THE CURSE OF THE RECKAVILES. By Walter S. ifnstertnan. (Methuen.
3s. f3d.)—One- of the - - most necessary qualities in a detective story is that it should carry the reader from puzzle to puzzle without ever breaking the thread of the narrative. Mr. Masterman has forgotten this -point and at the most exciting moment of his story, instead of letting his principal character explain matters, has put flack the clock for a generation and given as full an account Of the events which led to the development of his plot as he devotes to the mystery itself. The reader is told that the Character concerned told his story in fewer words " than are given here," and certainly eleven chapters of prose would be too long an oration for the patience of any audience. By the time the eleventh is finished, interest in the main theme has rather evaporated. Apart from this, the account of that very unpleasant family, the Reckaviles, is well given and the finding of the criminal who has committed the murder with which the book opens is ingeniously developed.
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