Evening star., 1939-03-15
New Books at
Random
By Margaret Germond.


BY Margaret Germond.
MURDER FOR CHRISTMAS. BY Aga
tina Christie. New York: Dodd, Mead
& Co.
Agatha Christie dedicates this book to
James" in note telling him that the
story was written especially for him In
response to his complaint that her mur-
ders were getting too refined" and
that he yearned for good violent mur-
der with lots of blood" James should
be well pleased, for there is nothing
gentle about the murder Of old Simeon
Lee and very little that Is either gentle
or likable about his family. But there
is an abundance of entertainment and
excitement in this newest Christie novel,
which springs numerous surprises as 1t
moves smoothly along well-devised plot
to startling climax.
The story begins on December % with
seven people on the way to Gorston Hail.
the home Of Simeon Lee, to spend
Christmas. Not any one of the four
sons-three of them married-of the
cantankerous, arrogant old man has any
reason to love him, and he neither re-
spects nor loves them. His one daughter
had married Spaniard of questionable
character and given the old man the
only grandchild in the family.
Old Simeon's career had been adven-
turous and gay. He had amassed q
fortune in South Africa's diamond coun-
try and in the withered years that have
overtaken him he finds some sort of
qualification in handling an accumula-
ton of the uncut precious stones which
he keeps in safe in his room. His free
and uncontrolled manner of living HAD
caused his self-pitying wife to enjoy the
business of dying as martyr. Age and
infirmity have now laid hold of him, but
have not conquered his indomitable will
or his peppery disposition. 1t Is there
fore apparent that the only reason for
inviting the whole of his family to Cor
ston Hall for Christmas is to see the
fur fly when he announces to the re-
united group that he has arranged to
make new will.
Alfred and Lydia, who live with him
at Gorston Hall, are not overly pleased
with the obligation to receive and make
welcome George and Magdalene, who are
constantly appealing to the old man for
money; David and Hilda, who ask for
nothing but are unable to forget the old
mans cruelty to his wife; Harry, the
family scapegrace, and Pillar Estravedos,
the granddaughter from Spain. On the
day before Christmas Eve the family
party is complete, and then stranger
arrives, Stephen Farr of South Africa.
He presents letter introducing himself
as the son of old Simeon's business
partner in the diamond fields. Simeon
makes him welcome and the plans for
lively Christmas proceed. Several maids,
silent-footed man who attends to the
needs of Mr.. Lee and old Tressilian,
trustworthy family butler for 40 years,
complete the list of those housed at
Gorston Hall.
On the afternoon of Christmas Eve,
with his stage all set, Simeon calls the
family together AS they enter he is
telling his lawyer by telephone that he
wishes to make a new will. If his pur-
pose is to see his sons and daughters
in-law display their animosities toward
each other and toward him, his whim is
more than gratif1ed
That night Simeon Lees throat is
slashed. The scene of the crime is
his own room, which proves to be locked
and from which no murderer can pos
sibly have escaped. So much noise pre-
cedes the scream that momentarily
freezes the marrow of those hearing it
that there can be no suggestion OF
suicide Blood, blood everywhere! Fur
niture overturned and vases smashed as
evidence of terrific struggle in which
no one believes that the invalided old
man could have engaged.
Col. johnson, chief constable of Mid
dleshire. is enjoying friendly reunion
with Hercule Poirot when Inspector
Sugden telephones from Gorston Hall
that Simeon Lee has been murdered.
Together they go to the scene of the
crime, and the famous Belgian criminol-
ogist has new and battling murder
mystery to solve. 1t turns out to be a
case crammed with peculiarities and
surprises with not dull moment from
the time that Stephen Farr walks along
the railroad platform to take train
out of London for Gorston Hall until
Hercule Poirot returns to the cheerful
glow of Col. Johnson's open fire and in
his heart longs for the comfort of
central heat.
| SOME DAY I'LL KILL YOU. BY Dana
Chambers. New York: The Dial Press
-Four deaths by violence and a fiftn
attempted murder constitute the back
bone of this mystery for moderns which
races at top speed from one tense stu
alton to another at breath taking pace
Three of those who come to an untimely
end are the innocent victims of mis-
taken identity on the part of the mur-
derer, and these three, together with
the attempted fifth, grow out of FIVE
year-old mystery concerning the death
OF a man in an explosion that destroyed
a pleasure boat in Florida waters after
woman had been heard to threaten
to kill her husband.
The personnel includes Lisa Ridgman
and her second husband, an eminent
psychiatrist: Jim Steele, high-pressure
detective by the self-appointed route;