30 JUNE 1950, page 23

This Is Where Mr. E. C. Bentley's New Book,* In

spite of its good writing, falls down. He tells us in a dedicatdry preface that he was persuaded to it by John Buchan, who assured him 'that " writing a shocker " was twenty......

Books And Writers

I N the language of the day it is customary, to describe a certain sort of book as " escapist " literature. As I understand it, the adjective implies, a little condescendingly,......

However This Be, The Escapists Make A Brave Show On

our shelves; From the author of the Iliad to the author of Hamlet, from Defoe to pumas, from Anthony Hope to. Agatha Christie, they have all taken us out of our Own' experience......

Thrillers " Include Every Kind Of Adventure Story, But For

mast people today they are divided into detective stories and undetective stories. Ars, as we have been told too often, est celare artem, which means that good craftsmanship......

I Write (it Must Now Be Clear) As One Who

enjoys a detective-story for the opportunity it gives the reader to match his own intelligence against that of the detective. To know beforehand that a Roman Catholic is safe......

The - Mysterious Affair At Styles Had, Of Course, Other...

to recommend it, among them one which I value highly—the absence of a serious love affair. Love affairs are not only a waste of time when one is on the scent, but they spoil the......

Miss Agatha Christie Has Just Written, Without Apology,...

thriller,t and one feels that she has enjoyed .the writing of them as greatly as others have enjoyed the reading of them. On looking through the list I find that I have read no......