It's a Crime S1MENON is very good at those poignant
indi- vidual sufferers for whom the law provides no redress. Maigret gets deeply involved with a pathetic creature who haunts his office for weeks before daring to speak, in Maigret and the Satur- day Caller (Hamish Hamilton, 12s. 6d.). The sympathetic detective feels badly constricted by the officialdom that keeps him office-bound, solving robberies, while lucky subordinates sift the bistros. Most people would shrug off Plan- chon impatiently—he's the classic cuckold, whose wife and business have been purloined by the foreman—but Maigret listens, and acts, to the
very limits of the law's resources. It's a strange and moving tale, skilfully constructed.
Francis Richards makes us gloat over the fine precision of his detective's brain. The Distant Clue (John Long, 13s. 6d.) shows Captain Heim- rich steadily sifting a jumble of family histories— doggedly co-ordinating the elusive hints that will lead to his brilliant solution of a triple murder.
John Blackburn is back on form with The Winds of Midnight (Cape, 16s.), a sinister story of ruthless tycoons who have a vicious past to smother. A popular novelist is unhappy about the official version of his wife's fatal accident. His queries are gently derided and he has the night- mare experience of never being taken seriously. Revenge comes dramatically in a condemned Victorian mansion while an unsuspecting crowd sings hearty songs off-stage. There are some ex- cellent character vignettes in this funny, exciting story.
New tenants are bewildered by the ugly rumours that surround their cottage in The Upfold Witch (Hodder, 15s.). Josephine Bell makes impressive use of a superstitious village community to conceal her remorseless killer.
In Laurence Meynell's More Deadly than the Male (Crime Club, 15s.), a shrewd barrister lets passion topple him from eminence as he writhes in the unfamiliar grip of lust. Meynell has re- covered from his recent lapses and here presents a convincing picture of emotional disintegration.
Charles Williams really puts the screws on in Dead Calm (Cassell, 15s.) till we're as desperate as the ancient mariner. A honeymoon couple, idyllically cruising, answer a distress signal and get dragged into a chilly whirlwind of hatred and fear.
Keith Henshaw has an ear for workmen's chatter and an eye for their domestic cruelty Kath (Collins, 13s. 6d.) starts bluff and ends subtle in an oddly riveting mystery.
Gwendoline Butler's macabre beheading in Coffin in Malta (Bles, 13s. 6d.) is set among simple peasants who think that only by refusing to speak can they be sure to escape punishment. The shock of further deaths finally forces out an honest statement, in this average, rather grue- some story.
ANTONIA SANDFORD
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