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Portrait image of Gavin Lyall Photo: WATFORD/Mirrorpix via Getty Images (1969)

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Lyall, Gavin

Gavin Tudor Lyall was a British author of espionage thrillers. He was born in Birmingham, England, where he attended the King Edward VI School between 1943 and 1951. After serving in the Royal Air Force 1951–53, he read English at Pembroke College, Cambridge, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1956. While at Cambridge he edited the student newspaper Varsity in which he also published a c...

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Literary figures

John Appleby

Gender: Male

Detective inspector, later commissioner, at Scotland Yard, and so clever that he is eventually knighted by the queen. He is the main character in a row of novels and short stories by Michael Innes, and ages gracefully at the same pace as his creator. When he retires, Sir John Appleby buys a country estate. He is married to sculptress Judith Raven, and they have a son, Bobby, who himself acts the...

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