30 MAY 1903, Page 22

The Lady of the Cameo. By Tom Gallon. (Hutchinson and

Co. 6s.)—An atmosphere of sordid intrigue envelops this novel, and it is a certain relief when an honest murder breaks the thread of plot and counterplot. There is, as is usual in the works of Mr. Tom Gallon, a false atmosphere of Dickens about the book, which, as it is not united to the genius which always redeemed even the most sentimental episodes in the novels of Dickens, can hardly fail to irritate the reader. It is impossible to help wishing that Mr. Tom Gallon had never read Dickens, or that, having read him, he would forget to write in this particular style, and would give his readers something original.