Suspected. By Louisa Stratenus. (Chapman and Hall.)—This book is so
steeped in Teutonism of the Dutch variety—even the hero's " strongly-marked features made him look like one of those Teuton chiefs whose place was more in one of those old Teutonic forests than among the followers of a prince "—that one is tempted at first to think it a translation. Such an impression is, no doubt, a mistake, and, taking this for granted, all that can well be said of Suspected, by way of general characterisation, is that it is a simply and carefully written, rather than specially notable or even interesting story. Anna von Haluivelden, young woman of the familiar, essentially good, yet very unreason- able sort (where an affair of the heart is concerned), persists in preferring the weak and ignoble Van Weerts to the gallant and, in every way, excellent Wolff—the hero of " the strongly-marked features," &c. When Van Weerts is murdered, she even thinks Wolff capable of being the criminal. Suspected tells how the true criminal is discovered, and how Wolff, with the help of an almost incredibly disinterested friend, wins the girl, who is not alto- gether worthy of him. It is a study in patience and in Dutch life, and as a story is thoroughly wholesome.
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