19 FEBRUARY 2000, page 41

Rooks And Castles

D. J. Taylor VACT ALCHEMIES: THE LIFE AND WORK OF MERVYN PEAKE by G. Peter Winnington Peter Owen, £18.95, pp. 263 I gnoring for a moment all the fashion- able French theorising......

A Highly Sensitive Artist In Crime

William Scammell WAINEWRIGHT THE POISONER by Andrew Motion Faber, £20, pp. 305 F or this spiritual voluptuary, with the greedy senses, soft coat and tiger heart, painted and......