MURDER IN THE FAMILY

Southland Times, Issue 23948, 14 October 1939, Page 10

MURDER IN THE FAMILY

DEATH OF HIS UNCLE. By C. H. B. Kitchen. Constable, London. Price

7/6. ' “Death of His Uncle” is Malcolm Warren’s (and Mr Kitchin’s) third case. Warren is not a detective of the usual type, but a stockbroker whose inquiring mind and painstaking methods have already solved two mysteries. The third case arises from the visit of a friend who is worried about the disappearance of his uncle. Dick Findlay’s Uncle Hamilton leaves London to spend a week-end at Cornwall: he is an unadventurous, fussy little man with no apparent vices. His failure to return alarms his nephew, who calls in Warren rather than the police in case there is some simple, or discreditable, explanation of his uncle’s disappearance. Together they trace Uncle Hamilton’s movements, step by step, until they find his clothes neatly piled in a little cave on a beech near Falmouth. It is presumed that he has gone swimming and has been drowned; his will divides a fairly substantial sum between Dick and another nephew. But Warren finds that he cannot accept this simple explanation of death bv drowning. There are too many oddities and loose ends in the case and, spurred partly by an anonymous letter, he quietly continues his investigations during Findlay’s absence in Europe. They lead him to a discovery which will not be altogether surprising to the reader, and is not intended to be, but which is, nevertheless, a masterpiece of careful and logical reconstruction. Although the theme of the book is the revelation of the method rather than of the murderer, it is intensely interesting to read. Mr Kitchin writes briskly and plainly and his characters are admirably drawn. BROTHERSdN-ARMS

THE SOLDIERS. By Greshley Price. Hodder and Stoughton, London, through W. S. Smart, Sydney. Price 7/6. Charles Hurst and George Luttrell are brother officers in the 52nd Light InI fantry, under theXcommand of Sir John Moore. The threat of Napoleonic invasion hangs over England, but there is time for romantic interests. They share the troubles and pleasures of regimental life, fall in love with the same daughter of a rich banker and move in exalted social circles. Among their friends are the Younger Pitt (then in his last year) and the formidable but fascinating Lady Hester Stanhope. George is the successful suitor for the hand of the banker’s daughter; but there is a younger sister who would like to comfort the disappointed Charles, and when his blindness falls from him after the battle of Corunna there is a fair promise of happiness for both soldiers. The book is written with a sense of historical reality. Although the story is not over-weighted with the technical data of the period the military scenes are skilfully drawn: the characters move easily against a background that must have demanded much careful research. Perhaps the book would have been more successful if the author had been satisfied with brief glimpses of the great figures of the early 19th century. Historic personages are heavy materials for fiction in all hut the most practised hands.