16 NOVEMBER 1956, Page 23

A DIRTY WAY TO DIE. By George Bagby. (Macdonald, 10s.

6d.) Even run-of-the-mill American thrillers carry more conviction than Mrs. Christie and her country houses. Here, for instance, is a forthright story-teller whose Inspector Schmidt is a character, not a caricature, in a brisk New York story of the kind of murder that could easily arise out of the drug traffic.