30 AUGUST 1957, Page 25

The Prisoner. By Boileau and Narcejac. (Hutchinson, 12s..6d.) Remarkable, tightly

knit, mystifying piece, admirably translated, by the twin masters of the psychological suspense story. Escaped prisoner-of-war switches personality to deceive woman who shelters him in occupied France: himself a murderer, will himself be mur- dered—one reads breathlessly on to learn when; how, and by which of three spider-women.