1 MARCH 1957, Page 25

- The Strange Bedfellow. By Evelyn Berckman. (Eyre and Spottiswoode,

I Is. 6d.) Closely fol- lowed by this tall tale—from an author who

knows better—of a girl commissioned to find an historic and priceless gem, lost for centuries. 'Atmosphere' is all very well, but it comes better by the spoon than by the shovel, and American writers are not so self-confident with the formula of the rajah's ruby as we were here in the days of Fergus Hume.