Leave it to Julian Symons. When he writes a mystery, you can be assured that this urbane stylist, this master of the traditional detective story, will have a puzzler that will keep your mind racing. And so it is with "The Plot Against Roger Rider"…. Even the title is comfortably traditional. But unlike such veterans as Agatha Christie, there is nothing old-fashioned about Symons. His dialogue is crisp and modern. He is capable of wry humor without becoming heavyhanded about it. And his characters have life in them.

In "Roger Rider," Symons has cooked up a plot about the love-hate relationship of a domineering, successful man with one of his employees—and the relationships of those associated with him. All of this is done in virtuoso fashion, even if the pace is slow. Symons spends much time establishing those relationships. Not until he's at the half-way mark does...