THE FICTION SHELF.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 242, 12 October 1929, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE FICTION SHELF.

THE SHERLOCK HOLMES 1 LONG STORIES. Portmanteau volumes multiply. We have noticed two such volumes of Coiiaii Doyle's works, issued by John Murray— the Sherlock Holmes' short stories' ami the miscellaneous short storiee. Now from the same- publisher comes another one-volumb Holmes—all the four long stories about the famous detective. Thus you may sit down for a quiet evening and compare "A Study in Scarlet," "The Sign of Four," "The Hound of the- Baskerviiles." and "The Valley of Fear." Our own preference is for the first, but pei'haps that' is because it was the. , first. Sir Arthur contributes a most interesting little ' preface, in which he says that "A Study in Scarlet" was his first loug story, written after an apprenticeship of ten years iu short story writing". "It represented a reaction against the too facile way in which the detective of the old school, so far ass he was depicted in literature, gained his results. Having endured a, severe course of training in i medical diagnosis, I felt that if the same austere methods of observation and reasoning were applied to the problems of crjmo some more scientific system could be constructed. On the whole, taking the series of books, my view has been justified, as I understand that in several countries some change has been made in police procedure on account of these stories," Sir Arthur reveals that the second long Holmes story was the result of a visit from an American publisher who had commissions for several British authors. Oscar Wilde and Sir Arthur dined with him and the result was "The Picture of Dorian Grey" and "The Sign of Four" —a curious conjunction indeed. "The Hound ■of "the Baskerviiles" arose from a remark by a friend that there was a spectral dog near his home on Dartmoor, and "The Valley of Fear" had its origin in a newspaper report of real outrages in the coalfields of Pennsylvania, in which a young Pinkerton detective was the central figure.

The surprise at the end is the best thing about "Jack o' Lantern," by George Goodehild (Hodder and Stoughtou). A second-rate thriller this. We have received from Robertson and Melbourne, a cheaper edition erf "Beau Ideal," the last of the P. C. Wren trilogy. This has been issued 12 months after the colonial edition. From the same house comes a still cheaper pocket edition of ."Beau Sabreiir," in which the story of Major de Beaujolais is told. This book was published in 1920, and by 11928 had passed through thirteen impressions. In an interesting orefaee Mr. Wren meets the charge of imnossibility by stating that "in this book nothing is set forth as having happened which has not happened." ~

BOOKS RECEIVED. Feminine Frainy," _ br"lTorace WyncMam (Brnri). '. •."..' ■ ..., One Mart's W»K hi B- Hall and J. Mies (John • Hamilton). DraKin (Mctlnien). The Secret feisUM. bv EHersiey Hall (SVliitconibc and Tombs).. ... red 'Silence. U.y KaiDlccu fJorria (j:;i:Tav).