24 JULY 1959, Page 30

Death Watch by John and Ward Hawkins (Eyre and Spottiswoode,

12s. 6d.). consists of two stories. In the first a woman knows that one of the policemen guarding her has been suborned to kill her. The question is which—and how to catch and stop him. In the other, a woman is in the hands of killers; will the police find and rescue her? Both tales are skilfully contrived and tense, —cross-cutting, the way good gangster films do, from pursuer to pursued. Their American sentimentality will put some readers off—each woman is 'all woman', and the gruff, kindly cops are great big boys at heart—but others will accept it for the narrative skill that makes it urgent to know what comes next.