Editing J. I. M. Stewart (section)

===Michael Innes===
Between 1936 and 1986, Stewart, writing under the pseudonym of Michael Innes, published nearly fifty crime novels and short story collections, which he later described as "entertainments".<ref name="Rosenbaum" /> These abound in literary allusions and in what critics have variously described as "mischievous wit", "exuberant fancy" and a "tongue-in-cheek propensity" for intriguing turns of phrase.<ref name="Rosenbaum" /><ref>{{cite book|last=Herbert|first=Rosemary|title=Whodunit: A Who's Who in Crime and Mystery Writing|year=2003|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|isbn=0-19-515761-3|page=[https://archive.org/details/whodunitwhoswhoi0000unse/page/44 44]|url=https://archive.org/details/whodunitwhoswhoi0000unse/page/44}}</ref> [[Julian Symons]] identified Innes as one of the "farceurs"—crime writers for whom the detective story was "an over-civilized joke with a frivolity which makes it a literary conversation piece with detection taking place on the side"—and described Innes's writing as being "rather in the manner of [[Thomas Love Peacock|Peacock]] strained through or distorted by [[Aldous Huxley]]".<ref>{{cite book |last=Symons |first=Julian |title=Bloody Murder |edition=2nd (revised & updated) |year=1992 |publisher=Papermac |isbn=0-330-33303-8}}</ref> His mysteries have also been described as combining "the elliptical introspection ... [of] a [[Henry James|Jamesian]] character's speech, the intellectual precision of a [[Joseph Conrad|Conradian]] description, and the amazing coincidences that mark any one of [[Thomas Hardy|Hardy's]] plots".<ref name="Rosenbaum">Rosenbaum, Jane, "Michael Innes", in {{cite book|editor-last=Kelleghan|editor-first=Fiona |title=100 Masters of Mystery and Detective Fiction|series=Magill's Choice|year=2001|publisher=Salem Press|location=Pasadena, CA|isbn=0-89356-958-5}}</ref>

The best-known of Innes's detective creations is [[Sir John Appleby]], who is introduced in ''Death at the President's Lodging'', in which he is a Detective Inspector at [[Scotland Yard]]. Appleby features in many of the later novels and short stories, in the course of which he rises to become [[Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis|Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police]] (and subsequently, following his retirement, continues to investigate crimes as an amateur). Other novels feature portrait painter and Royal Academician, Charles Honeybath, an amateur but nonetheless effective sleuth. The two detectives meet in ''Appleby and Honeybath''. Some of the later stories feature Appleby's son Bobby as sleuth.

In 2007, his family transferred all the Innes copyrights and other legal rights to Owatonna Media. Owatonna Media on-sold these copyrights to Coolabi Plc in 2009, but retained a master licence in radio and audio rights.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://uk.reuters.com/business/quotes/keyDevelopments?symbol=COOL.L |title=Coolabi plc Announces Acquisition of Eric Ambler, Michael Innes And John Creasey literary Estates |publisher=[[Reuters]] |access-date=20 November 2009 |date=9 May 2009 }}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> Literary rights are currently held by John Stewart Literary Management, and published by [[House of Stratus]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Contact for J. I. M. (John Innes Mackintosh) Stewart 1906–1994|url=http://norman.hrc.utexas.edu/Watch/record_detail.cfm?Artist_Indiv_ID=26218|website=The WATCH File: Writers, Artists, and their Copyright Holders|access-date=5 September 2015}}</ref>