New-York tribune., 1922-08-13

WHAv BECAME OF MR DESMOND
By e. Nina Royls seltrsr
rIlE BiTTERNEAD MYSTERY ny
TIRE SECRET ADVERSARY by Araihs
Christie. nodd. Nead
THE NINTH VIBRATION. By l. Adsm'
hsck Dodd. Mead.
AHDIcATIOS BY Edmund caudlsr y ?
puiiou
y writing What Became o, Mr.
Desmond" the authors praise
worthy ambition seems to be
that OF the Fat Boy Of Piekwiek:
Il wants to make yer flesh creep
And she does. No merely mechanical
horror or mystery can equal the
psychological variety. Mr.. Desmond
fate is peculiarly appalling. given his
character and previous history. He Is
a domestic man. an upright citizen
comfortably furnished with this worlds
goods. possessed. OF . charming wife
who suits him exactly. who has pre-.
sented him with Eve charming chill
dren-you recall the Englishman Of
The New York Idea" who gave o.
his requirements In wife: Love
obedience, and FIVE children
Mr.. Desmond mas those desiderata
and the temperament 20 appreciate
them. he is the kind OF man who car
amuse himself all day hanging pictures
putting up shelves. tinkerinE az taps
oiling locss and hinges, moving the
lawn, winding the ciRht-day clock. Tie
probably wound The latter every day
How his wife managed 20 keep a ser
want Is mystery. for every woman
knows what a pest such q man is even
when he has a job 20 keep him away
from home: whereas Mr. Desmond had
10 Job, he had an income. But house
seeping bored his wife. she simply
turned il over 20 him.
Nov. II under the circumstances The
cook had disappeared without trace
t would be no mystery: but IL was Mr.
Desmond himself Who started down
the stree; bareheaded and wearing
carpenters apron one hne day. m.
tending % buy a long nail-snd was
seen no more By his family OF friends
foF seventeen Ions. years
You may have thirty guesses what
he WAS doing al the while. and why
he left his dolls house. and you vii
rever get II. But 30 will be worse thar
anything YOU can think OF. NO, he wa
not a seventeea-year locust lie was
IN a Shavian purgatofy; woman had
caught and carried him OF. By force
maieure Why she did ~. and how
makes Up story Of extraordinary ~
cenuity and genuine human interest
Z here IS more than plot IN THIS tale
there is some very neat charaetel
drawing. The wicked woman Is in
credible n considered in cold blood
bu. that doesn't matter. SO Is Naleri'
Marnehe. Miss Desmond could hardl,
be expected 20 succeed where Balza'
allied. And such an attempt IS Away
entertaining. II has always been
poser 70 the moralists why vice should
be more exciting 20 hear about thar
virtue. but the fact remains. and Mis'
Desmond takes full advantage o. d.
That. OF course. is the motif o. all
mystery stories. Il is the bad people
In them that make their interest. The
virtuous ones are Just q background. a
chorus. But merely calling charactei
bad is not enough The reader must
be made 20 feel i; 20 shudter deli
eiously every time such one makes af
entrance on the scene. lie must b
bold. subtle. a smiling villain is best
And one who commits his nefariou'
deeds fo- sheer love o. wickedness u
even better. II tha; be grammaticallj
possible. l. mustn't be 100 mathemati
cal. That's the trouble with The
Bittermeads Mystery After the frs
clue is given IL is mystery no longer
Walter Drensmore's object - 20 inherit
an estate and title: and his metnod
OF course. is 20 kill all those VINO stan'
between him and that inheritance. a
simple a. knocking down a row o. rine
pins. you see. And The interest - less
cned by the fact that be hires anothe,,
villain 10 do all the real work.
hired scoundrel is second rate. lh'
hero who disguises himself effeetual