Evening star., 1933-06-13
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
Margaret Cermond.
so MANY DOORS. BY Laurence w.
Meynell. Philadelphia: J. B. Lip
r,ffnpft No

/ SO MANY DOORS. By Laurence w.
Meynell. Philadelphia: J. B. Lip
pincott Co.
When the mercury climbs up into the
nineties and stays there, and brain and
body begin to wilt under the strain Of
accomplishing the days tasks in almost
unbearable heat, with night offering
no prospect other than that Of Sleep
lessness, what could be more likely to rest
the entire human mechanism more than
q pile Of mystery fiction to take the mind
away from bodily discomfort and men,
| tai weafiness? Such flood of this
| type of literature has come from the
presses during the past two months that
there is no difficulty to be encountered
In making selection.
Three such volumes, selected at ran
dom from several dozen, offer a wide
diversion Of theme, style and location as
well as OF authorship One Of the most
entertaining novels among these recent
| publications is $50 Many Doors" the
author of which will be remembered
! favorabiy by those who enjoyed The
House on the Cliff"
! On Friday the thirteenth the hand
some home OF Sir John and Lady Wat
terson Is buzzing with activity in prep
aration for the opening performance of
THE Circle Of Shiva," play written
| by q prominent lawyer who dabbled In
theatricals for charity and pleasure, and
to be presented under his direction by
a group OF amateurs who are house
guests Of the Wattersons One profess
siOnal actress, whose ability has led her
to considerable popularity, but little for
tune. has joined the group at the re-
quest Of and through friendship for the
| au ,hOr of the play
| AS usually happens on such occa-
sl0ns, dinner is somewhat sketchy
affair because Of the immense amount
OF last-minute work to be done in the
little theater to prepare 1t for the per-
| Torrance. and the necessity of adequate
time allowance for the proper dress and
makeup Of all those participating In
the play.
Finally everything is in readiness and
the actors appear. cOstumed, equipped
with all their accessories, and most Of
them very nervous One prop" is
missing, dagger. The performer who
is to wear the dagger is late. When
he appears he Is In bad condition of
nerves and minus the dagger, which
earlier in the day he has been warned
to leave with the other props" A
short. final rehearsal of few rough
spots is to take place Immediately, and
everything Is now In order-except for
the missing dagger-for the beginning.
Sir John Watterson, busy and bad
tempered man, had returned to his
study Immediately after dinner to
| devote himself to some work until time
for the guests to assemble. The mo-
ment has arrived and Sir John is sent
| for. But Sir John cannot come. He
has been murdered He Is found
/ sprawled across his desk, with the
! missing dagger protruding from his
! back.
With this setting, Mr.. Meynell has
| produced one of the most entertaining
! mysteries of the season, with Mark
| Foster. young and handsome Scotland
! Yard detective, running his criminal to
earth. A small chunk of dried clay, a
| cigarette stub and a sequin from q
woman's dress constitute the entire coll
/ lecticn of clues, with Sergt. Wilson,
local policeman furnishing delightful, if
! somewhat dubious, aid in fitting the
clues to the crime.
CROOKS IN The SUNSHINE. BY e
I Phillips Opp3nheim. Boston: Little,
Brown g. Co.
This novel, like the last contribution
/ of Mr.. Oppenheim 10 criminal fiction,
/ 0OoAc WIN tAAC 2IlihAtiCo VI q SlOup VI
| American gangsters abroad Their own
territory, Chicago. has become not only
mOnotonous, but dangerous. SO the Leb-
worthy gang gathers on the Riviera for
a series OF episodes that sparkle along
/ with the glistening sands of the bathing
beach and the beautiful girls and hand
Ecme men who throng that popular
resort.
Este blishing himself in a chateau
near Cap d'Antibes as Commodore b.
Jascn." the head of this notorious gang
! Of crooks and killers endears himself to
| the populace for miles around. The
| Riviera, Juan-les-Pins, Cap dAntibes
and other places all know him, respect
| him end even to some extent love him.
Wherever he appears men are killed,
mysterious dissppearances occur, rob.
| berries takes place. Yet the Commodore
is always the first to offer solution,
| to solve the riddle or to restore the
| stolen goods.
The French police, notoriously stupid,
are almost too credulous to believe
American and English detectives are on
the trail. but the uSive and slippery
Commodore thwarts them at every turn.
But there is one person whom the Com
modore respects in deadly fear. and
that person is a girl. Caroline Lloyd
AACfoSAA % PAOAco-4OAilA SiOOAs odW
brother ride off ON surfb1ard in the
wake of the Commodores yacht He
never returned. and from the moment
Caroline knew that Lebworthy had
murdered him she set herself the task
of outwitting and defeating every move
he made toward the capture of another
victim.
This is another story wherein there
Is no mystery save in the communities
in which these strange episodes take
place The reader is held in the grip
of excitement at each occurrence for
the fear the criminal will again escape,
and on some OF these expeditions
Caroline has been there ahead of the
reader.
In the writing of this type of story
few, If any. authors equal tine ability OF
Mr.. Oppenheim to carry through to the
end series of rapidly moving events
without stumbling somewhere along the
line. He not only does not stumble,
but he keeps up pace SO lively that 1t
is impossible to lay the book down until
1t has been finished. Even then one
is inclined to wish for little more.
THE AMERICAN GUN MYSTERY.
By Elery Queen. New York: Fred
erick A. Stokes Co.
Ellery Queen again offers a problem
in deduction which might so far as
its personnel and its action is concerned,
have propounded itself for solution back
in the pioneer days of Texas or Wyom-
ing. but which actually projected itself
into the present day in no less wild and
Woolly west location than New York
City.
Gathered in the great Colosseum of
Tony Mars, promoter Of various sorts
OF entertainment, twenty thousand peo-
pie were yelling themselves hoarse in
approval of the usual stunts which con-
shtute a first-class rodeo performance.
Included in that immense throng of
humanity were Inspector Queen, his son
Ellery and the faithful Djuna. to whose
urgent pleas that they take him to see
the rodeo they had succumbed.
Sitting in the box Of the great Tony
Mars were other guests besides the