25 JANUARY 1957, Page 23

Best American Detective Stories of 1955. Edited by David C.

Cooke. (Boardman, I ls. 6d.) A dozen workmanlike magazine stories, each blurbed into being a hit too big for its boots, but all readable, and one or two admirably crisp and pointed. James Yaffe's Yiddisher momma is to be commended to those who have not yet met this chimney-corner detective, who seems so much closer to real life, highly coloured though she is, than most dreamed-up character-creations of the sort.