"The Riddle of the Sphinx" contains a glaring embarrassment. Prof Squires patronises Nina unmercifully: when she says her boy friend "hung" himself, he points out pedantically that it should be "hanged" . But earlier on, he tells her to "deduct" something (!), when he means "deduce". As always with the misuse of the English language, it's the half-educated (who don't know they are) who are guilty of the most egregious howlers.
Review of The Riddle of the Sphinx
