Murder in March

THE APPREHENSIVE DOG--H. C. Bailey--Crime Club ($2). Mr. Reginald Fortune luxuriates at a museum-piece English inn while probing the violent death of a long-absent village siren, whose return to childhood scenes precipitates murder, suicide and confusion among the gentry. Intelligent, well-characterized and done with customary Bailey finesse.

FEAR STALKS THE VILLAGE--Ethel Una White--Harper ($2). An exceptionally good thriller by the English author of The Wheel Spins (filmed as The Lady Vanishes). A plague of vitriolic and well-informed anonymous notes to supposedly impeccable village worthies changes a bucolic paradise into a midden of fear, suspicion and death. Investigator Ignatius Brown follows a slim clue to a startling conclusion.

FIVE ALARM FUNERAL--Stewart Sterling--Putnam ($2). Criminally induced holocausts in New York City, as well as several murders, a spot of acid hurling and dirty work among the smoke-eaters, are all traced to the proper parties by Chief Fire Marshal Ben Pedley. Refreshing new scene, robust talk, unflagging action, and a completely cockeyed motive--which readers may ignore without spoiling the yarn.

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