not so dammed elusive this time the reader enjoys himself, too."
- ^ Reilly p.845