Hare Sitting Up

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Hare Sitting Up
AuthorMichael Innes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
SeriesSir John Appleby
GenreDetective/Thriller
PublisherGollancz
Dodd, Mead (US)
Publication date
1959
Media typePrint
Preceded byThe Long Farewell 
Followed bySilence Observed 

Hare Sitting Up is a 1959 mystery thriller novel by the British writer Michael Innes.[1] It is the sixteenth entry in his series featuring John Appleby, a detective with the Metropolitan Police. It is set against the backdrop of the Cold War.[2] The title is taken from a quote from D.H. Lawrence's novel Women in Love. Reference is also made to the 1950 British film Seven Days to Noon.

Synopsis[edit]

Professor Howard Juniper, a top British research scientist working on developing a response to biological warfare has vanished and, even more alarmingly may have taken a vial of some deadly disease. Juniper would be a top target for kidnapping from a foreign power, or equally may be suffering from a nervous breakdown. In order to buy time, Appleby persuades his identical twin brother Miles, a schoolmaster, to take his place for a few days.

Appleby's investigations take him to the neglected country estate of a bird-obsessed earl and a top secret rocket base on an island off the northern coast of Scotland. Things are further complicated when the second brother also disappears.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Reilly p.845
  2. ^ Scheper p.78

Bibliography[edit]

  • Carter, Ian. Ancient Cultures of Conceit: British University Fiction in the Post-War Years. Routledge, 2019.
  • 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.