18 MARCH 1960, Page 25

The 'Life and Death of 'Harry Oakes. By Geoffrey Bocca.

(Weidenfeld and Nicolson. 21s.) The life of Harry Oakes; an 'American who struck it rich enough in Canada to live it up in the Bahamas. was the dull success story of a selfish, surly vulgarian : Geoffrey Bocca does little to make it interesting. His death was violent and remains a mystery: Geoffrey Bocca does nothing to 'solve it. This is a pretentious attempt to make something—a sensational Sunday serial, perhaps---out of nothing: all that distinguishes it is the sloppiness of the writing. There is a judge, for instance, who 'was re- spected for his ability to see through legal red herrings into the heart of any argument.'