A Memorial Service

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In this third novel of the Oxford quintet, Duncan Pattullo returns to his old college in middle age. The Provost is focused on securing a benefaction from a charitable trust influenced by the outrageous Cedric Mumford. Complicating matters is Ivo Mumford, Cedric’s misbehaving grandson, whose magazine, ‘Priapus,’ is wholly objectionable. Stewart delves into the intricate relationships among the characters with his characteristic wit and intellectual precision, transforming an otherwise ordinary situation into a gripping narrative. John Innes Mackintosh Stewart, also known as Michael Innes, was born in Edinburgh, where his father was the Director of Education. He attended Edinburgh Academy and later Oriel College, Oxford, earning a first-class degree in English and several academic honors. After traveling with AJP Taylor and studying Freudian psychoanalysis, he began an edition of Montaigne’s Essays, which led to a teaching position at Leeds University. Stewart married Margaret Hardwick in 1932, and they had five children. By 1935, he was appointed Professor of English at the University of Adelaide and published his first detective novel, ‘Death at the President’s Lodging,’ under the pseudonym Michael Innes, which launched a successful series featuring Inspector Appleby. Stewart returned to the UK in 1946, held various academic positions, and wrote extensively, producing twenty-one works of fiction, including the acclaimed ‘A