It's a Crime
The Shepherd File, by Conrad Voss Bark tGollancz, I8s.). This is very good indeed, and if the author tires of the Press Gallery, he can keep up the excellent standard he has set hirlaself and write us some more thrillers. The theme is intriguing. and topical, as it shows what a devastating weapon the drug LSD could be in the possession of a potential saboteur. The environs of Whitehall form an excellent background to the comings and goings of those deeply involved in the ensuing investigation. The compassionate Holmes, adviser on security, and Morrison of Scotland Yard. make good foils for the stuffier characters from the Foreign Office. Warmly recommended. The Minister of Injustice, by Maurice Culpan (Collins, 15s.). Mr Culpan's first book was mentioned in this column last August, and his excellent second has been well worth waiting for. He has established a good, dogged character in Chief Inspector Houghton, who will not be deterred from doing his duty as he sees it. despite hints from higher up to 'lay off,' and physical violence to his own person. Dead Loss, by Rhona Petrie (Gollanci, 18s.). To find oneself injured. amnesic. terrified, as one's head spins in a kind of kaleidoscopic waking nightmare, might have sent any nameless girl into screaming hys- terics. But despite acute fear, a kind of logic stiffened her resolution to hold on to sanity. Intelligence, sharp observation and patience gradually lead her to the solving of the riddle. Beautifully done, the hook ends in a dramatic and extremely surprising way.
Gideon's Badge, by J. J. Marric (Hodder and Stoughton, los.). A new Gideon is a rare treat and turned to with relief after a spate of synthetic spy- tales. Commander Gideon of London's Criminal Investigation Department has a lot on his plate and leaves for Ncw York with mixed feelings: his heart is in the cases he leaves to his deputy, but his reception in New York and the immediate 'hotting up' of the trans- atlantic case he has come to investigate leave him no time for repining. Mr Marric manages the affair expertly. and one.turns from Scotland Yard to New York investigations with a com- plete sense of their authenticity. Well done indeed. Cut Thin to Win, by A. A. Fair (Heine- mann, 16s.). Another of those complicated affairs which Donald Lam of the Lam-Cool Agency handles with aplomb, though he sails pretty close to the wind more than once and has the suspicious eye of the law on him.
IIESTER MAKEIG
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