THE FIELD OF FICTION.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19270, 6 September 1924, Page 4

THE FIELD OF FICTION.

RAPID REVIEWS. By Constant Reader. “Rimrock Trail,” by J. Allan Dunn (Hurst and Blackett), is a typical tale, well told, of ranch life and a gold rush in Texas and Arizona. The chief characters are known as the “Three Musketeers of the Range,” their real names being Sandy Bourke, a two-gun man; Sant Manning, more familiarly Soda-water Sam; and Mormon, so-called because* of liis lost wives. Sandy rescues from imminent peril Molly Casey, whose father, an old prospector, had died with the words '“Mines” on his lips. A gold rush sets in, and presently Molly finds herself owner of several rich claims located by her father, which she shares with her three friends. Plimsoll. a gambler, and horse-stealer, tries to swindle Molly out of her claims, but sho finds a trusted champion in Sandy. Later, Sandy has to do battle with Keith, a promoter of companies from the west, but ho is equal to all emergencies. Molly goes east for education but returns to the Three Star ranch unspoiled, and, after some exciting adventures, m eluding tho kidnapping of her by Plimsoll, Sandy has his reward. There is plenty ot gun-play in the book and one or two good fights. Mr Dunn is quite at home with his subject, and the result is a capital cowboy yarn.

In “More Loves Than One,” by Carolyn Wells (Hutchinson), the reader is presented with a detective story of the familiar American type but holding more than the average number of thrills. The detective, who solves tho mystery of the murder of Mrs Barham, is named Lorrimer, and he pieces together the evidence in a satisfactory manner. Andrew Barham and his wife Madeleine did not pull together, but how came it that Mrs Barham was found dead in a painter’s Studio where a masked ball was being held? Madeleine Barham was a great gambler, and her bad luck at cards plunged her into financial difficulties and she was in the habit of borrowing money from her friends. It turns out that tho painter in whose studio. Madeleine was found dead was Barham, in disguise. A mother-in-law also casts a sinister shadow on the scene. Out of this tangle Lorrimer contrives a solution.

The Countess Barcynska has done much better work than appears in the volume of short stories entitled “Twenty One” (Hurst and Blackett), that title representing the number of the stories included in the book. With advantage there might have been fewer stories and better workmanship, for they are of the flimsiest kind and many are quite absurd. They have this merit, that quite half of them lead up to marriage and they are agreeably written. They deal with tho racecourse, with woman suffrage, with the “movies,” with tho kidnapping of a baby, and with a masquerading princess. One of the best of the_ stories tolls how money is ingeniously raised by means of the “agony” column in the newspapers. A more serious note is struck hero and there, but for the most part the 'book is superficial and the interest evanescent. Mr Talbot Mundy goes to India for his mysteries. This course has one advantage, that only those who have actually lived in the East are likely to bo able to contradict him. In “The Nine Unknown” (Hutchinson) a tale of horror is told which should satisfy the most bloodthrsty reader. Somewhere in India Nine Booics are hidden containing dread’ secrets inimical to the race and Father Cyprian, in the interest of religion and the church, set out to discover and destroy those books. A similar quest is undertaken by an organisation known as the Kali-worshippers, thugs and stranglers controlled by “The Nino Unknown.” The consequent struggle in which Father Cyprian is aided by a number of friends is a nightmare in which stabbing and slaughter, fire and torture, hypnotism and magic all play a part. Tho story, which opens m Delhi, changes to Benares, where, thanks to increased powers of destruction, tire kill ing proceeds at a more rapid rate. “Queen of the World,” by George Weston (Hoddor and Stoughton), may be written down as an attempt which failed. _ An American yonng doctor, Britton Allinson by name, on holiday in Paris, is requested by a French statesman whom he meets to undertake a dangerous mission. This takes him to an hotel in Switzerland, where he has under observation a man named Grandon. This Grandon is supposed to be possessed of a secret of a method of destruction by the use of wireless, and he is continually visited by representatives of the Powers anxious to secure the secret. Grandon aims at making Margaret “Queen 'o fthe World,” Allinson falls in love with her. Purely as a love story Mr Weston has not done so badly, but as a political romance the book is a dead failure, being melodramatic to an absurd degree and fit only for the film. , Despite its improbabilities, Blood Money,” by Cecil H. Bullivant (John Long) is a “shocker,” which holds the attention, and this more from its clever characterisation than from its plot. Same, a crafty butler who for 20 years has been listening to . everything Matthew Hamper said is capitally drawn, although, exactly what Same was to get out of it does not appear, Legrande, too, is a polished villain, and the mystery of a chateau in Prance is well drawn Madame Dischanel, the unacknowledged wife of Matthew Harper, and her daughter Felice, introduce the essential woman element, especially since Garnet Bell, a well-known private detective, called in to solve the mystery of Matthew Harper’s suposed death, falls in love with Felice. And, of course, there is tho usual duel of wits between Garnet Bell and Sir Kenneth Moscly, of Scotland Yard. “Home Place,” by C. W. Ogden (John Lon") is an attempt to do for the artisan quarter of an American township what Mr Sinclair Lewis has done in “Main Street,’ but Mr Ogden is only indifferently successful, and the reader wearies ere the end is reached. A distinguished feature of “Home Place” is that the houses are painted in various colours—crude reds and greens, blues and carmines-aml the people who live in the houses ure either very good or very bad. Bill Burt, a farrier, his wife, his daughter, and his son represent the good elements, and against them by way of contrast are placed Thurwood, a banker, an unscrupulous character, and his wife, a worldly-minded womani with their (laughter Emma, who is married to a struggling author. Bill Burt is the good genius of the piece, and his kindly efforts are suitably rewarded. “Pals First,” by Francis Percy Elliot (John Long), is the story of two “crooks” on tramp through America—the elder formerly an English vicar, who has served a term in Portland Prison and has sentimental recollections of a happy past. The voungor man contributes to the support of iiis "Pal” by means of petty thefts, until, chancing on an old country house, he is welcomed bv the negro servants as their long-lost master. Tho author endeavours to set forth the many-sidedness of human/ nature. A man may be a thief, but at tlie same time one of the best of friends to his “pal.” , Mr J. S. Fletcher ought to know better than to permit the publication of “Many Engagements'’ (John Long). Having won a reputation as a mystery monger he has done himself a disservice by allowing the collection of some of his obviously early efforts in volume form. The book contains a score or more of short stories, dealing with mysteries and ghosts and other tilings, all very well for a beginner, but lacking the interest which makes for permanence.