12 JULY 1957, Page 34

Stopover : Tokyo. By John P. Marquand. (Collins, 12s. 6d.)

The transatlantic Trollope of Boston and big business is also the creator of Mr. Moto, the Japanese detective who, between the wars, was as contrived and quaintly cute as a garden gnome. Here, resuscitated to fill a minor part in a very good secret-service novel about Commies in Japan, Mr. Moto is altogether more quietly credible. Full of suspense, surprise, and plausible detail about how intelligence agents cover up—workmanlike job all round.