Books: Crime in August

VERDICT OF TWELVE—Raymond Post-gate—Crime Club ($2). In the trial of Mrs. van Beer for the poisoning of her nephew, the verdict has nothing to do with the evidence. It is formed out of the past lives of the jurors themselves—among them a murderess, a religious fanatic, a Greek who pretends he was born to the Old School Tie.

MAYHEM IN B-FiAT—Elliot Paul—Random House ($2). Moritz the miraculous Boxer (a dog) makes his debut with the familiar cast of Homer Evans, detective, dead-eye Miriam, Inspector Fremont and his dusky Hydrangea, Hjalmar Jansen the crockery...