Criminals at Large

Two of the books reviewed by Isaac Anderson this week in his column were published by Doubleday's Crime Club. The Trouble at Turkey Hill by Kathleen Moore Knight continued the adventures of sleuth Elisha Macomber on Penberthy Island where he was chairman of the Board of Selectmen. Knight was a prolific writer of mysteries in the 1940s and '50s. In Dead at the Take-off by Lester Dent, a dead body on a commercial flight sets off a chain of events that, according to Anderson, reach "a startling climax." Dent is best known today for his work in the pulp magazines.

Death Rides a Sorrel Horse was by A.B. Cunningham. In the novel, after a horsewoman dies from a fall from her horse, a small town sheriff in Kentucky investigates the case as a murder. The book was part of the ABC mystery series by Cunningham who had retired from college teaching in 1945 and also was an ordained minister.

Anderson makes short work of The Crimson Cat Murders by Sidney A. Porcelain. According to the reviewer, the book's only merit was the unusual method of murder employed. Otherwise the "author has much to learn about the use of red herring and other instruments of his trade."