This book shines in both execution and in characterization.

And that’s saying a lot. I’ve read three books this year with the plot line of this book:
Two people are in a fraught relationship. In isolated circumstances one is killed by accident. The other takes over the dead person’s identity, with more or less success. One of these books was also by Innes.

But this one is tops. It’s a fascinating exploration the psychology of personal identity. There’s not much mystery here, but there’s some suspense involved.
Highly recommended. ( )

A somewhat unusual Appleby: Appleby is intermittently in the story; he does some detecting; but long stretches are with Arthur Povey, who (when the story opens) is floating in a boat in the middle of the Pacific with the body of his dead brother Charles. ( )

A barely-mysterious mystery; Appleby doesn't really do much here, though there are some pretty amusing moments and set pieces spread throughout. A good quick read. ( )

A lightweight effort by Michael Innes. Appleby investigates but just barely. The psychological aspect is really not all that interesting. The humour is mildly amusing. However, I learned that joss, as in in joss stick, is derived from the Latin word deus. The author uses the word "constatation" which is not even in my online dictionary. A constatation appears to be a statement of fact, as opposed to any number of kinds of speech which are intended to have an effect, e.g., a curse or a decree. ( )