A PRIVATE PARTY.

By William Ard '44New York: Ririehart, 1953. 242 pp. $2.50.

Mr. Ard is the author of two previous thrillers, The Diary and .38. In A Private Party, the shock-receptive public is entertained with a liberal mixture of murder, mystery, detection, hate, lust, and love.

The main plot provides effective suspense. Big Al Stanzyck, the criminal boss of a stevedore union, is murdered under circumstances that divide suspicion among his crooked partners, his curvilinear moll, a disgruntled chauffeur, some indignant cops, and other plausible exterminators. None mourn. Characters in this combative world are generally hard-boiled.

There is an abundance of pretty hot stuff. The beautiful red-haired tomato Roxy patronizes a fashionable "gymnasium" on Park Avenue where she gets the full treatment of high-voltage electrical vibrations and loses a little surplus proud flesh in a room with a thermometer that registers "an unbelievable 183 degrees."

Readers who regard this book as a vivid extravaganza should certainly find it enjoyable on that account. Its principal merits, in this reviewer's opinion, are clever juggling with revolver slugs and a realistic portrayal, of waterfront crime.