DEAD SURE,

by Stewart Sterling (N. PrenticeWinchell) '16. E. P. Dutton & Colnc., 1949;255 pages; $2.50.

Mr. Sterling is now an old hand at writing whodunits and shows his practiced touch in this reasonably tough story of Gil Vine, who, as hotel detective on the West Coast, finally discovers the murderer of J. Cryder Johnson, millionaire confectioner.

Mr. Vine conceals evidence (Trell Mac-Nair), wonders about a bloody doll's head stuffed into a cheap brief case, gets nowhere with the frightened widow Bella, and finally unearths the murderer in a little too fanciful and quick ending.

The demand for detective stories is so great that all too many of them follow a pattern which gets exceedingly tiresome after awhile. Only one out of ten is any good, and this one, better than most average ones, is still only run of the mill, and not as good as some of Mr. Sterling's earlier books.