20 NOVEMBER 1897, Page 12

The Scuttling of the ' Kingfisher.' By A. E. Knight.

(W. H. Addison.)—We are inclined to think that Mr. Bertram did well when he retired from the detective business. He was distinctly unfit for it by his own showing. A detective, we take it, ought not to fall in love, except strictly out of business hours. Combo Hewlar may have been all that he describes, but this does not alter the fact that her father was distinctly an accomplice in the scuttling business, and that it was a failure of justice when he escaped. We feel as we read the narrative that the man who tells it was a blunderer ; still, it is sufficiently interesting, and it is printed in type which makes reading a pleasure. This is a sadly rare experience since the reign of the one-volume novel began.