The - Mysterious Affair at Styles had, of course, other qualities
to recommend it, among them one which I value highly—the absence of a serious love affair. Love affairs are not only a waste of time when one is on the scent, but they spoil the reader's run by giving him a shorter cut to the kill than either he desires or, probably, the author realises. It is not merely that hero and heroine are above sus- picion, but that their immunity is apparently shared by all the blood- relations on both sides, a necessary precaution if the strain is to be kept pure when they marry and live happy ever after. This, though laudable from the eugenist's point of view, narrows the field of suspicion considerably, and throws an undue responsibility on the uncles and aunts by maraiage. I read a story once in which a nice young girl lived on the scene of the crime with a disagreeable step- father. I wondared why she did this, for she had money of het own, and no great love for him. Naturally, when she began to fall in love with the detective, I deduced that the stepfather was the murderer. This, of course, would not be.so obvious to Scotland Yard • but to the well-trained inductive reader it explained at once why the author had avoided the more ordinary picture of a nice young girl living with her father.
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