VARIETY IN PLOTS

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 82, 3 October 1931, Page 19

VARIETY IN PLOTS

A first novel of interest and,-promise is '.'Burnt Whito'i" by Fay . Woods (Cassell). CoiiriigO and determination',had raised Michael Moray. 'from being an obseurft'-newsvendor. to_ we proud -pasition;of'h'edd-clerk; jn;.SW ling's Bank. But. ambition for advancement- was- not- -proof against we wiles-of-.a-pair._,pf, ; .-Irish eyes, .and Michael's' nicotine-, with Gipsy O Dell saw the opening of a new era in. which tho heart ; governed ': th_e ..head;.; and opened the way. to the supreme prize oi ljj-' c - ■■■ -. -..- ..'.--' All fun of-Ireiandi "and all its sport and devilment, was to be found . w Puppctstown before tho Great war. '' Mad; Puppptstpwn,' Iby M..- & Farrell (Collins), tells, oil the. trauepprUtion to England-.of one of the"Puppetstownj families. This tale of the move o£ three contra] characters to the stately aiid. infinite beauty of an English countryside contrasts curiously enough witn the Tomantic savagery of their eai'Hor life. Eespectability keeps, of the turee of them, one for its own, and two return to the wild, where they, belong and to tho house that had waited for them with)such strange certainty. • The curse which a. fakir put on ; a. camera is the theme of "The Fakir's Curse," by Kennedy Bruce (Herbert Jenkins). Through the lens of the cursed camera ia revealed "everything that is in the worid—lust, passion,, greed, anger, hate, all these and more. , Hence there ie ample material for astory of a lonely Indian- station. 1 "Kit of Kit's Folly," by W. Biley: (Herbert Jenkins), is a romantic tale: of the Peak District. As a ■bachelor and wqll-to-do: property owner, Kit Monk was expected by, the. villagers to niiikc a niateh,' and -.uinour had coupled his name "with that ■of : Nawra fromCragtop Farm. ' Strange, then, that he should meet her sheltering from the storm far away from Cragtop. The wjhy and Wherefore is spun-iinto. a moving tale that is coloured by the great out-doors. ... .-■■: Comedy- prolonged and,-supreme,' is to bo found in "Gentle Binns," by Edgar. . • Jepson . . (Herbert,.,. Jenkins).. Uncle'Jbhn" Was'one of tli'e" world's hemen, but his nephewiHerbert was very different; he Jigged, had a yacuou* exprpssipn and, ; in his....uncle eyes, : was rather a worm* On.the eye of setting off oh ono of his -adventures, Nature combined with Uncle John ?* liver to prevent "that;- resourceful" gentleman from ' starting. So' Herbert, accompanied' by; anl esceedingiy;; pretty '■■girl and a largo pile of luggage, had to take on the job. Contrary.: to, everyone.'s. expectations *' harmless Herbert became very much 'of -a live .wire, and hi* ingenious taictics to thwart -bisi rivals caused them much discomforts What is intended, to b.e' an impenetrable. ...m'yster.y -"is^presentcd .in •''The South "FbVetatfd'i'rMtiiierj' '" h£."sl:'3-. Fletcher Jenkins). Mr. 'Rcnnard waa a, charming, .wealthy, hail-fellow-well-met"-: ; gentleman,. and ~ he rented a-.bungalow rat St.'.Marguret's Bay. .Nobody aettially realised,■ until he- was" found;'shot '-through.; the .hpad, how. .little'had'reaily been known about hint.;, Thdcloei,' his■■Jneighpour,.• was' in London' allitho wleekj-iand.-w.^.'only fat St. Margaret's Bay:fofcthb week-ends— when . Mr^ Rennard' -was often?. absent. But pretty Mrs! Thacker'was'at-hyme all the week-r-and Mr,;,Een.nariJ, helped her with hei'garden. ' When Mr. Kennard was murdered Mrs. Thackcr. dis? appeared.- But two and two put together;did,..iiol; niake four in this p'artidular instance. ' •AHother .^'thriller;'^of rather1 a dif--forout' type, ;is "Hue^'andf Cry,", by Bi-uce Hamilton.. (Collins). Tom .Payton, yoiliig, im.prcssioifablfli, good lookiiig, engaged, to the girl ho loves, is the, reserve ; gd.alkeeper of Swynford Athletic ,Footb:«|l 'jClub. He gets his greaVchance in; a big cup-tierTho^vents "of.,th*a-t('!-Saturdfl,y afterHoori and evening, Jiow a 1 latent antagonism with one of the,directors leads him to commit.an entirely.■/unpre'meditateC'nurde'r, how he makes his get-away, hi 3 .coming'to; London^ ,'hi» .hairbrpadth; escapes, \ and curious:: refills—al!|Vthese are ingredients of a.''tale'which/maintains an at-, mosphero'.of -siispenae arid" jntenso-tJx-. citement to^.the; last pagei, ','."' ■ :;.."^.