30 AUGUST 1884, Page 24

The Red Cardinal. By Frances Elliot. 2 vols. (F. V.

White and Co.)—This story somewhat reminds one of " The Castle of Otranto," only there the mysteries are explained, the book being really a bur- lesqae, whereas here there is much that is left certainly unexplained, and, as we should suppose, inexplicable. The effect is not satis- factory. Mrs. Elliot does not even make our flesh creep. The attitude of mind described by Horace is rather what she brings about—in- credulus odi.