Evening star., 1932-02-06
THE LIBRARY TABLE
By the BookIoper

4
| the best literary sources Of income
| There seems TO be q market for an al
most unlimited number of them and
| the consumer does not demand per-
| fection of quality. The habitual
reader of mystery concoctions is able
to consume several week, but is often
not able to remember either author,
title or plot after volume is finished.
Mysteries are supposed to be relaxing
for the mentally weary, though their
narrowing plots would hardly seem re-
| laXing to those not numbed by their
| frequent use Others make for mys-
teries the claim that they are almost
the only clean" fiction today, by
clean" meaning not overloaded with
sex. But from another point of view
| the ingenious murders perpetrated in
| the pages OF mystery stories do not
seem too clean" Occasionally a
writer who has demonstrated his
ability to write other types of fiction
well, who possesses the gift of achieve
ment of style, turns to the mystery
story, either as amusement or for pur-
poses of revenue. Such writer Is
likely to produce something better, If
not more popular, than the hack
mystery story Examples are Hugh
Walpole, with his Portrait Of Man
with Red Hair and Eden Phillpotts,
with his Red Redmaynes."
Eden Phillpotts has recently pub
lished another mystery story, not equal
to the Red Redmaynes," but superior
to the average of the type. "A Clue
From the Stars" begins to deal out
mystery from the start, for the title
itself Is mystery not solved until the
last sentence Of the book, and then the
solution is rather far-fetched. How
ever, the story itself offers considerable
interest and novelty. There are suftici-
emily numerous characters SO that the
reader is offered many guesses at the
real criminal, for, OF course, the story
starts with a murder theory. Suspense
is sustained until the very end by the
device of making away with the only
real clue at the beginning. Thus the
reader is as much puzzled as the Scot
land Yard detective inspector who
comes from London to Clyst Warning
ton, Devon, to investigate the case. The
reader may guess everything, but the
first cause OF the trouble. he cannot
guess that, because Mr.. Phillpotts has
carefully removed it from the nelghbor-
hood before beginning his story. The
literary qualities of Mr.. Phillpotts are
displayed in other ways than in the
one. We become interested in the
characters entirely apart from their
participation in the tragic happenings
at Clyst Warrington. Detective In
spector Thomas Warner Of the Criminal
Investigation Department OF Scotland
Yard, with his unusual power OF char
acter reading. is apparently hampered
In his Investigations because he knows
we'll all the Inhabitants OF ClySt War
rington and is personal friend OF
some of them. We come to have mucA
sympathy for him when his efforts are
so continually thWarted. The two
children OF Sir Julian Marchant Noel,
the rather obvious young Engllshman
of entirely traditional views and opti-
mistic outlook, and Mary, more clever
and more intuitive than her brother,
are real enough but do not become
more vivid as the story unfolds. The
residents Of Dover House, Winton Yer
rail, his wife, and his sister Mrs. Sarah
Foster, almost drop out of the story
after its beginning We regret not
seeing more OF the eXcitable and
volube Winton Verrall. Sir Julian S
friend, as he is so individual and has
so many eccentriCit!eS that we incline
at times TO connect even him with the
crime. Character interest centerS, how
/ ~
Nicholas Maydew. farmers at Three
Barrows Farm. near TUDOR Manor
They both stood six foot four inches;
both drew the scale at fourteen stone,
and both took pride in their unusual
breadth of chest and weight Of bone
and muscle. They were gentle giants
and by no physical feature would II
have been easily possible to tell them
apart. Their broad faces, heavy
jowls. big mouths. close-cropped black
mustaches and placid forcheads, un-
der thick black hair, differed in nc
particular; but it happened that the
sole qualities which set them apaft
we're mental and the expression OF their
eyes differed a little The mental
difference between the two brothers is
an important part of the story.
In quite normal way Sir Julian
MarChant Of Tudor Manor, Clyst War
rington. decides to walk across the
meadows by foot-path when he goes
to dine with his friends the Verralls
and his fiancee, Mrs. Sarah Foster, at
Dover House He arrives has a pleas
ant evening, presents Mrs. Foster with
jeweled pendant, listens to a speech
from America over the air, then starts
back homeward by the field path. A
man servant helps him into his light
overcoat and accompanies him through
the dark copSe near the house and as
far as the wicket gate. He sees Sir
Julian cross the road and the bridge
and 60 over the Stile into the field path
which runs above Three BarrowS Farm.
Then he returns to Dover House. He
is the last person who sees Sir Julian.
All this occurs after IL o'clock. Sir
| I,,1i
absence Is not discovered until the next
morning, when his valet comes to
awaken him and finds his room empty.
In the search which follows not a trace
is found of Sir Julian, He has dis
appeared as completely as if carried off
in q chariot of fire or an airplane.
ST. Hubert, the beautiful bloodhound
of Winton Verrall. is brought into the
search as soon as Tom Warner, de-
tective and friend of the Marchants,
has arrived from London. He is given
an old tweed Norfolk jacket of Sir
JulianS for the scent and is then taken
on leash. Baying deeply, he turns into
the larch copse, comes to the high road
and crosses it. passes over the foot
bridge. and comes to the field path.
Here he strides forward steadily, nose
to earth. and proceeds as fast as the
holder of the leash can follow. Half
way across the field. about equidistant
from the stile at either end of it, the
great hound suddenly defects his
course. turns at right angles to the path
and gallops straight down the middle
. of the meadow Suddenly he stops,
lifts his head from the ground, and
refuses to go farther. The scent has
|. failed. The hound can do nothing
more. Not the slightest sign of Sir
Julian nor any clue to his disappear
ance appears at the place where the
scent fails. A year elapses before the
mystery is solved in spite of all the
skilled searching and the psychological
theorizing of Tom Warner.
X
Frank Harris in his biography
Bernard Shaw" which he calls in his
subtitle AN unauthorized biography
based on inside information" intended
| H. i E