A Golden Age CLassic Set Against The Rise of The Third Reich

"Its background is Germany, immediately after Hitler's rise to power, and this gives it a strong topical interest. Periods of political revolution and reform are usually confused and puzzling periods, and the book faithfully reflects this aspect of its setting. Murders occur, and the solution of the problem is made more difficult and embarassing for the police owing to the fact that the names of prominent Nazis are involved...

"There are sinister hints of hidden intrigue, lurid flashes of light on the persecution of Jews, grim little scenes of blood and squalor mingled with the glitter of nightclub life, and over it all hangs the atmosphere of suspicion and insecurity which is bound to accompany national upheavals.

"The opening episode, which gives its name to the story, has a queerness and fancifulness which slightly suggest the work of another mystery writer, John Dickson Carr . . . One has clearly the sensation of moving in a kind of phantasmagoria in which nothing is really astonishing and nothing really inevitable...

"...recommended to those who like something out of the ordinary."

Dorothy L. Sayers

The SUnday Times

10 June 1934