16 JUNE 1923, Page 20

Black, White and Brindled. By Eden Phillpotts. (Grant Richards. is.

6d.)

From the slabs of local colour which lie about through this book, it is reasonable to suppose that the author has lately visited the West Indies. The stories are an uneven collection, and the reader is advised to skip the first and longest, which is a worse than indifferent detective mystery, with no con- ceivable excuse but its setting. " Monsieur Pons and his Daughter " and " The Mother of the Rain " are perhaps the two best. The rest arc readable, even if as a whole the book is not likely to add much to the writer's reputation.

• The Beg Short Stories of 1922: (2) American. London: Jonathan Cape. i7s. 8d. net.1