Why do we like reading crime stories, and especially murder
stories ? . Mr. George A. Birmingham discusses- this question in the preface to Murder Most Foul (Chatto and Windt's, 7s. 6d.). Dismissing somewhat vigorously the hypocritical explanations offered by superior and self-righteous people. 'he admits that the answer lies in the simple fact that most of us remain elemental enough to like thrills, and that there is no thrill more "enjoyably exciting" than the watching of a struggle in which a human life is at stake. In this spirit of frank entertainment, Mr. Birmingham retells nearly two dozen true murder stories, some of them well known. but others virtually forgotten. Most of them are drawn from English annals, and many of them belong to the last .century. Mr. Birmingham, needless to say, writes with gusto and atmosphere. But he has wisely refrained from embellishment. Truth is stranger than fiction, and these .simple narratives of actual crimes afford more real shudders than the best detective novel. The hook is good value for money. It runs to over eight hundred pages.
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