23 AUGUST 1930, Page 26

THE SUBTLE TRAIL. By Joseph Gollomb. (Heinemann. Is. 6d.)—The newness

of this detective novel consists in the discovery of a new motive for crime, a new method of com- mitting crime, and a new method and motive for detecting it. The murderer and the detective in the story are both students of morbid psychology, but while the former uses his knowledge to drive his victims to suicide, and thus satisfy his own morbid desires, the latter is actuated by pure curiosity. He is able, in the end, to turn the murderer's weapon against himself and—a inure considerable achievement—to escape without marrying the heroine.