Mystery Novels

Alias. By Fred Andreas. Translated by Winifred Ray. (Bles.

Murders at the Crab Apple Tree. By Gordon Manners. (Jenkins. 7s. 6d.) The Transatlantic Ghost. By Dorothy Gardiner. (Harrap. 7s. 6d.)

Alias is a translation of the German novel, Der Mann der zweimal Leben Wollte—a book that was, for a wonder, worth translating. There is no mystery in it ; indeed, the author is careful to take his readers behind the scenes and let them into the secrets. The plot depends entirely on the characters of the actors : things would have been entirely different if Dr. Hesse, and still more if Frfiulein Busch, had not been what they were. We feel once more in reading this book that character is destiny. The translation is good and easy.

' The Crab Apple Tree ' is a restaurant in a country town, kept by an old lady and her grand-daughter. These are found murdered on a Sunday morning ; and any one out of a dozen people may be the murderer. Inspector Hotchkiss solves the problem, but more by good luck than by good management. The tale will while away a railway journey.

The Fanshaw Case is a lively story with plenty of interest. No attempt is made to keep a secret : the author works by expectation rather than by surprise. We may perhaps best describe the tale as a humble member of the class of which Uncle Silas is the supreme example. Mr. Cowan, however, mast attend to his English. He must not describe somebody's temper as " so white-hot that it was unwise to strain it to snapping-point." There are many infinitives most painfully split, and much bad grammar.

Angels in Aldgate is a conspiracy-story in which the murder of a Foreign Secretary is the central incident. This, of course, is nothing out of the common in mystery-novels ; but the characters of two Jewish Rabbis and of the Jewish restaurant- keeper lend a touch of unusualness. The author should know that Lord John Pellinghurst is not a peer, and that Lady Olivia Phillips cannot be called Lady Phillips.

We all know what to expect front Mr. Wills Crofts, and that is the unexpected, along with some very good reasoning on the part of Inspector French, who is certainly one.of the very best of the fraternity of Utopian detectives. In this adventure the old knight does not disappoint us : he sets out on his career, is for a while " wrapped in Error's. train," but drags himself out of it, and finally- tracks down the dragon. As for ourselves, we guessed half of the solution on p. 89 ; but the Other half eluded us till p. 300, and is indeed .a well-managed surprise. A very good novel of its kind.

Miss Gardiner's story is of a.Californian murder, detected by a timid Englishman and an old lady of eighty. The ghost is net very. terrifying ; but the stupidity of the_country-police- man is indeed enough to frighten the most innocent and law- abiding citizen. A Scots terrier plays an interesting part in the plot.

Perrot Bond is a tale of Hindoo terrorism, the scene being set first in England and then in India. The author shows real knowledge of his subject, and the pIot,:though perhaps a little complicated, is neatly and skilfully worked out. What is more, the style is easy and pleasant, so that the reader has nothing to annoy him as he follows out the story.

Those who take precautions against wet holidays might easily do worse than carry with them the Cole " Omnibus," of 1,250 pages, containing four of Mr. and Mrs. Cole's well-known stories. It may be they will have read them before ; but this will be but a slight dintinut ion of their Pleasure ; for Superin- tendent Wilson's methods of investigation are well worth Studying for their own sake, apart from their results. Our only regret is that it has not been found possible to include some of the shorter tales, which are if pOssible better than the full-dress novels.

. The Devil's Apprentice is an instalment of the saga of the terrible man with the Twisted Face, who walks unharmed through a pack of starving wolves, and " exudes a force which creates a feeling of repulsion " in everyone who sees him. Despite his deformity he manages to appear in three or four disguises, to fascinate women, and to 'dominate the Kiii.4er, whom even before the War lie tells not to be a fool. We see him now scheming to blow up the 1A-thole British Fleet in pre- paration for the Day. Ile has sold himself to the Devil, who seems to have given him his own power of rapid locomotion. Patriotic readers will be pleased to learn that he meets his match in an Englishman of but twenty-five years.

Mr. and Mrs. John have between them made a remarkably good story, in a mingling of the styles of Mrs. Christie and Mr. E. C. Bentley. We have a not ion that the last chapter was an afterthought : if so, it is a case of " second thoughts are best." Several touches seem to us to betray a lady's hand : for example : " he assumed a nonplussed and even foolish air, not unlike that of a man who has been given a baby to hold." In any case the collaboration has been a success ; and the idea of calling in a member of the third sex to tell the tale was a very good one.

We remembered the name of Mr. Swartwout as that of a Cambridge " cox " of a year or two since. He turns his boating experiences to account in this daring and vigorous story—one which is wildly improbable, and which only Oxford Men will find in the least credible ; for the murderer is a Cam- bridge oarsman. A very important factor in the plot, rightly enough, is the cox : and the murdered man is no less a per-.

sonage than the stroke. Mr. Swartwout has plainly read scores of detective-tales, and turns his reading to account.

But he must also have read for the English Tripos ; he utilizes the " Futhork " alphabet to make a good cryptogram. Alto- gether, he reminds us of Tydeus in the Iliad--his eight stone body lodges a mighty mind.

• Messrs. Gielgud and Marvell give us a story of Chinamen and dope-gangs in the East of London : with an apparatus of underground passages, cargoes, and lighters. It would pro-