Dull as dull -- with only occasional bits of interesting psychological writing, in a tame tale of the murder of a superintendent of a modern public school, where the small circle of teachers is suspect, and the case is kept under cover and ultimately solved within the group. The scene of the murder was a card party -- everyone suspects everyone else, and nobody cares much. The solution, when finally found, gives no sense of solution but rather a definite anti-climax.