THE LAST HOUSE
By
A New England village and a concentration on local color and character when the meaningless, motiveless murder of Cindy Hastings, the town tramp, arouses a response of easy suspicion, empty speculation, and a roar of recrimination from the local minister. In her defense of the dead girl, and of a young man innocently branded as the killer, Marcia Smith fights her way against prejudice while the police turn in the tangible evidence. A little romance lends a narrative (feminine) rather than deductive interest.