The Countess Muta. By C. H. Montagu. (Routledge.)—A sen- sational
story, but not sensationally treated, The Countess Muta is decidedly a powerful tale. It is told in a most vivid manner, the situations are elaborated with care, though not too carefully ; and the style is so terse and condensed, that we must read every sen- tence. The Baron, the thought-reader Baxter, and the heroine, are well-drawn characters, with that spice of mystery which helps to quicken the portrait of any individual. The love-story is more natural than such things are wont to be in novels of this type.
The writer has brought some scenes before us very clearly by means of his vigorous and accurate description; he does not use a broad enough brush to give us the most picturesque effect, but there is plenty of colouring to the circumstances of the story. The author of The Countess Muta, we understand from the pub- lisher's note, is dead; there is evidence of much power and greater promise in the story, and we must regret that we can have no more from the same pen, and that a promising life was cut short.
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