The Dead Men of Eden by V. Merle Grayland Whitcombe & Tombs 12/6

Te Ao Hou, December 1962, Page 49

The Dead Men of Eden by V. Merle Grayland Whitcombe & Tombs 12/6 The Eden in this detective novel is a new suburb being built on the outskirts of Auckland. There are quite a few dead men strewn around before the mysterious strangler is discovered, and the amateur sleuth who works it all out is a Maori, Hoani Mata. Hoani isn't really keen on corpses, and likes an easy-going, enjoyable life better than an adventurous one. But no sooner does he come to Eden to help his brother Bob build a new house, than he finds sinister mysteries all around them. After a while he starts to put two and two together … ‘The Dead Men of Eden’ is unpretentiously written, but the background characters who live in this new suburb—young married couples trying to get a start, do-it-yourself experts, outdoor types, eccentrics and so on—are attractively presented and reasonably convincing; the same goes for Hoani and his brother. The book has humour as well as suspense, and it is interesting to read a detective story with a New Zealand setting. Altogether this is pleasant, easy reading. —M.O.