1 MARCH 1957, Page 25

It's A Crime

The Case of the Four Friends. By J. C. Master- man. (Hodder and Stoughton, 12s. 6d.) The Professor of Poetry and sundry dons have all beguiled us in their time, and here, now, is the Vice-Chancellor himself, with an ingenious tale, quietly told, of a murder that may be going to happen, which has this to distinguish it—that there are not only four potential murderers, but four potential victims, too. A very cunning and a very quizzical problem piece, most courteously presented.