Rash Conclusions. By G. W. Appleton. (Chatto and Windus. 3s.
(Jd.)—It is no disparagement of a detective-story to say that it reminds one of Edgar Poe. Literary—or shall we say business?— necessities compel the fiction-writer of to-day to be less prodigal of matter and to use padding more copiously than did his American predecessor. Who can forget the slender volume that contained, with other stories, "The Goldbug" and "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" ? It is one of these two masterpieces that Mr. Appleton's latest story recalls. Further we shall not go, because to spoil in any way the surprise which he ingeniously prepares for us would be to do a disservice to a meritorious piece of work. The plot would have better suited a short story; we might say the same of all such plots. The really important secret can always be put into a small compass, and the reader is disposed to resent unnecessary complications. But this is a criticism which it would not be fair to press. Rash Conclusions is not unworthy of the considerable reputation which the author has already acquired in this province of fiction.
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