16 JANUARY 1959, Page 24

Mizmaze. By Mary Fitt. (Michael Joseph, 13s. 6d.) Murder by

mallet, in a country-house maze, with overtones from Greek mythology. Very contrived confection, all too reminiscent of Raymond Chandler's dismissal of the English school of detective-story writing as `fun to read, even if I did have to refresh my memory about exactly what time the second gardener potted the prize-winning tea-rose begonia . . . the English may not always be the best writers in the world, but they are incomparably the best dull writers.'

CHRISTOPHER PYM