It's a Crime
THE features of William Haggard's writing are his sophisticated, worldly style plus his astute- ness. The Power House (Cassell, 18s.) has a definite political background : the Prime Minis- ter has to make a decision which leaves Charles Russell, security chief, in rather an awkward position, with thinly-disguised characters play- ing a coldly calculating game on a political knife- edge. Mr Haggard again draws substance and colour from the highly-charged world of the statesman and diplomat. Well written, with verve and purposefulness. A powerful espionage-cum- thriller novel is The Kremlin Letter, by Noel Behn (W. H. Allen, 25s.). Nothing is left to chance when an important letter valued at several millions of pounds is the goal. The prize is to the swiftest, toughest and most ruthless, and Noel Behn pulls out all the stops in this story of top-secret underworld strategies.
Thirteen for Luck, by Agatha Christie (Collins, 15s.). A must for Christie fans is this collection of thirteen mystery stories, with Hercule Poirot, Inspector Evans and Miss Marple to solve the mysteries. Splendid bedtime reading with all the twists, turns and surprises which so amply illus- trate Agatha Christie's adept mastery of her singular craftsmanship. Murder in Touraine, by Bryan Edgar Wallace (Hodder and Stoughton, 16s.). Violence, murder, half-dressed glamour- pussies and a saturnine Secret Service agent are the ingredients of this whodunit set in a forest in France. It is told with assurance and keeps its tempo throughout, all being nicely rounded off with aplomb.
The Morning After Death, by Nicholas Blake (Crime Club, 16s.). A classics professor is mur- dered in a New England university and his two half-brothers, also faculty members, are sus- pected; Mr Blake's Nigel Strangeways, as a guest at the university, solves the problem. A sound, logical story with good academic atmosphere, this is a thoughtful and well-constructed book. The Catalyst, by Josephine Bell (Hodder and Stoughton, 16s.). A 'different' kind of thriller in which sinister events and disasters befall a trio visiting Greece, with accent on the subse- quent effects and repercussions when one of them is attracted to a film star. Intelligently and imaginatively written with credible characterisa- tion and with human reactions exposed exceed- ingly well in a story which never lacks drive and solidity.
MAURICE PRIOR
Previous page
