12 APRIL 1930, Page 42

.THE MAN IN THE , RED HAT. By Richard Keverne. (Constable.

7s. 6d.)—The Man in the Red Hat—an intriguing title—is full of surprises. Only two of the chief characters in the book give the impression of being the kind of people they actually-turn out to be. This device—though certainly mystifying—is perhaps a little overdone : the interest of the story would not have suffered if there had been one or two less shocks. But Mr. Keverne knows how to tell a good story and, though at times one's powers of deduction feel cheated, The Man in the Red Hat is excellent reading. It is original to find a detective story whose mystery is solved without the intervention, either adventitious or disastrous, of a proles' Sional detective.