Books: Murder in October

Best mysteries of the month:

A COFFIN FOR DIMITRIOS—Eric Ambler —Knopf ($2). An English detectifiction writer sets out to trace the career of a shady Greek fig-packer whose stabbed body he saw in a Turkish morgue. Author Ambler, international traveler, scripter for Alexander Korda, artfully interweaves spidery intrigue and murder mystery.

CROOKED SHADOW—Kurt Steel—Little, Brown ($2). Private sleuth Henry Hyer falls foul of a Long Island Nazi gang who framed his young assistant for murder. The plot's intrigues are given a sombre speciousness by current events and nimble writing.

THE CRYING SISTERS—Mabel Seeley—Crime Club ($2). As creepy as Author Seeley's The Listening House, this...