Reviews.

“Barren Metal,” by Naomi Jacob (Hutchinson, London; Whitcombe & Tombs, New Zealand agents) is one of the best novels I have read this year. I think it is Naomi Jacob's finest book to date. Two great characterisations, Rachel and Meyer Pardo, occupy the stage most of the time. Commencing life humbly as a tailor, Meyer Pardo builds up a huge fortune. Money obliterates his love for Rachel, his wife, who is one of the most lovable figures of recent fiction. Rachel, with her rich beauty of soul and body (and her fascinating lisp), captures the heart of Sholto Falk, but a tragic turn in her husband's fortunes keep her true to Meyer. It is a great character study of the Jews, and fringing the main story are graphic touches of their persecution.

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“Death In The Bathroom,” by Sir Basil Thomson (Eldon Press, London; Whitcombe & Tombs, New Zealand page 55 agents), is another Eldon mystery novel. Here we meet once more that likeable sleuth, Superintendent Richardson. A corpse is found in the bathroom of a suburban bungalow, but although an early arrest is made the surrounding circumstances are so unusual that Richardson decides there are other hands in the business. He threads his way through a mesh of clues as complicated as a de luxe jig saw puzzle. The way all the pieces are fitted together in the last chapter would thrill even the world's champion jig saw expert. Incidentally, friend Richardson discovers something more than the murderer.

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“Bubble Reputation,” by P. C. Wren (John Murray, London; Whitcombe & Tombs Ltd., New Zealand agents), sees the author of “Beau Geste” in new vein. It is a tale of Devonshire, of hidden treasure, convicts, mystery and humour. Even the most dramatic touches are retailed in a light inconsequential, yet effective style. The clue to the treasure is in the lines “seeking the bubble of reputation even in the cannon's mouth,” except that bubble must be interpreted as bauble. How Sir Giles discovered his treasure in (or on) another mouth provides a happy ending to an interesting and well told story.

The now famous Century Library of Short Stories (Hutchinson, London; Whitcombe & Tombs Ltd., New Zealand agents) would not be complete without a collection of Western yarns, hence the latest volume “A Century of Western Stories.” The editor of the volume, George Goodchild, explains in his introduction that a decade or so age the “Western Story” meant cowboys and Red Indians, with concomitant embroidery of scalp-hunting and wholesale lynchings. “Western” has ceased to be geographical in relation to adventurous fiction and designates a type of story rather than its location. Hence the volume is richer in material, and includes such writers as Jack London, Zane Grey, Bret Harte, Sir Gilbert Parker and Stewart Edward White. The book has over 1,000 pages and incorporates 38 stories by 33 authors.

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