BLUE MASK VICTORIOUS

Each time Blue Mask appears on the horizon I expect to be disillusioned -- to find Anthony Morton becoming tedious and repetitive (there was a time when it looked as though I might be right). No, for three successive stories, Blue Mask has been exciting, original and guaranteeing never a dull moment. He adroitly resets his stage, reintroduces his characters, and proceeds to make his modern Raffles an engaging purveyor of crime for a good cause. Once again he helps the police. Once again he escapes an almost hopelessly entangled net, some of his own contriving. This time the war looms in the background -- and international spies do their stuff.