2 FEBRUARY 1929, Page 31

THE DEATH OF LAURENCE VINING. By Alan Thomas. (Bean. 7s.

6d.)—The publishers justly claim unusual distinction for this detectivC tale by a new writer. The murder in a tube lift of-Laurence Vining, the brilliant amateur criminologist whose inhumanly detached attitude towards life kindles the hostility of his friends, upon each of whom suspicion falls in turn, is very cleverly staged ; and the murderer's motive and method, though we rightly guessed his identity from the start, are highly original in conception, and remain tantalizingly obscure until the end. The story is admirably written and full of incidental humour and charm.