Sexton Blake Bibliography: 1907

Notes: The final instalment of the series. Blake learns that a cargo ship has been docked nearby and filled with rubber for delivery to Belgium. He and Shumpogaas sneak aboard and begin dousing the vessel with oil. They fire the ship but are then captured by van Bruggen who vows to hang them at dawn. Fortunately, a Belgian officer arrives and recognises the Major as the criminal who had, many years ago, swindled him of his fortune. He frees Blake and arrests van Bruggen who tries to escape only to be stabbed to death by the young woman whose father had been threatened. Blake and Shumpogaas are allowed to leave. Returning to Tinker, Pedro, Shumpogaas and Saadani, they head north on their journey out of the Congo. How the detective makes his way back to England is told in ACROSS THE EQUATOR.

Rating: ★★★★☆ One of Sexton Blake's great serials, SEXTON BLAKE IN THE CONGO is packed with thrills and many astonishing, bloodthirsty scenes of battle. The plot is sprawling and far too reliant on truly absurd coincidences but, nevertheless, it holds up thanks to a strong vein of absolute truth. Many of the incidents are based on events that really occurred, shocking the world. This story was probably one of the many elements that swayed public opinion, causing an outcry which ultimately led to reforms in the Congo a year after its publication. For the modern reader, the atrocities described still resonate, causing many an uneasy twinge. Above all, though, this is a great adventure filled with interesting and likeable characters. Shumpogaas, in particular, stands out and is much-missed once the last page is turned (fortunately he returns in later adventures; see SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY First series no.130 AFRICAN GOLD 1920).

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Notes: This is one of the most important stories published about Sexton Blake as it gives us some insight into his background and family history. It begins when Will Spearing of Scotland Yard asks the detective to help investigate a recent proliferation of counterfeit money. The trail leads Blake to an illegal gambling den run by Prince Larinski, a man he finds strangely familiar. On two occasions, his attempts to penetrate Larinski's organisation are foiled and both times he is saved from death by his foe. Finally, the detective manages to back his quarry into a corner and, at that point, Larinski removes his disguise to reveal himself as Sexton's older brother, Henry Blake. Shocked, the detective struggles with his feelings. Finally, he vows to reform his sibling. However, Henry flees to Monaco with Blake and Spearing hot on his tail. Blake repeatedly foils Spearing's attempts to capture his brother until, in Paris, he can keep his secret no longer and reveals the truth. Spearing, while sympathetic, nevertheless has to do his duty and arrest the swindler. He and Blake agree that, henceforth, they will each attempt to get to Henry Blake first, one to offer him a new life abroad, the other to charge him with criminal offences. The detective repeatedly outwits the Yard man but Spearing's dogged pursuit never lets up and he eventually catches up with the Blake brothers on the River Thames as they try to flee out to sea. Henry performs one last gallant act before sacrificing himself to protect Sexton's honour; he throws himself overboard and is presumed drowned.

Trivia: Sexton Blake comes across as blunt to the point of rudeness, which would be understandable later in the story but, in fact, he's that way right from the start. This sneering personality — a characteristic of Norman Goddard's stories — makes for a far less pleasant Blake than the one we meet in the hands of other authors. The plot of this story was re-hashed (replacing Henry Blake with Nigel Blake) in DETECTIVE WEEKLY issue 1 as SEXTON BLAKE'S SECRET (1933).

Rating: ★★★★☆ This is essential reading for any Sexton Blake fan; it may not be an outstanding story but it is an important one and thus earns a four-star rating.

Notes: I own a copy of this issue but its cover is missing.

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Notes: This serial was reprinted in an abridged form in THE BOYS' FRIEND LIBRARY issue 72 (1909).

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Notes: I have this story but it's just a loose page and only carries the issue number. The date, at this stage, is pure speculation. This story should not be confused with UNION JACK issue 222, as although it shares the same title, it's a totally different tale.

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Notes: This, the first of the many short Sexton Blake tales to feature in PENNY PICTORIAL, begins with the following statement: 'FOREWORD: Sexton Blake, the famous detective, having been ordered to rest by his doctors, had temporarily forsaken Baker Street, and was living during the period of these episodes in a quiet little house at Surbiton, amusing himself by flower culture, the cottage having been lent to him by an old friend, a Mr. Dove, a retired official from Scotland Yard, who was absent on the Continent.' The aforementioned Mr. Dove, was featured in a story in the issue preceding this one. It was entitled THE MAN FROM SCOTLAND YARD (not to be confused with THE BOYS' REALM tale listed above or with the UNION JACK story of the same title, which famously introduced Plummer). Its author was Cecil Hayter, which suggests that these initial Pictorial stories may also have been written by him ... though their style suggests otherwise. Certainly, though, after the first seven tales, Hayter becomes the regular author of the Pictorial adventures.

A young lady, Miss Darrell, visits Sexton Blake and explains that Jack Arnely, her intended, vanished last Monday, as did £10,000 from the firm that employed him. A fragment of wax in his desk suggests that he made a copy of the key to the strong room. He had also been the last person to leave the office that day. After the interview, the detective searches Arnely's flat and discovers a roughly made key. The next day he calls on the owners of the firm, Mr Boscobel and his son, at their workplace. They try the key in the strong room lock and it fits. A sudden disturbance caused by a drunken visitor in the outer office distracts the Boscobels and Blake uses the diversion to scan through the paperwork on the younger man's desk. He finds suggestive evidence. The detective is now pretty certain that the key was planted in Arnely's flat. He departs and, outside, meets the drunken fellow who, now suddenly sober, is actually Tinker. That evening, the detective and Miss Darrell follow young Boscobel as he drives out to a secluded farm. There they overhear him encouraging a colleague in crime to murder Arnely, who they have held captive. Blake bursts in, gun in hand, and apprehends the two villains. Arnely is rescued.

Trivia: Tinker makes an exceedingly rare appearance in the PENNY PICTORIAL. Blake instructs him to "Keep your eye on things at Baker Street."

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Notes: Sexton Blake receives a telegram requesting his urgent presence at Wardor Court in Essex where a murder has been done. Forsaking his convalescence, the detective travels to the country mansion and is greeted by a man named George Rawdon and a woman named Inez Chase. Rawdon explains that his uncle — Captain Sir Henry Rawdon — had been shot in the garden the day before. Everything seems to point to Rawdon's cousin, Frank, as the guilty party and the police are currently searching for him. Miss Chase is the murdered man's ward and she is in love with Frank — but it's a match the old man had thoroughly disapproved of due to Frank's junior rank in the navy. Sir Henry believed that his nephew should concentrate on furthering his career before marrying. The two men had argued the night before the shooting and, shortly after the shot was fired, Frank had been seen fleeing from the grounds on a motorbike. His revolver, which he used for target practice each morning, was found in his room with one chamber empty after having been fired. Rawdon leaves Blake to question the girl. She tells him that Frank was seen rushing from the house because he is racing to get a marriage licence from London in defiance of his uncle's wishes. But the detective senses that Miss Chase is concealing something. She admits that she had seen Frank walking with his uncle shortly before the murder. Things look bleak for the suspected man ... until Blake spots a German pamphlet in the library. It details an experimental design for a bullet — and this puts Blake on the trail of the real killer ... ...

Trivia: Blake's doctor has 'forbidden him to smoke'. Strangely, although this is number two in the series, at the end of the tale there's a line advertising the fourth story, which it entitles AT BAY!, due to appear 'next Friday'. In fact, the third, not fourth, instalment appeared the following Friday and neither it nor the fourth story (or any other!) had that title. The cover illustration for this issue — "Put me on to Scotland Yard QUICK!! — is a prototype of the iconic cover of DETECTIVE WEEKLY issue 1 (1933).

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: The cottage in Aston Villa where Sexton Blake is living is being watched. His assistant sends him a wire to inform him that the Baker Street premises is also under scrutiny. The watchers are employed by three kidnappers and blackmailers — a gang known as 'The Triangle'. That night, the house is gradually surrounded and the detective realises that an attempt is to be made on his life. When Lady Marsborough turns up on the doorstep this is confirmed — she has found a note dropped on the floor at a masked ball ... an order written by The Triangle dictating that Blake must die this very night. The society woman insists on remaining in the house to help Blake keep watch. Later, the telephone rings. The detective answers it but with tongs and a wrapped tablecloth. He holds the receiver away from himself but is nevertheless blown across the room when a massive shock comes through the line — his enemies have connected it to the nearby electric tram lines! Blake waits in the darkness, knowing that one of The Triangle will come to check that he is dead. Sure enough a man breaks in — and is revealed to by Lady Marsborough's ex-husband! Caught red-handed, the villain bites into a poisoned cigar and dies.

Trivia: Blake's move to Aston Villa, it is stated, is partially due to a need to lie low and put The Triangle off its guard. This is one of the few PENNY PICTORIAL tales which actually mentions Tinker by name.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: Continuing his pursuit of The Triangle, Sexton Blake begins to suspect that the Hon. E. C. Etherington is the second member of the criminal gang. Realising that — because she betrayed the criminal's colleague — Lady Marsborough is in danger, Blake attends a hot air balloon race in which Etherington is taking part with Lady Marsborough as his passenger. The detective believes he will attempt to throw her out of the balloon's basket. The race begins and Blake follows the Mars II, Etherington's balloon, in another. He keeps pace with his enemy through a storm and is finally able to save the intended victim. The criminal falls and breaks both his legs before taking poison to prevent his capture.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Notes: Mr James Wisden is an inventor whose new design for an aeroplane will, he hopes, win a flying competition; the first prize being £10,000. When he shows Sexton Blake the blueprints, the detective notices subtle signs indicating that the documents have recently been affixed to the wall. Since Wisden didn't do this himself, it suggests that someone else must have done so in order to photograph the plans. Later, he goes on a shopping trip with Miss Villiers, Wisden's niece. That night, Blake observes shadowy figures crossing the garden towards the entrance to the cellars. He follows, enters the pitch black cellars and suddenly finds himself held at gunpoint by Miss Villiers and Geoffrey Wisden, the inventor's son. They intend to blackmail James Villiers until he drops his objection to their marriage. In the cellar is the photographic equipment with which the young woman will develop her photographs of the blueprints. However, she soon finds that rather than photographs of the plans, her camera is filled with snapshots of herself on the shopping trip! Blake had predicted her scheme and foiled it. Since the would-be blackmailers aren't exactly hardened criminals, the detective has words with James Wisden and clears the way for their marriage.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: Sexton Blake receives a letter accusing him of stealing jewels from the Duke of Dorset. The writers — Ixe & Co. — demand five thousand pounds in compensation, as they themselves had planned to rob the Duke. The detective sets up a meeting with Ixe & Co. and finds himself confronted by a small syndicate of thieves. They claim that while they were watching the Duke's residence they saw Blake enter and make off with the gems. Blake escapes when the gang becomes violent and sets the police on to them. He then returns, in disguise, to his cottage in Aston Villa where he finds that his gardener, Jenkins, is impersonating him. Jenkins is preparing to leave the country with the jewels. Blake follows him and, when the gardener is attacked by one of the syndicate, steps in to make his arrest.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Notes: Blake is called to Medway House after it's burgled. Only a valuable Gainsborough painting was stolen and there are no signs of a forced entry. This is the ninth robbery of this type in the past four months. Lord Medway bets Blake two thousand pounds to the detective's five hundred that he cannot solve the crime. Blake accepts the wager. Figuring that the thief would have to stand on something to reach the top of the picture's frame, the detective discovers heel marks on a couple of items of furniture and establishes that the crook was undoubtedly a woman. The following day, disguised as an out of work butler, he applies to an agency — run by a Mr East — for work and is appointed to Lady Grassdale's house. Blake realises that all her servants — appointed by East — plus Lady Grassdale herself, form the gang which has committed the spate of burglaries. Furthermore, they have pierced his disguise and intend to get rid of him. A few days into his employment, one of his fellow servants tries to slip him a sleeping draught and, during the night, gas is pumped into his room. Blake escapes by shinning down a rope but he is heard by Lady Grassdale who summons the servants. The gang leaves the house with the stolen picture hidden in a roll of linoleum. Blake pursues them to Dover by car, shooting the tyre of his quarry's vehicle. They crash and East is killed. Blake wins his bet.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: While out fishing in the countryside near Staines, Sexton Blake encounters Ourosoff, a notorious Russian Anarchist. He connects his presence in the region with a visit by Princess Constantine to the Royal Family at Windsor. Blake follows the Russian but is captured and bound hand and foot. Ourosoff reveals that he intends to kill the Princess with a bomb which he'll throw into her car as it passes. He then leaves the detective in a gypsy caravan attached to a booby trap: a candle which, when burned down, will set off an explosive. Blake manages to free himself and races to intercept the Princess's car. On the way he meets with an acquaintance, a keen driver named Matthieson. Commandeering driver and car, he speeds to cut off the Princess before she reaches the junction where Ourosoff intends to murder her. A purposeful but light road accident puts paid to the Royal car and her Her Highness is forced to continue her journey in Matthieson's vehicle which isn't recognised by Ourosoff. Matthieson and Blake take the woman's damaged car and travel to where the Russian lies in wait. They leap upon him, breaking his arm, and capture him. Later, they are both given an award by the Princess's father.

Trivia: With this one the title numbering stops, though the overall story arc of Blake recuperating in Surbiton continues.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: Blake is staying with his friend Colonel Maxwell, and he and his fellow guests are making much use of the nearby golf course. One day, at lunch, they hear that Berringer and Pat Landor have argued badly out on the links, both men being ardently in love with the colonel's daughter. Molly Maxwell. The colonel informs Blake that Landor has already proposed marriage and been accepted and the engagement will be announced tonight. A few moments later, Landor is seen passing the window, his shirt covered in blood and with a bloodstained handkerchief in his hand. The colonel goes to see what the matter is and returns with news that Landor is furious but also oddly disoriented ... and one of his clubs is wet and glistening with blood. It then becomes apparent that Berringer is missing. The man is eventually found by Molly at the ninth hole, dead, his skull caved in. Blake inspects the scene and finds a stray golf ball of a particular type known as a "water-core." This is not the same type that Berringer had been using. When questioned, Landor admits that he and his rival argued but denies killing him. He claims that he left Berringer at the eighth hole, lost his bearings, and fell into a chalk pit, cracking his nose, causing it to bleed profusely. His golf club was stained with blood because after the accident he'd used it as a walking stick. The explanation is lame, the police are called, and Landor is arrested. Blake assures him that he thinks him innocent, having seen where the club that struck the killing blow had been wiped on the grass. The detective examines the body and finds, over Berringer's solar plexus, the mark of a hard impact. He then establishes that the golf course doesn't supply water-core balls. From these clues, he is able to construct a narrative of what really happened, of how an unfortunate accident was taken advantage of and a cold-blooded murder committed ... but not by Landor.

Trivia: This tale introduces Molly Maxwell, who will become an amateur detective trained by Blake, and who will appear in later PENNY PICTORIAL stories.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆ This tale is rather unfair to the reader in that it doesn't introduce the killer until he is identified by Blake.

Notes: Blake spots a coded message in the personals column of a newspaper. After deciphering it, he associates it with the presence on the Yorkshire Moors of Princess Vittoria Manuelo and her daughter Lucia, both of whom are on the run from the dissolute Crown Prince of Attalia, who is seeking possession of the little girl. The detective questions the newspaper's editor and discovers from him the address at which the princess is living under an assumed name. Taking a north-bound train, Blake spots a couple of suspicious-looking fellow passengers, one of whom he recognises as a criminal named Morton with whom he has previously crossed swords. Upon his arrival in Yorkshire, Blake hurries to the princess's isolated cottage, identifies himself to her, and warns her of the approaching danger: the two men hired by the Crown Prince to snatch Lucia. He helps her to barricade herself and her daughter into a room and then stands guard. When the two villains arrive, a vicious gunfight erupts. Blake receives a bullet in the shoulder but beats the odds and defeats the attackers. A reporter from the newspaper then comes to his aid and helps the detective to arrange matters in such a way to deflect attention away from the princess, thus protecting her anonymity.

Trivia: I've lost count of the number of bullets Blake has taken in the shoulder through the course of all his stories!

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: The ongoing threat of the gang known as the Triangle has brought Sexton Blake to the brink of a mental and physical breakdown. Already, the detective has defeated two of the trio, but the third remains unidentified and is exceedingly dangerous. After an attempt is made to hit the detective with a car, the situation hots up, placing him under a constant and intense threat. When a letter arrives demanding that he abandon his investigation, Blake traces the typewriter used to write it to a place that hires out the machines. The customer — a frequent one, he discovers — is named David Ramsay. Blake sends a message to his "young assistant" instructing him to watch the typewriter shop and follow Ramsay should he turn up (the shopkeeper will signal to identify the man). Later, having avoided death by poisoned cigars, Blake receives word from his assistant: Ramsay has hired a typewriter and was trailed back to his lodgings. His address is known! Further investigations lead Blake to Ramsay's true identity. He is Major Preston, a retired Army man. Blake watches the major's house and, when he sees him leave it, calls at the door posing as a friend. He tells the manservant that he and another of the major's friends were due to meet here and asks permission to wait for the other man. It is granted, and thus he gains time alone in the suspect's study. There, he finds evidence of the poison used in the cigars. He leaves a note to inform Preston that he now has all the necessary evidence for a conviction and then returns to his quarters in Surbition where he awaits the expected reprisal. The major arrives and suggests they come to terms of some sort. Blake refuses and a gun battle ensues. Blake is hit in the shoulder but the villain is killed and the detective's "assistant" arrives in time to deal with the near unconscious investigator's wound.

Trivia: Shot in the shoulder — again!. This finishes a trilogy that began with the third of the PENNY PICTORIAL Blake tales (THE TRIANGLE, issue 430, 1907) and continued with the fourth (MARS II, issue 431, 1907).

Sexton Blake's "young assistant" is undoubtedly Tinker ... which begs the question, why not refer to him by name?

This is the last of the Surbiton tales. It was reprinted as a supplemental story in SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY 2nd series issue 230 under the title A FIGHT TO THE DEATH.

Rating: ★★★★☆ Like all the PENNY PICTORIAL tales this is fairly slight stuff ... but the pressure Blake is under is well portrayed and gives an insight into his character that is rarely found in the UNION JACK or SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY.

Notes: Miss Viola Royne visits Blake at his new lodgings in Messenger Square to ask for his assistance in the matter of Lord Richard Mansbridge's recent disappearance. She tells the criminologist that her fiancé had unexpectedly taken the Great Northern Express and had then mysteriously vanished from the private compartment he'd booked on it, leaving only his rifled dressing-case and traces of blood. Though he has estates in Scotland, he'd given neither warning nor reason for travelling to it. Miss Royne suggests to Blake that the affair must have something to do with a woman named Coralie. Mansbridge had met her while voyaging home from the States a few months back. She'd attempted to seduce him, had trapped him in an awkward situation, and had then lied about it, her story being supported by her brother. Mansbridge paid them off but Miss Royne thinks the couple are now blackmailing him again. Blake visits Mansbridge's servant, Anderson, who observes that in the reports of his master's disappearance it is mentioned that he was wearing an Astrakhan coat, which cannot be true, since that item of attire is still hanging on a hook at the missing man's home. Furthermore, he had never owned a dressing-case of the sort found on the train. Blake theorises that he was never on the train at all. The detective is able, by deciphering the clues, to narrow Mansbridge's probable location down to an isolated house. With Anderson, he quietly approaches the place, puts his ear to a window, and hears Mansbridge being tortured by Coralie, her brother, and another man. They are demanding twenty thousand pounds from him ... that or he will be killed! Bursting in and brandishing pistols, Blake and Anderson bring the unpleasant affair to a rapid conclusion.

Trivia: Sexton Blake has moved out of the cottage in Aston Villa, Surbiton, and into dilapidated lodgings in Messenger Square, Chelsea, where he is attempting to lose himself in chemical experiments. He is looked after by a manservant named Morrisson, and it is stated that he has recently lost nearly all of his money, though how this came about remains a mystery. Patently, something has gone seriously amiss in his life at this juncture. He appears to be either in the midst of a mental breakdown or on the brink of one. This tale sees the start of a period during which he is striving for a near hermit-like existence, though it constantly eludes him. He lives with very few possessions but keeps a pistol and repeater rifle close at hand — suggesting that he feels under constant threat despite having defeated the Triangle.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: Sexton Blake is visited by an acquaintance, a young lawyer named Oliver, who finds the detective has been neglecting himself while obsessing over chemical research. Taking him to dinner, Oliver tells him about the murder of a model named Mary Duncan who was found with her throat cut in her flat on Fernham Road. A few doors down lives a man named Jack Lane. Circumstantial evidence suggests that he and Mary had gone for a meal together, had argued violently, and he had then killed her. Oliver, though, believes that Lane is innocent. Blake agrees to look into the case and interviews Lane before proceeding to the murder scene. After inspecting it, he tears apart the police case and identifies the real killer.

Trivia: Messenger Square, off the King’s Road, Chelsea, consists of eighteen houses which, due to a legal case, are untenanted bar the one in which Sexton Blake is resident. The detective ‘had few friends in those days, and lived a life of almost complete solitude.’ Those few acquaintances he has signal their arrival by a secret knock at the door — all other knocks are ignored.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Notes: A King’s Messenger named Acton Poulett visits Sexton Blake after having been followed for the past two days. He’s on a mission to deliver an urgent letter to the Kaiser and wants to throw his pursuers off the track by carrying a dummy letter while Blake delivers the real one. The detective agrees to this and 48 hours later he hands the document to the Kaiser in Berlin. Upon his return to England, Blake finds that Poulett has been murdered and his body dumped in Marston Wood in Surrey. Visiting the crime scene, he discovers a ring which his subsequent investigations reveal was made in Vienna. Next, he visits Prince Zu Krastenburg at a residence in London. The Prince, it turns out, is a spy, the owner of the ring, and the murderer of Poulett. He reacts to his exposure in the only way his career allows: by putting a bullet through his own head.

Trivia: Sexton Blake periodically sits in his armchair and does absolutely nothing but stare blank-eyed at the ceiling. Sometimes this lasts for twenty-four hours. Other times it can go on for up to a week. During these ‘rest cures’ he doesn’t sleep. His house, in Messenger Square, is totally unfurnished apart from two armchairs, a desk and a bed. Blake belongs to The Gentleman’s Gentlemen’s Club where he is known as Mr. Banks.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: Blake, while waiting for a murderer named Tom Caxton to make his next move, becomes curious about the case of Mademoiselle Lucia Antonelli, the daughter of a wealthy Sicilian landowner. She had inexplicably gone missing while leaving a theatre. In particular, he's fascinated by the description of a brooch she was wearing at the time of her disappearance: a jewelled dagger. When he spots a coded message in a newspaper from one of Caxton's cohorts, arranging an assignation three days hence, Blake vows to be there. In the meantime, he visits Doctor Farrari, a former member of the Mafia with whom he has had previous dealings, much to that man's disadvantage. Blake has recalled once seeing a brooch like Lucia's in Farrari's possession, and theorises that it might be an emblem of the Mafia's inner circle. He gives Ferrari four days to find the girl and hand her over. If Ferrari fails in this, certain papers concerning him that Blake holds will be delivered to Scotland Yard. Blake then has his "young assistant" watch Ferrari's house and, three days later, the latter reports that the girl is being held in a structure at the back of it. Switching back to the Caxton case, Blake goes to the abandoned metal works to which the crook had been summoned by the coded message. As he enters, someone knocks him out. He recovers shut in a cupboard, and is astonished when, from it, he witnesses Lucia Antonelli entering the building. She crosses to a valve, twists it, and gas starts to flow into the room. Blake pounces on her and switches the gas off. He realises that Ferrari, aware of his pursuit of Caxton, had planted the code to lure him here and had tricked the girl into nearly murdering him. Blake has her turn the gas back on and fool Ferrari into entering, then he and she depart to fetch the police while the mafia man is left fumbling to locate the valve.

Trivia: In the majority of stories where Blake's reading of newspapers is described, he ploughs through piles of them, marks parts for Tinker to clip into the Baker Street Index, and then flings them aside. Here, though, during this peculiar period in his life, we are told that he has "given up the habit" and rarely reads them.

This case occurs on the 28th of November, and Blake is leading "a very lonely existence."

The detective makes a phone call to "a young assistant, who was in charge of his former and more central office." As in other such statements in the PENNY PICTORIAL tales, the assistant in question is undoubtedly Tinker. It's interesting, though, that he is "a young assistant," the implication being that there are others.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: Blake spends Christmas pheasant-shooting at the estate of his old friend, Sir John Yelverton. Among the other guests are Doctor Massey and Patricia Forbes, the latter a young woman who is prone to walk in her sleep. One night, Massey awakens Blake and claims to have just seen a ghost. Blake tells him the Yelverton legend: that the house is haunted by a ghost that always appears shortly before a death in the family. The spectre is that of Lady Anne, a royalist who'd somehow managed to conceal the family fortune from Cromwell's men back in the days of the English civil war. The detective investigates the spot where the ghost was seen and discovers the entrance to a secret passage. He then takes Massey to a seldom-used room to inspect a portrait of Lady Anne. The doctor recognises the woman as the ghost but also realises that she bears an uncanny resemblance to Patricia Forbes. The next morning, Miss Forbes fails to make an appearance. the doctor attends to her and reports to Blake that the young woman is exhausted, as she would be had she been wandering about in the night. Their conversation is overheard by another guest, a young member of the family named Oliver Dacre, whom neither of them much likes. Following the subsequent day of socialising, Blake and Massey lie in wait in the secret passage. In the dark, they hear Miss Forbes approaching and perceive that she's being followed by an unidentified individual. The girl cries out. Massey jumps forward to catch her as she faints while Blake grapples with the other person. Suddenly, there's a splintering sound, a scream and a thump. The detective lights his lamp to expose a secret room, the skeleton of Lady Anne, and the fabled family treasure. An open trapdoor is also revealed. Oliver Dacre had followed Miss Forbes hoping she'd lead him to the treasure. She had ... but he'd fallen to his death.

Trivia: "Blake rarely indulged in the luxury of a holiday. When he did so it usually took the form of a week's solitary rest in his dreary, untidy rooms at Messenger Square, where he would sit for hours on end doing nothing whatever, too indolent even to smoke."

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: Blake is visited at Messenger Square by his friend Luxmoore, who is a brilliant young medical researcher. Three days ago, there had been a big party for foreign dignitaries at Berrington Towers. The morning after, the hostess, the Duchess of Berrington, was found dead in her bed, a handkerchief soaked in chloroform on her pillow. All her jewels were missing. The police discovered evidence that the killer entered via the balcony but they are otherwise stumped. However, a couple of days ago, the duchess's friend, Lady Jack Maxwell, visited a clairvoyant named Hope Adrian who, in a trance, described the crime in every detail before then having a vision of a house in Battersea in which a man was lying in his bed under which the stolen jewels were hidden. The description given of the house was sufficient that, when it was reported to the police, they were able to locate it. The man inside was James Carr, an electrician who'd worked at Berrington Towers prior to the party. He was found in possession of some — but not all — of the stolen jewels. Luxmoore asks Blake to help him look into the matter with the hope that he can give scientific credence to clairvoyance. The criminologist agrees. He visits Scotland Yard where he learns that Carr had previously been accused of a crime but gave evidence that incriminated a fellow electrician known as Long Tom. The latter, convicted, had vowed revenge. Next, Blake and Luxmoore investigate the crime scene and Blake is able to trace the route via which the murderer made his escape. They then pay a visit to Hope Adrian and ask him to again envision the circumstances of the murder. Adrian goes into a trance but when he starts to recount details of what he is "seeing," Blake corrects him. Caught out, Adrian's true identity is exposed: he is Long Tom! Tom had committed the burglary and murder and had sought his revenge on Carr by implicating him. The jewels are recovered and the crook is arrested.

Trivia: The Lady Maxwell mentioned in this story is probably not Molly Maxwell who featured in THE TRAGEDY OF NO. 9 HOLE (Penny Pictorial issue 440) and who appears in many later tales. In the aforementioned story, Molly was to be married to Pat Landor, whereas the Maxwell in the current tale is married to "Jack."

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: Sir James Collier has mysteriously disappeared from his bedroom after an evening spent entertaining guests. He was due to play football for Derby against the Crimson Ramblers, a team touring from abroad and comprised of Americans, French and Germans. Without him in the squad, Derby lost 8-0; a win for the Ramblers' which means that, in a month, they'll play against England. The Ramblers' principle strikers — Courcy, Blitzen and Eclair — had been among Sir James' guests, so Blake decides to investigate them and the rest of the team. He and Tinker travel to Nottingham to watch a match. After it (a 10-0 drubbing for Nottingham), Blake spies on the team manager, Raymond, and comes to the conclusion that some kind of scam is underway, though how it works he cannot fathom. Later, Tinker's nosiness gets him into trouble. He is kidnapped by Raymond, Courcy, Blitzen and Eclair and taken to an abandoned mine. Lowered into a shaft, he finds himself in the company of a fellow kidnap victim: Sir James. The two of them, over a period of three days, explore the mine in the hope of finding a way out, nearly dying of thirst in the process. Blake, meanwhile, having discovered that Tinker is missing, believes that Raymond may have killed him. Breaking into the manager's hotel room, he discovers the secret of the rambler's winning streak. However, he is caught red-handed by the footballers and soon finds himself being lowered into the mineshaft too. By this time, though, Tinker and Sir James have escaped and they rescue the detective. Knowing the secret of the Ramblers' success, Blake now seeks to reproduce it. For days, he sweats in a workshop on Sir James' estate while the latter, with Tinker, practices soccer and conducts secret negotiations with the Football Association. Finally, Blake is ready and, when the match between the Crimson Ramblers and England begins, the crowd is astonished to see that three unknowns are in the home side squad. They are even more amazed when these three (who are, of course, Blake Tinker and Sir James) lead England to an incredible 30-0 victory! The Ramblers are exposed as cheats and, having been required to return the fortune in gate money that they've made, they are kicked out of the country.

Trivia: Sexton Blake's landlady has a son in this story. The question is: is the landlady Mrs Bardell? She's not mentioned by name.

This was anthologised in THE CASEBOOK OF SEXTON BLAKE (2009).

Rating: ★★★★★ This is a marvellously written story with some truly laugh-out-loud passages of dialogue. When Blake questions a barman who incessantly brings the conversation back to the local cow which swallowed something that disagreed with it, it's impossible to keep the giggles at bay. The climax, with Blake and Tinker playing for England, is tremendous and enough to rouse a cheer from even the most critical of readers. Furthermore, the author was decades ahead of Nike! All in all, this one is simply delightful.

Notes: My copy is missing the cover. Denis Ashley engages a special train to race to his ill father's bedside. He offers a lift to a man named Charters and his daughter. As the locomotive leaves the platform, a man races after it but Charters refuses to let Denis stop the train and the young man is thrown from the carriage. He is met by the pursuer, an American detective named Fenlock Fawn, who reveals that Charters is a well-known American crook, real name Brand Mallard. Fawn telegraphs ahead to Scotland Yard and Sergeant Carrow is dispatched to shadow Mallard from Waterloo Station. Carrow bumps into Sexton Blake, who correctly predicts that the criminal and his daughter will have abandoned the train before its arrival. He also theorises that Fawn has been lured into a trap. He races to the other detective's rescue and saves him from being gassed. As Mallard escapes, he knocks down Sergeant Carrow then shoots him in the leg, possibly crippling him for life. Blake vows that the American crook will serve a long sentence in Dartmoor for this. Fawn, though, wants him extradited to America where, in return for giving information about high profile crime operations, he will be offered a light sentence. The two detectives agree to work in competition. Mallard, by this time, has reached a country house prepared for him by his two confederates, Shirley Canfield and Wendel Vickers. Their plotting is overheard by Mallard's adopted daughter, Hazel, who now realises that her guardian caused her father's death. Mallard keeps her a prisoner for a week before she escapes and runs into Tinker, who, with Sexton Blake, is searching the area. The pair then encounter Denis Ashley, who lives in the neighbourhood. The three crooks catch up with Hazel and a fight breaks out, during which Canfield is shot in the shoulder. Denis is overpowered and Hazel is recaptured but Tinker makes a getaway and reports back to his guv'nor. With the help of Pedro, Blake identifies the crook's house. He then discovers that Fenlock Fawn is also on the trail and in the area. The two detective raid the house but accidentally confound each other's efforts, allowing the villains to escape. They do, however, find and rescue the imprisoned Denis Ashley. Blake keeps track of Fawn's progress and learns that his rival is back on Mallard's trail, having moved into a town house next to the one now occupied by the villain. However, before Blake can make a move, Wendel Vickers does: breaking into the detective's Baker Street home and attacking him. Tinker knocks the crook unconscious and Blake, disguised as Vickers, heads for Mallard's house. Tinker follows Fawn, who enters Mallard's place via the skylight. The youngster soon finds himself fighting to liberate Hazel, while Fawn battles with Mallard. Blake joins the fray but it is Fawn who captures the criminal, escorting him to a yacht on the Thames, ready to sail to America. Blake, though, is not beaten. With the assistance of Detective-Inspector Widgeon, he intercepts the yacht and arrests Mallard. Fawn accepts defeat.

Trivia: Tinker seems quite young in this story and is referred to as a 'boy' more than once. He experiences an intense affection for Hazel, complete with jealousy and heartfelt sighs. This reminds Sexton Blake of his own youth and he recalls an unnamed woman whom he had loved. We also learn that Blake drives a Mors car during this period.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Notes: Sexton Blake and Tinker are in Africa on a mission to rescue Sir Richard Losely, Governor of Musardu and the Bambarra hinterlands, from a slaver named the White Death. While on reconnaissance around the slaver's camp, Tinker is captured. Blake establishes contact with an African warrior named Lobangu who, though working for the slaver, is sympathetic to the white man and determined to kill the White Death. The two of them sneak into the camp in the guise of buyers and create the illusion that a British task force is attacking. The diversion is successful and Sir Richard, Tinker, Lobangu and Blake make their getaway during the confusion. A thrilling canoe chase and gunfight ensues until the fugitives reach safety. Learning that the White Death intends to travel into unknown territory where a dwarf tribe, the Marani, guards mountains veined with priceless rubies, Blake determines to reach the territory first to set a trap. Lobangu lays a trail, to give the impression that they are fleeing, in the hope that the villains will waste time following the diversion. The group then begins a fast march to the distant mountains, allying themselves with friendly tribesmen along the way. Upon reaching the rocky heights, Blake and Losely parley with the Marani and have soon gathered a small army. They set an ambush for the White Death and attack his safari as it enters a rocky gorge. Soon all the slaver's men are dead and only he remains. Sir Richard challenges him to one-to-one combat. They fight with scimitars and the White Death is killed.

Trivia: Sir Richard Losely is married and has a young son named Leonard. Losely is a huge 6' 4" character, possibly inspired by Sir Richard Francis Burton via Rider Haggard. Though he is a few years older than Blake, they were at school together at St. Ermin's, where Losely had been nicknamed 'Spots' and Blake 'Blackamoor'.

This story was reprinted in an abridged version in THE BOYS' FRIEND LIBRARY issue 246 (1913) and anthologised in THE CASEBOOK OF SEXTON BLAKE (2009).

Rating: ★★★★★ A tightly written, action-packed adventure of the first order. This one has everything; thrills, spills and laughs, excellent characters and a brilliantly realised African setting. What's more, it introduces two favourite recurring characters: Sir Richard Losely and Lobangu. Marvellous! Incidentally, Fred Bennett's illustrations for this issue are among the best he ever produced for the Blake saga.

Notes: My copy is missing the cover. This was reprinted in PENNY POPULAR issue 8 as THE LOST LAIRD (1912).

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Notes: This was reprinted in PENNY POPULAR issue 9 as A DASH FOR FREEDOM (1912).

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Notes: The story is inspired by the earthquake that took place in Jamaica this year. It begins at a plantation on that island and tells of Desmond Berenger's marriage; of the kidnapping of his only child and the death of his wife; of his discovery that his cousin, Hedley Sherston, was responsible; and of their subsequent confrontation during which Sherston confesses that the boy is dead after being lost at sea. Desmond, distraught and suffering from a fever, dies ... but not before making a will leaving his fortune to his faithful servant, Black Tom, and entrusting him with a letter proving Sherston's guilt. Years later, Tom arrives in Baker Street seeking Sexton Blake's help (he says Blake was recommended by his friend Kalulu, who we met in SEXTON BLAKE IN THE CONGO in BOYS' FRIEND issues 294 to 313). Tom reveals that before he could hand the will and letter to the authorities, Sherston's overseer, Mark Legrand, sold him into slavery on the island of Hayti while Sherston himself inherited his cousin's property. After three years, Tom escaped back to Jamaica but couldn't find where he'd hidden the documents. Blake takes on the case and sails to Jamaica where he, Tinker and Tom begin to search for a house with a crack in its wall; the place where Tom had concealed the paperwork. Pretty soon, the detective falls into the clutches of the villains and, bound and gagged, he's abandoned in a hut in the middle of the 'Yellow Swamp'. Tinker sets out on a rescue mission, narrowly avoiding a hungry alligator, but is soon caught too. Tom and Pedro come to the rescue and soon they are all back searching for the lost letter. Eventually, they find the house ... at exactly the same time as Sherston and Legrand. Meanwhile, in Kingston, a young sailor, Dick Carter, is having an uncomfortable conversation with his superior, Captain Reynolds. Carter loves Reynold's daughter, Mabel, but he is penniless and adopted, in contrast to Mabel who is the heiress to a fortune, and the Captain disapproves of their relationship. Before the problem can be resolved, Jamaica is hit by a massive earthquake. At the house, Legrand and Sherston are killed by falling masonry. Tinker finds the lost documents in the rubble then our heroes set off to help the emergency services in Kingston. During the rescue efforts, they are joined by Dick Carter, who Tom immediately recognises as the lost son of Desmond Berenger. Dick inherits the fortune, marries Mabel, and Tom is restored to his position as faithful family retainer (which is all he ever wanted anyway).

Rating: ★★★☆☆ If you can forgive the appalling characterisations of black Jamaicans (unfortunately, typical of the time when this story was written), this is quite a satisfying tale. Black Tom is lovable and tremendously courageous, giving the story much pathos.

Notes: This was reprinted in PENNY POPULAR issue 31 as SEXTON BLAKE'S MISSION (1913).

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Notes: My copy is missing the cover. This was reprinted in PENNY POPULAR issue 7 as THE MISSING HEIR (1912).

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Notes: Sexton Blake, Tinker and Pedro have returned to Africa to join Sir Richard Losely on a mission. However, before they embark upon this, Tinker is sent to fetch Lobangu. He and the giant Zulu chieftain fight their way through hostile natives and journey back to Blake and Losely where Lobangu is informed that Losely is searching for a distant relative. This person, descended from the union of an African explorer of the Losely clan and a half African/half Arab native, stands to inherit a large English estate. Upon hearing this, Lobangu begins to act in a mysterious manner and sends Tinker to bring back wise men from a little-known tribe. Through these, proofs are gained that Lobangu is, in fact, the man Losely has been looking for. The giant Zulu becomes Lord Averstock, sixth baron of Averstock and Marne. He travels to England with his friends who have the difficult task of teaching him the manners and conventions of civilisation. After many an hilarious run-in with the various contraptions and institutions of good old Blighty, Lobangu has had enough and wants to go home. When he reveals that diamonds lie in sacred mountains near where his brother rules the Etbaia, Losely and Blake decide to accompany him. Back in Africa, they find that the diamonds are guarded by a lost tribe of Egyptians who have mastery over natural sources of electricity. They manage to defeat these cruel and corrupt guardians of the treasure and lay claim to the fortune. This ensures the security and prosperity of the Etbaia tribe.

Trivia: It has been 'many moons' since the events of THE SLAVE MARKET and during that time Blake and Tinker have been back in England. It is stated that Lobangu is 37 years of age.

Easter double issue. This is a sequel to THE SLAVE MARKET. It was reprinted in an abridged version in THE BOYS' FRIEND LIBRARY issue 246 (1913).

Rating: ★★★★★

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Notes: This was reprinted in PENNY POPULAR issue 32 as THE PRODIGAL'S PRIDE (1913).

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Notes: This was reprinted in PENNY POPULAR issue 36 as THE MISSING TREATY (1913).

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Notes: A. C. Murray is notable as the author who penned the first ever story for the NELSON LEE LIBRARY. This Blake tale was reprinted in PENNY POPULAR issue 37 as SEXTON BLAKE ON 'CHANGE (1913).

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Notes: This was reprinted in PENNY POPULAR issue 38 as THE PICTURE STEALERS (1913).

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Notes: This was reprinted in two parts in PENNY POPULAR issue 34 as THE MAN IN POSSESSION and PENNY POPULAR issue 35 as THE LONG LANE MYSTERY (1913).

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Notes: This was reprinted in PENNY POPULAR issue 40 as THE PRESIDENT DETECTIVE (1913).

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Notes: Parts of this were reprinted (or rewritten?) in PENNY POPULAR issue 82 as IN DEEP WATERS and in PENNY POPULAR issue 83 as AN INTERNATIONAL AFFAIR (1914).

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Notes: Sexton Blake, Tinker and Pedro are enjoying a holiday in Africa with Sir Richard Losely and Lobangu. After liberating an Arab slave trader's captives, they learn that a white man — who they are able to identify as an explorer named Edgar Mainwaring — is being held captive and tortured by a mysterious tribe not far from their current location. Mainwaring had come to Africa to research beri-beri, the sleeping sickness, but seems to have stumbled upon a plot that threatens Great Britain. The adventurers mount a rescue mission and trek through a massive forest in which they are attacked by pygmies and almost killed by a cyclone. They also acquire an additional travelling companion — a chimpanzee that Tinker names Jemima. Clues lead them to an island on a large lake but, upon arrival, they drink from a spring and immediately fall into a drugged sleep. Blake awakens to find that he, Tinker and Losely are prisoners of a Chinaman named Li Yen, the head of a small tribe of masked villains. Li Yen has been experimenting on Mainwaring and has perfected a potent form of beri-beri which he intends to release into Britain's reservoirs. The detective manages to overpower his guards, gain some rifles and barricade himself and his friends in part of the enemy base but when Li Yen released infected flies into the captured rooms the Englishmen have to battle the sleeping sickness. Soon only Blake is left standing. Lobangu, who had been overlooked by Li Yen, is able to contact Blake and learns that there's a cure for beri-beri at an oasis forty miles to the north. He runs there and back and, with help from Jemima, delivers the antidote. Recovered, Blake and his friends win the day. Li Yen commits suicide.

Trivia: My copy is missing its cover. This tale marks another occasion where Blake is ordered to rest by his doctors.

Rating: ★★★★★

Notes: This was reprinted in PENNY POPULAR issue 42 as STARS OF THE OPERA (1913).

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Notes: My copy is missing the cover. This was reprinted in PENNY POPULAR issue 41 as COUNTERFEIT COIN (1913).

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Notes: This was reprinted in PENNY POPULAR issue 43 as THE GHOST OF ASHLEIGH DENE (1913).

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Notes: Some days ago, during negotiations with a tribal chief, Blake, Tinker, Pedro, Sir Richard Losely, Lobangu and a small escort of soldiers had been ambushed. A running battle was fought all the way to the coast, by which time most of the soldiers were dead. The survivors had managed to escape by boat but, after a storm broke their mast, they were set adrift. Now they are battle weary, wounded, starved and thirsty, with little hope of rescue. However, it eventually comes in the form of the Mary How — a whaling ship controlled by the brutal Captain Savage. Despite their weak state, this man bullies his new passengers remorselessly, so, after they have recovered and been forced to join the crew, they begin a subtle campaign of revenge, using the contents of the medicine chest. Blake, meanwhile, proves his worth by making the ship's first catch (in fascinating scenes describing traditional whaling techniques). Unfortunately, in doing so, he enrages his far less efficient shipmates and a massive fight breaks out which ends with Blake & co. trapped in the fo'c's'le. However, by creeping through the hold, they manage to swap positions with Savage and are soon masters of the ship. A carpenter named Jocelyn joins forces with them and, as the ship, which has sailed far north by now, approaches pack ice, they depart from it in one of the whaling boats and head for land. Once there, they build an igloo and hunt seal for meat and skins. After some hair-raising encounters with polar bears, Blake and his friends eventually fall in with a tribe of eskimos who guide them to a friendly whaling ship. Aboard this, they head for home. En route, they find the crushed remains of the Mary How and witness its last two survivors — Captain Savage and his First Mate — kill each other in a feud over their dwindling supplies.

Trivia: For some unaccountable reason Sir Richard Losely's surname has been altered to Loseby in this issue.

Rating: ★★★★★ A very entertaining issue filled with extremely convincing accounts of whaling as it was done in the days before mechanisation. Perhaps rather disturbing for conservation-conscious modern readers but, nevertheless, of real historical value.

Notes: This was reprinted in PENNY POPULAR issue 45 as SEXTON BLAKE, LUMBERJACK (1913).

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Notes: Parts of this were reprinted (or rewritten?) in PENNY POPULAR issue 84 as A DIPLOMATIC TRIANGLE and in PENNY POPULAR issue 85 as HIGH TREASON (1914).

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Notes: This was reprinted in PENNY POPULAR issue 44 as CHECKMATED (1913).

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Notes: This was reprinted in PENNY POPULAR issue 39 as COUNT NAVANI'S COUP (1913).

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Notes: This was reprinted in PENNY POPULAR issue 46 as THE MASTER CHEAT (1913).

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Notes: Parts of this were reprinted (or rewritten?) in PENNY POPULAR issue 86 as TRANSPORTED FOR LIFE and PENNY POPULAR issue 87 as A STRUGGLE FOR LIBERTY (both 1914).

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Notes: The Workmen's Compensation Act (passed in 1897) was extensively amended in 1906 to allow workers to claim compensation for any injuries suffered at their place of employment. Inspired by contemporary events, this story begins when Sexton Blake is called upon to investigate a massive insurance swindle. Thousands of fraudulent claims are being made and it appears that the scam is a well organised one. Blake's dogged detective work leads to Lord Percival Desperre but, before he can pursue this any further, Tinker is kidnapped and Blake is warned to cease his investigations or his assistant's life will be forfeit. The detective retaliates by kidnapping Lord Desperre and posting an ad in the papers warning that whatever treatment Tinker suffers at the villains' hands will be applied, in return, to his prisoner. It works; Tinker is freed and Desperre is let loose. Blake is now convinced that the swindlers are among the aristocracy, so he and Tinker begin to move among upper class society. Spotting their suspects, they trail them to the Isle of Wight where they finally encounter the architect of the swindle: the beautiful Countess Zelia. The otherwise innocent Desperre has fallen under this woman's spell, finding himself, against his better judgement, involved in the crime. When she flees to her yacht, Desperre and Tinker meet each other at her house where they find evidence of her villainy. The young aristocrat realises that he has been fooled. Blake, meanwhile, is captured, taken out on a stormy sea and thrown overboard. Tinker, following in a tug boat, mounts a heroic rescue. As the storm worsens, the yacht flounders and her crew abandon ship leaving the Countess to her fate. Blake saves her and discovers that she's actually a European Princess who, after being betrayed, has fallen on hard times.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆ After a slow start, this one builds to a dramatic climax that just about prevents it from being instantly forgettable. For the social historian, it reveals an interesting attitude towards aristocracy. The implication is that even when the upper classes 'go off the rails', they do so for a good reason and can win redemption through their inherent 'better nature'.

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Notes: Rather bizarrely, this story was split up and reprinted as four separate tales in PENNY POPULAR. Chapters 9 to 13 were revised in PENNY POPULAR issue 49 as AT GRIPS WITH THE LAW; chapters 1, 2, 14, 15, 16 and 23 were revised in PENNY POPULAR issue 63 as SEXTON BLAKE'S RESOLVE; chapters 17 to 22 were revised for PENNY POPULAR issue 64 as THE SLATE CLUB SWINDLER (all 1913); and chapters 3 to 8 were revised for PENNY POPULAR issue 65 GAMBLING WITH FATE (1914).

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Notes: This was reprinted in PENNY POPULAR issue 47 as BY THE KING'S COMMAND (1913).

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Notes: Parts of this were reprinted (or rewritten?) in PENNY POPULAR issue 48 as THE WILMINGHAM GANG (1913) and PENNY POPULAR issue 69 as SEXTON BLAKE'S STRANGE QUEST (1914).

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