12 JULY 1957, Page 34

Fire, Burn! By John Dickson Carr. (Hamish Hamilton, 13s. 6d.)

Two birds—history and mystery—with one rather unwieldy stone: Scot- land Yard superintendent, blipped on head, slips into being peeler in 1829, and combines duelling with detection before waking up again in taxi. Mr. Carr takes Antique-Dealers'-Fair view of reign of George IV, and works as hard as Savona- rola Brown at packing in the picturesque charac- ters of the period, but fails to make the fustian narrative convince, ecod.