Any book in which James Pibble appears is, ipso facto, going to be a good book, and so it is in Peter Dickinson's "The Lizard in the Cup."…

The book is not only a travelogue about one of the Greek islands, and a basic introduction to drug traffic. It is about people. Dickinson is one of the most natural and literate of mystery writers. His people talk as people really talk; they have understandable motivations; and each person emerges as a believable character in his own right. But Dickinson never forgets that he is writing a mystery story. There is plenty of action, and the plotting is impeccable. "The Lizard in the Cup" is Dickinson at his best. If it does not have the macabre terror of last year's "Sleep and His Brother," it has a different but equally intriguing buildup. (p. 35)

Newgate Callendar, in The New York...