21 NOVEMBER 1958, Page 68

And be a Villain. By Joanna Cannan. (Gol- lancz, 12s.

6d.) and Death in Russian Habit. By Sea-lion.' (John Long, 12s. 6d.) Strictly for sahibs. Miss Cannan's detective story would be a joy were it not for her odious superiority about the secondary-school superintendent and his struggle towards gentility, and 'Sea-lion's' admirable guide to Moscow, disguised as a-very good-detective story, is too self-conscious about how decent the British are and how, the nicer the other breeds, the nearer to being British.