23 JULY 1927, Page 33

Mr. Edgar Wallace has some singularly delightful pieces in This

England (Hodder and Stoughton, 7s. 6d.). Possibly the best chapter is " Our Burglars," describing the ease with which crooks can enter a house. House-breakers can open even the best of locks with a key-blank. There is also a delightful story abbot a surgeon, and every clergyman who reads Mr. Wallace on parsons will probably agree with us that although the author is neither very subtle nor very profound, he has a knack of lighting up the salient features of a portrait.

* * * * -