A Death Ring. By E. S. Drewry. 2 vols. (W.
H. Moir and Co.) —When we say that Mr. Drewry writes for those readers who insist upon having an intricate and exciting plot, who willingly condone improbability, and who despise the study of character, wo shall have indicated what manner of book A Death Ring is. It is a story of de- tectives and disguises ; of fire, murder, and sudden death ; of snake- eyed villains wrapped in military cloaks ; of a grand-natured heroine who is a professional singer ; and of a gentleman-detective hero, whose virtues we have not space to enumerate. Five years before the story begins, Sidney Vernon was murdered, for the sake of papers relating to a discovery which he had made in chemistry. Olive Vernon, the grand-natured, who is Sidney's sister, and Aubrey Delaware, the gentleman-detective, Polmark's best officer, work together to the inevitably successful issue, though had it not been for a necessary accident, even their marvellous sagacity would have been wasted.
The villain deserves a word of acknowledgment for his legitimate manner and traditional costume. There are two or three of the scenes usually described as thrilling, and one episode of questionable taste. The author has told us the grades of eminence in the concert world, where the Crystal Palace and the Philharmonic are the loftiest peak ; in return, or as she would say, en revanche, we have to tell her that a druggist's shop is not the right place in which to look for analytical chemists. In plot, the novel belongs to the early Braddon age ; in sentiment, to a late emotional formation ; and in style, to the neo-Ouidaesque, or present period.
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