Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Gaudy | 1975 | Michael Innes | Buy |
| 2 | Young Pattullo | 1975 | Michael Innes | Buy |
| 3 | Memorial Service | 1976 | Michael Innes | Buy |
| 4 | The Madonna of The Astrolabe | 1977 | Michael Innes | Buy |
| 5 | Full Term | 1979 | Michael Innes | Buy |
A Staircase in Surrey is J.I.M. Stewart’s five-novel sequence about Oxford academic life. Written under his own name rather than his Michael Innes detective pen name, the quintet represents his literary ambitions outside the mystery genre.
The series follows Duncan Pattullo through Oxford, drawing on Stewart’s own decades as a don at Christ Church. The title refers to an Oxford staircase, the entrance to residential chambers in traditional college buildings.
From The Gaudy to Full Term, the quintet offers an insider’s view of university life in the mid-twentieth century. Readers who know Stewart only through Inspector Appleby will find a different kind of literary achievement in these academic novels.