Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1921-02-06
Reviews of New Books

I froth of the others. These are adj
| mirable-one likes them and enjoys
| the keen sense Of humor that they
possess in the presence Of their tropi-
cal hosts. A romance sof idyllic cast
| develops here, one That completes it
self in an exciting flight down the
Amazon to Para-and then on home.
where love is less of catastrophe
than it promised to be in the exotic
surroundings of Manaos.
THE LONELY HOUSE. BY Mrs. Bel
loo Lowndes, author of Love and
Hatred" etc. New York: George
H. Doran Company.
The aromas of an earlier fiction
float out from this new novel by Mrs.
Belloc Lowndes. The villain-in this
murderous type. The plot glooms with
mystery from start to finish. Strange
disappearance follow one another in
puzzling toe-upon-heel procession.
Then. in good time. the mystery fades
out to plain murder. detection. appre-
hension. punishment. All this takes
place in the near neighborhood of
Monte Carlo. Out from the bizarre
little city. high on a solitary hill, is,
set the lonely house, quite up to
lecture. Within it live a woman and
her observation-disclosures inaccess-
IDLE. In the course of events this house
turns out to be the NAV that digests
completely unwary men with win
nlngs in their pockets-lured here by
walks. clean. beside this dark adven-
ture. 1t is. indeed, the acumen Of
love that rescues the last victim and
opens up the long catalogue of crime.
Quite In the old manner is this new
tale of adventure.
yERENA IN THE MIDST. BY E. "
Lucas. author of MIXED Vintages,"
etc. New York: George H. Doran
Company.
Miss Verena Raby had the misfor-
tune to fall and hurt her spine, and
Mr.. Ferguson. her doctor. feared that
she might have to- lie up for some
long time" She did have to. Where
fore. the correspondence We
rena as its center--that makes up
this engaging Lucas volume. Verena
has a somewhat bewildering list of
friends. but the author helps one out
here by a ito the reader explana-
ton of these in their near, or far, re-
lation to Verena herself. So, if one
is caught. as he often is. by some
special bit of humor or sense or wit
or whatnot. he simply turns to the
list to find out whether it is Verens's
brother, the widower, or the brother
who is a ranchman in Texas. or some
other of the friends who, for the mo-
ment. is engaging both Verena and
the reader Just another Lucas book
of the pattern that warns up the
cooling corners of the heart and lifts
laughter to the lips.
TAHITI DAYS. BY Hector MacQuar-
RE. author of Cover Here" etc.
illustrated. New York: George H.
Doran Company.
The writer sets out with an en-
thusiastic and hearty invitation to
the reader to step onto my carpet" a
the islands of delight" AS extra in
ducement, he makes solemn promise
not to worry you with geography.
nor ethnology. nor geology. nor any,
other stupid and impossible wet
blanket * &c. On the contrary, he vows
wholly uninstructive. This promise
he holds fast. He merely takes one
along on dawdling tour, directed
by caprice or fancy, never by pre-
concerted plan. One likes it immense
ly-the sudden start, the unexpected
in of the thousand land one delights
that travellers. one after another. are.
nowadays, passing on to us about
these delectable islands of the Pacific.
They all sum. naturally. to about the
same bundle of information-with this
difference: Each traveller is a new
medium whose richness of gift de-
ponds largely upon his own richness.
This is one of the absorbing. as
Stimulating, expressive loiterers. There
fore. his Tahiti Days" are very
sumptuous days, indeed.
THE CLOSING NET. By Henry c.
Rowland. author of 1.-The Magnet"
etc. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co.
The lure of this detective story
and IT has a lure-lieS in mart in the