Evening star., 1934-10-31
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
Mwgws Cermond.
BY Arthur Somers Roche. New
York: Dodd, Mead G Co.

York: Dodd. Mead 4s Co.
The difference between this tale Of
mystery and the dozens Of others that
are keeping the presses running each
month is the unusualness of its de-
sign. The plot Is not in the least
extraordinary, and the characters in
volved in the crime and in the ferret
ing out the murderer are the usual
assortment OF men and women repre-
senting the various castes of society
distinctively active in New York City.
But Mr.. Roche has become notoriously
adept at turning the commonplace
into novelty, and in this story he has
accomplished his purpose exceedingly
well.
. AS the scene opens, Rose Ames has
just been acquitted of the murder of
her husband. Six months earlier the
body Of John Ames had been found
in his room in circumstances plainly
staged to give an appearance of
suicide. The course of the bullet
which ended his life, the position Of
the pistol from which it had been
| fired and the general layout of the
room gave ample proof that he could
have committed the deed himself, but
1t was all too obvious to be accepted
by the district attorney, SO Rose Ames
was arrested, indicted for the murder
Of her husband and committed to jail
to await trial.
Conviction of beautiful woman by
twelve good men and true is difficult
task in most cases, and In this in
stance it was particularly so for the
reason that in addition to being ex-
quisitely lovely, Rose Ames had the
support OF the public and the press
and the services for her defense of q
brilliant young lawyer who had been
deeply in love with her before she
married Ames. The verdict of acquit-
tai was a foregone conclusion, but
despite all the evidence Of innocence
there are two people in the whole of
New York City who believe her guilty.
One is Sam Kernochan, a newspaper
man whose reputation as a journalist
is exceeded only by his apparently
incurable tendency to indulge in
drunken spreeS, and the other is Carl
ton Forman, the attractive and i'm
pressive lawyer who has just won an
acquittal for his client.
1t IS with a renewed hope that life
may yet contain complete happiness
that Rose Ames, on the first evening
Of her return to the comfort and
luxury of her own home, awaits the
arrival Of the man whose love she is
now free to accept. She suffers a rude
| awakening, however, when after the
greetings, congratulations and thanks
are over he asks the unbelievable ques-
ton, Rose, why did you do it?" 1t
is the first knowledge she has had that
he has from the beginning believed
her to be guilty. He announces his
intention of going abroad and promptly
leaves.
Up to this time she has persisted in
stating her belief that John Ames took
his own life, but the desertion of
Carlton Forman gives birth to a new
thought. During those first few hours
of grievous shock inflicted by the one
upon whose love she had relied Mrs.
AmeS learns Of the newspaper man
who is also convinced OF her guilt.
Inquiry reveals that he has been fired
by his paper for making good his
| threat to go on a spree at the close
of the trial. BY midnight Rose sue
ceedS in locating him In q we'll known
bar and employs him to find out how
her husband met his death and to
prove who killed him.
Kernochan is sober enough to un-
derstand the proposition and the need
for money induces him to accept it.
Firmly convinced of the guilt Of his
employer. he sets diligently to work to
prove his theory. Starting from the
wrong end of the case makes it a task
OF large proportions and Mr.. Roche
gives him plenty to do before bringing
| him up short to a climax which dis
concerts him greatly, though it is one
that he richly deserves.
MASKS OFF AT MIDNIGHT. BY
Valentine Williams. Boston:
Houghton Miffiin Co.
Brent Hordern was the most un-
popular man in Laurel, an exclusive
section of a Long Island community
that had for the most part defied the
encroachment of promoters and finan-
ciers and held itself aloof from those
avid despoilers of landed estates whose
idea of Utopia is a stretch of woods
or an open field marked OF into build
ing lots. From the moment of his ar
| rival in the Long Island neighborhood
Hordern had been heartily disliked.
He possessed great wealth, an arrogant
manner, dominant disposition and
the very common habit among the ill
bred of boasting that he had never
failed to get what he wanted.
He found in Laurel many things
that he wanted, among them the
mortgages on various family proper
ties. the controlling interest in the
bank, the newspaper-and Jenny Tai
lifer. pretty and wholesome daughter
of one Of the towns most esteemed
men. The cold -shouldering with
which he had been received he had
accepted with laugh. and up to the
night of the murder he had obtained
nearly all of the things he had de-
termined to acquire. Having boldly
asked for and had been denied an
invitation to large masked pageant
that is being arranged, he per-
SiStS in begging other guests to use
their influence in his favor, and, fail
ing this effort, he threatens to crash
the gate.
At the last moment before the
pageant, through an accumulation of
circumstances which he could not
prevent, the harassed and overly tired
director consents to Hordern's plea to
permit him to take his place in the pro-
cession. When the sedan chair in which
be is being borne comes to rest and the
signal is given for the first great event
on the program there is a dramatic
and horror-stricken moment as the
curtains are drawn aside and Hordern
is found shot to death.
The mystery of the murder grows
deeper and deeper as the accumulation
of evidence against a number of the
guests present grows stronger. A sec
ond murder is committed and a third
is barely prevented before the surpris-
ing climax is reached. An interesting
new element that is particularly pleas
ing is the introduction of a Scotland
| Yard man who hannenS Tn he visit