13 JUNE 1958, Page 26

The Taste of Ashes. By Howard Browt! ii (Gollancz, 12s. 6d.)

The old, proud family vile wayward children; the cynically idealistic priv:,a, dick; the pints of bourbon in shabby hotel b rooms; the sexy passes that never quite make °rile base, and the kicks in- the kidneys that do--1 mixture, in short, as in Chandler, and very nea,ce1), as potent, with one new twist : the local P°Ihis force is as rotten and as violent as usual but, te time, all with university degrees and Ivy Leav accents. Readable and unmemorable.