DEEP LAY THE DEAD

, by Frederick C. Davis'2B. The Crime Club, 1942. 304 pp. f2.00.WHO is DR. CHANDLER? What had he to do with the two Army doctors who turned Rig down because of a "bad heart" that wasn't bad at all; with getting Rig fired from the faculty in mid-term without an explanation; with persuading six other colleges not to hire Rig, though all of them, at first, seemed anxious for his services? It is to demand answers to these questions that Professor Rigby Webb, late of the Dartmouth College Department of Mathematics, is driving through a snowstorm as the story opens. Once inside the Chandler home, and having met the Doctor, his wife, and their daughter, Jill, Rig finds himself among a strange assortment of blizzard-bound guests. There is Arnold, the "Midnight Tattler" on the radio; Max, the famous pianist, now crippled (his son, Ross, says by Dr. Chandler), so that he can never play again; Tony, the gambling dancer; Nicky, who is "one of the family"; and lastly Erica, whom Rig has met before. In fact, he had her up for Carnival his senior year and once almost married her. But now he suddenly realizes he doesn't know her at all well. Could she be a spy—a murderess? Similar questions about each of his companions assail Rig as the tempo of the story increases and the ex-professor finds himself in an exciting mix-up of military secrets, cut telephone wires, spies and murder, and a "rifle that cannot be found.

Like other Frederick C. Davis stories there is plenty of action and suspense until the final snowy scene where the former Dartmouth professor on a pair of damaged skis out-manoeuvers the murderer and wins the congratulations of official Washington on an important job well done.