New-York tribune., 1921-01-30
Love, Mystery and Adventure
Early Offerings of Novels Present Wide
Variety

SIX SECONDS OF DArKNEss. BY oe-
tsvus mss Rss Cohen Published 0S o0oo'
fHAr AFFAIR AT THE cBpAna BY Lee
Thayer. Published by Doubleday, Page
ACo.
rHr UNDERWOOD MYSTERY. BY
Charles j: DutsOn. Published by nodd'
THE EYES OF INNOCENCE. BY Maurice
10 Blanc. Published by tho Macaulay
Company.
COW COUNTRY. By B. M. Bower. Pub
lshed by Little. Brown & Co.
THE oRANeE-YELLow D1AMoND. BY
J. s. Fletcher. Published by Alfred A.
THE MYSTERY OF TUMULr ROCK By
Louise Platt Hauck. Published by the
Burton Publishing Company.
THE sPoILs OF TMn sTR0Nas; BSN,5 =, BY By
the James A. Mccain Company.
SONS OF POWER. By WIN ~ IsyinEton
Comfort and zamin Ki Dost. Published
by Doubleday, Page Co.
THE NIGHT TIDE. BY Grant Carpenter.
Published by the Fl. x FLY Co.
WANTED: A FOOL. BY Philip Curtiss
Published by Harper's
?" HE mysterious murder Is easily
the most popular theme for a
IL detective story. No other crime,
however striking or unusual,
possesses the thrilling fascination
Of a man done to death by an un-
known hand. There Is far moro vicari-
Gus excitement in solving a murder
mystery under the trained guidance Of
an infallible fictional detective than in
ferreting out an ingenious burglary or
forgery.
In dish and vigor and, sustained IN
terest Mr.. Cohen's novel compares IA
vorabIy with any Of his previous works-
A we'll known civic reformer Is found
shot. Within an hour after the report
Of tho crime three people como to po-
lice headquarters eagerly proclaiming
their guilt. And shortly afterward a
notorious burglar is brought In, con-
fronted with q serious chain OF cir
cumstantial evidence.
Tho authors familiar hero, David
Carroll, takes charge Of tho case, pa
tiently winds his way through its laby-
rinths, and finally brings home the
guilt to a most unexpected quarter.
The reader Ia kept At high tension
throughout by the swift shifting Of
suspicion from one character to an
other and the constant turning up Of
deceptive new clues.
THAT AFFAIR AT THE CEDARS
THERE is an element Of romance In
i Mrs. Thayer's novel. A beautiful
woman, unhappily married to q
wealthy man, Is shocked by the return
Of her former lover, whom she believed
to havo been killed in the war. Her
husband is shot whilo her lover Is in
tho room with him. A tangled web Of
hidden motives and impulses has to be
unravcled before the murderer is dis
covered. There is strong dramatic
quality In the ending. There Ia moro
color and feeling in this story than in
the average detective novel, which Is
apt to become moro or less mathe-
matical analysis Of the origin and
processes Of a crime.
THE UNDERWOOD MYSTERY
THE Underwood Mystery, built up
dDou1 tno uiuloeF OI WeAItHy
broker, is a tale Of numerous In
teresting ramifcations. The detective
in charge Of the investigation discov-
ers other criminals who temporarily
throw him off the scent. And there Is
what may be called supplementary
murder, which further complicates the
mystery OF John Underwood's taking
of. However, by pressing into service
Fxeudian psychoanalysis and by dis
covering q lost dictaphone record, De-
tsctive Bartley finally exposes the true
culprit. At tho same time he runs
across the trail Of . blackmailing
scheme, which results in another very
cleverly contrived murder.