Sexton Blake Bibliography: 1913

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Notes: Story features Dr. Huxton Rymer.

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Notes: This is an abridged reprint of a serial that ran in THE BOYS' FRIEND from issue 537 to 562 (1911).

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Notes: This is an abridged version of a serial that ran in THE BOYS' FRIEND from issue 562 to 586 (1912).

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Notes: A double issue with two stories featuring Sir Richard Losely and Lobangu. The stories are reprints from UNION JACK issues 171 (which was also anthologised in 2009 in THE CASEBOOK OF SEXTON BLAKE) and 181 (both from 1907). The reviews are from readings of the original versions.

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.

Rating: ★★★★★

Notes: Rupert Forbes, once a leader of society until he was discovered to be the head of an international gang of forgers, is being transported from prison to court when a train crash gives him the opportunity to escape. He takes the money and clothing of one of the crash victims, Austin Graves, and creates a new identity: Gerald Austin. In this guise, over the next twelve months, he rises to a position of power as a financial magnate. He employs Graves's niece, Dorothy Ford, as his secretary and makes romantic advances towards her, knowing that she is due a large inheritance. She rejects him, being already engaged to Donald Grey, who is the son of a casualty of Rupert Forbes's crooked dealings. Dorothy notices that Austin is a young man disguised to look older. Furthermore, she finds that he is in possession of her uncle's watch. She tells Donald Grey of this and he promises to go to Sexton Blake. However, that night, Grey is framed by Forbes for a robbery and is tricked into going abroad, where he is held captive. Dorothy visits Blake who, after piecing together the clues, is quick to conclude that Gerald Austin is behind events and is, in fact, Rupert Forbes. Meanwhile, Forbes puts into motion another scheme, which deprives a baronet of two hundred thousand pounds. Blake investigates and once again sees evidence of Forbes's involvement. By now, though, Forbes knows that the detective is on to him and so he attempts to murder Blake but is foiled by Pedro. Sexton Blake retaliates by tricking 'Gerald Austin' into leaving examples of his fingerprints, which are then matched with those of Forbes at Scotland Yard. He then taps into Forbes's telephone and learns that the crook is planning to intercept a secret shipment of bullion meant for the Bank of England. Forbes kidnaps Dorothy and takes her to Rotterdam, not realising that Tinker has stowed away on his barge. He imprisons the girl in a cell under the house of Van Hayden, a crooked diamond dealer. Donald Grey is held in the cell next door and manages to escape with his fiancée. Blake arrives at the house disguised as Gerald Austin and is met there by Forbes, disguised as Van Hayden. The detective is exposed, captured and imprisoned on the same barge in which Tinker is hiding. The villains tow this out to sea to sink it but, under cover of a thick fog, Blake and Tinker unfasten the tow rope and make a getaway. They then fake the sinking of the barge. Believing them dead, Forbes returns to London, disguises himself as Sexton Blake, and enters the detective's Baker Street rooms to retrieve the evidence against him. Finding that the detective has foreseen this move, he leaves empty handed. With his assistant, Tony, he then travels to Plymouth to intercept the bullion while disguised as Detective-Inspector Martin. However, Blake and Scotland Yard have set an ambush and Forbes is finally captured. He receives a life sentence.

Trivia: Detective-Inspector Martin is described as being blue-eyed and a wearer of spectacles. Two of the 'street arabs' who occasionally assist Blake are named: The Weasel and Tiny. This is a reprint of UNION JACK issue 269 (1908). It is the middle of a trilogy that began with THE MYSTERY OF THE EGYPTIAN BONDS (THE PENNY PICTORIAL, issue 491, 24/10/1908) and ends with THE MERVYN MYSTERY (THE BOYS' FRIEND LIBRARY, issue 96, Sep. 1909).

Rating: ★★★★★ A long, extremely well-written and thrilling tale.

Notes: See the first instalment for review.

Rating: ★★★★★

Notes: See the first instalment for review.

Rating: ★★★★★

Notes: See the first instalment for review.

Rating: ★★★★★

Notes: Story features George Marsden Plummer.

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Notes: Story features George Marsden Plummer.

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Notes: Story features George Marsden Plummer.

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Notes: Story features George Marsden Plummer.

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Notes: Story features George Marsden Plummer.

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Notes: Story features George Marsden Plummer.

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Notes: Story features George Marsden Plummer.

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Notes: Story features George Marsden Plummer.

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Notes: Story features George Marsden Plummer.

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Notes: Story features George Marsden Plummer.

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Notes: Story features George Marsden Plummer.

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Notes: Story features George Marsden Plummer.

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Notes: Story features George Marsden Plummer.

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Notes: Story features George Marsden Plummer.

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Notes: I don't own this issue but the episode's content is summarised in the issue that follows. An eccentric American millionaire named Silas P. Fosdyke is enraged when Sir Henry Lovelace refuses to sell his famous jewel collection. Fosdyke is approached by Count Ivor Carlac, who offers to get the jewels in return for £200,000. The American agrees to this plan. Assisted by a crook named Pendleton — who operates under the alias of James Carter — Carlac kidnaps Lovelace's daughter, Marjorie, and demands the jewels in return for her safe release. Sexton Blake, Tinker and William Spearing take up the case and, together with Marjorie's fiancé, Vincent Treehearn, they track Carlac to a cottage near Beckenham. Carlac sees them approaching and leaps into a car to escape. As it speeds away, Blake dives at it ...

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: Blake misses the car and Count Ivor Carlac speeds away. Some days later, an almost penniless, George Marsden Plummer decides to break into a large house. However, he spots another man who has evidently had the same idea and so waits for him to open the safe in the building's study. This done, Plummer jumps into through the French windows only to find that the burglar is his old partner John Marsh. The two men agree to work together but are interrupted when the door opens and a man comes through wielding a pistol. Plummer recognises him as Carlac. The three criminals decide to team up to rob Sir Henry Lovelace. His jewel collection will be on display at his daughter Marjorie's coming-of-age party. They'll be guarded by William Spearing. The three crooks plan to kidnap Spearing and — with Carlac disguised and masquerading as the detective — steal the jewels. Plummer, though, secretly plots to betray his two colleagues. They put their scheme into action: Plummer, disguised as the Home Secretary, visits Spearing, lures him into a car and tries to knock him unconscious.

Trivia: William Spearing's detective agency is located on Victoria Street, London. He has two assistants: Steel and Hodges.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: Count Ivor Carlac and George Marsden Plummer return to Carlac's house by Streatham Common. When John Marsh also arrives, Plummer rages at him for allowing William Spearing to escape. After securing the stolen jewels in a safe, the three crooks retire for the night. At three in the morning, Plummer sneaks down the stairs, removes the jewels from the safe, and departs. He is spotted by Blake, Tinker and Spearing, who have just arrived at Streatham Common. Blake sets Spearing on his trail, then he and Tinker return to Baker Street. Detective-Inspector Lurgan is given the address of the house and told of Carlac and Marsh's presence there. The next morning, Blake receives a letter from Plummer in which the criminal informs him that he has absconded with the jewels and urges him to arrest Carlac and Marsh so they are prevented from following him. Spearing reports that Plummer is in the U.S.A. Hotel, disguised as a Frenchman. Blake realises that this is the same hotel where Silas P. Fosdyke is resident. Accompanied by Detective-Inspector Martin, he waits outside Fosdyke's room and pounces as a man emerges. Unfortunately, it is the American millionaire. Inside the room, seeing the ambush, Plummer, who has traded the jewels for Fosdyke's £200,000, flees through a window. Tinker, waiting outside, pursues him.

Trivia: Mention is made of Plummer's murderous attack on Tinker in THE GREAT BANK FRAUD (UNION JACK issue 473, 1912).

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: Pedro's nose leads Blake and Tinker towards the town of Market Dutton. There, some time earlier, Carling visits his former partner in crime, Captain Horatio Peak, and threatens to kill him. Peak had promised that, while Carling was in prison, he would send money to his wife. She, however, had received nothing and had died, leaving Carling's son and daughter as orphans. They had subsequently disappeared. Peak is defended by a young girl named Little Pearl, who Carling recognises as his long lost daughter. After dismissing her, Peak informs the escaped convict that he has been looking after his children and found a good job for his son. He then sends Carling to a place of safety after promising to raise enough cash for him to leave the country. Meanwhile, Blake and Tinker draw ever closer.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: I don't currently own issues 72, 73 or 74 but according to the summary in issue 75 the following events occur over the span of these three instalments: Blake hears Carling's story and promises to help. The escaped convict is returned to gaol. Sending Tinker to keep an eye on Captain Horatio Peak and to find an individual that Carling calls 'Blight', Sexton Blake returns to the scene of the murder. He meets a gipsy named Lengro Lea, who tells the detective it was Jeb Irons who committed the murder. Blake returns with Lea to the gipsy encampment where Irons is living. Meanwhile, Tinker sees burglars entering Captain Peak's house and, hearing a scream, hurries to the rescue with Pedro.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: See issue 72 (above).

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: See issue 72 (above).

Rating: ★★★☆☆

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Notes: This is an abridged reprint of UNION JACK issue 79 SECRETS OF A GREAT CITY (1905).

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Notes: This is an abridged reprint of UNION JACK issue 102 THE NAVY DETECTIVE (1905).

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Notes: This is an abridged reprint of UNION JACK issue 118 THE LOST CHIEF (1906).

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Notes: This is an abridged reprint of UNION JACK issue 130 THE CIRCUS DETECTIVE (1906).

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Notes: Sexton Blake is feeling rather indignant after Scotland Yard's failure to acknowledge his contribution to crime fighting. The Yard is always happy to take the credit after he tips them off but is slow to thank him. Spearing is a prime example of this attitude, and Blake decides that it's time to teach him and his ilk a lesson. So he lays a bet that he can disappear in London after setting a £500 reward for his own capture. Spearing accepts the challenge. Blake hides ... by joining the police force! In disguise, he becomes 'Constable Brown' and rapidly achieves a string of successful arrests, practically clearing the local area of criminals. Finally, after successfully investigating a murder and catching the perpetrator, he is called to Scotland Yard and Spearing puts him onto the Blake case. The detective has been asked to hunt himself! 'P. C. Brown' makes a trail for Pedro to follow and reports to Spearing that he is on Blake's track. The Yard man accompanies him to Baker Street where they borrow the bloodhound. The trail leads to a pond. Spearing thinks the detective has committed suicide after failing over a case (which Blake finds vastly amusing) but when they drag the pond, instead of a body, they find a sack filled with loot from a recent robbery. The next day, 'Brown' visits a friend he has made in the force, Sergeant Lightening, and reveals his true identity. He arranges to meet Lightening at Spearing's office. There, as arranged, the sergeant exposes Blake in front of the inspector, much to the latter's chagrin. After an initial outburst, Spearing accepts his defeat in good humour and so begins his long and productive relationship with Sexton Blake. Lightening, meanwhile, gets the £500 reward and retires a happy man.

Trivia: This is an abridged reprint of UNION JACK issue 105 SEXTON BLAKE P. C. (1905). The review is based on a reading of that issue.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: This is an abridged reprint of UNION JACK issue 110 THE JOCKEY DETECTIVE (1905).

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Notes: This is an abridged reprint of UNION JACK issue 117 THE REPORTER DETECTIVE (1906).

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Notes: This is an abridged reprint of UNION JACK issue 108 SEXTON BLAKE'S COUP (1905).

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Notes: This is an abridged reprint of UNION JACK issue 129 THE DISGUISE DETECTIVE (1906).

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Notes: This is an abridged reprint of UNION JACK issue 107 THE CAB DRIVER DETECTIVE (1905).

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Notes: This is an abridged reprint of UNION JACK issue 160 LOST PEDRO (1906).

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Notes: This is an abridged reprint of UNION JACK issue 143 THE COLLIER DETECTIVE (1906).

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Notes: This is an abridged reprint of UNION JACK issue 147 FOOTLIGHT FAVOURITES (1906).

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Notes: An American detective named Cyrus Deep asks Blake to assist him with a case of kidnapping. The 14-year-old son of a US millionaire — Elias Money — is being held to ransom. When Blake is then visited by one of Money's friends, James Carew, he quickly identifies him as the villain; all he needs is evidence. The next day he receives a mocked-up photograph showing the boy being threatened and a note telling him to cease his investigation. He traces the photograph to a down-and-out photographer who confirms that he was commissioned to fake it by Carew. Cyrus Deep continues to flounder as Blake's superior skills keep him guessing but feels a little happier when he's given the task to follow Carew, whom Blake expects to leave the country with his hostage in tow. Unfortunately, Deep is assaulted and left unconscious. Blake learns that the villain and his captive have departed on a steamer bound for America. He sends the recovered Cyrus Deep in pursuit on his own yacht, The Swift, but then learns that Carew has a plan to change ships during the voyage. He and Tinker set sail for New York, overtaking Carew to meet and arrest him at the port.

Trivia: This is an abridged reprint of UNION JACK issue 144 THE AMERICAN DETECTIVE (1906).

Rating: ★★☆☆☆ Norman Goddard's version of Sexton Blake is a little too brusque, arrogant and downright rude for my tastes. In this case, he treats a well-meaning fellow detective as an inept amateur for no apparent reason other than to feed his own ego. The tale itself is slight and ends very suddenly, as if Goddard lost interest halfway through.

Notes: This is an abridged reprint of UNION JACK issue 150 THE MISSING 13 (1906).

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Notes: This is an abridged reprint of UNION JACK issue 152 THE STEWARD DETECTIVE (1906).

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Notes: This is an abridged reprint of UNION JACK issue 153 SEXTON BLAKE AMONG THE BRIGANDS (1906).

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Notes: Sexton Blake is summoned to Germany by Kaiser Wilhelm II and is accompanied there by a German detective named Gustav Metz. A valuable document has been stolen from that country's war office and the Kaiser wants it back. Irritated by the presumptuous manner in which he is treated, Blake is leisurely in his response, thus earning the enmity of the Kaiser's aide, Colonel von Wortz, and, initially, of the Kaiser himself. After making a reluctant apology, Wilhelm informs the detective that the missing document is a plan for the invasion of England. Blake agrees to search for it but he secretly vows to make a copy for the British government. Given authority by the Kaiser, he proceeds with the investigation. The first lead comes from Detective-Inspector Spearing, who, without knowing the nature of the papers, is also looking for the document. He's been trailing a man named James Setton. Disguised as army officers, the two detectives go to Setton's hotel room where they find him in conference with von Wortz. Blake immediately realises that von Wortz is the thief and Setton the buyer — but rather than arrest them, the detective bluffs and leaves. The next day, with help from Spearing and Metz, he organises the capture of Setton. He then disguises himself as the prisoner and meets von Wortz who, convinced by Blake's mimicry, reveals that the document is to be taken to the fort at Schnellberg. Setton escapes and holds Blake at gunpoint. The detective is then taken to the fort and thrown into a dungeon. He's rescued by Metz and the two men immediately arrest von Wortz and Setton and leave them imprisoned. Blake searches von Wortz's rooms but cannot find the stolen plans. He decides to allow von Wortz to escape in the hope that the Colonel will inadvertently lead him to the documents. This plan works, von Wortz is re-arrested and Sexton Blake, disguised as the aide, takes the plans to Setton and frees him from the dungeon. Together they escape to a train station where Metz and Spearing swoop and arrest Setton. Unseen by them, Blake slips the plans to Tinker who hops onto the train and begins his journey back to England. Blake and Spearing then clap handcuffs onto Metz and leave him locked up while they make their getaway. Back in Baker Street, Sexton Blake finds evidence that Tinker has had the plan photographed as planned — but of his assistant there is no sign. The following day Kaiser Wilhelm walks into the consulting room. He has had Tinker captured and will not return him until the plans are handed over. Blake responds by having Spearing arrest his visitor on a charge of kidnapping. After spending a night in a police cell, the Kaiser relents and delivers Tinker to Baker Street, where a furious Metz is now waiting. Blake hands the plans to him and the Germans depart. Blake retains his copy of the document.

Trivia: This is an abridged reprint of UNION JACK issue 154 THE GERMAN DETECTIVE (1906). The review is based on a reading of that issue.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: This is an abridged reprint of UNION JACK issue 177 SALVATION ARMY BLAKE (1907).

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Notes: This is an abridged reprint of UNION JACK issue 185 THE REMITTANCE MAN (1907).

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Notes: A letter, found in a secondhand jacket, is delivered to Sexton Blake two years after it was written. It's author, Anthony Ferrers, writing from the Swiss Alps where he was on holiday with his guardian, John Ward, and that man's son, claims that someone is trying to kill him, though he has no idea why. Blake finds that Ferrers is currently at Crossbrooks, his estate, and goes there to see him. Ferrers nervously claims to have no memory of writing the letter but John Ward informs Blake that the lad had been almost delusional two years ago after the death of his father. Dissatisfied, Blake leaves but his pony and trap is driven off the road by a ghost and the detective is pinned under the wreckage. The apparition, thinking him unconscious, rifles through his pockets and removes Ferrers' letter. As the supposed phantom makes away, Blake identifies it as Ward. After being rescued by local farmers, the detective returns to Baker Street and, with Tinker and Pedro, sets off for the Alps to investigate why the letter had been written. Ward follows and tries to assassinate Blake, first by shooting at him on a train, then by planting a bomb. The detective and his assistant survive these attempts. However, in Switzerland, as they climb up towards the mountain village from which Ferrer's letter had been addressed, they are betrayed by their guide, Kasper Ruegg, who sends them plummeting down a sheer slope. They land in soft snow and begin hiking towards their destination. After narrowly surviving various mountain perils, including an avalanche, they make it to a refuge hut and here find Ruegg, capturing him. A few hours later, John Ward arrives and liberates his henchman, both fleeing. Blake and Tinker pursue but fall into a crevasse. Here they find the body of Anthony Ferrers entombed in ice. Blake reveals that the man he had met at Crossbrooks is Ward's son, who has been masquerading as Ferrers in order to claim the estate. As hypothermia sets in, the two detectives despair of rescue. Pedro, though, has escaped from his keeper back at the hotel where his masters had left him and has followed them up the mountain. Encountering Ruegg on the edge of the crevasse, the bloodhound attacks. The criminal is driven over the edge and falls, landing at Blake's feet. The detective appropriates the dead man's ice axe and, with it, is able to climb to safety, with Tinker following. Returning to the nearest town, they spot John Ward aboard a sleigh and there follows a thrilling chase which finally ends when Pedro attacks. Ward, recoiling from the hound, falls beneath the runner of his sleigh and is killed.

Trivia: This is an abridged reprint of UNION JACK issue 167 LOST ON THE ALPS (1906). The review is based on a reading of that issue.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: This is taken from chapters 1 and 2, and 9, 10 and 11 of UNION JACK issue 195 THE BROKERS MAN (1907).

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Notes: This is taken from chapters 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 of UNION JACK issue 195 THE BROKERS MAN (1907).

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Notes: This is an abridged reprint of UNION JACK issue 187 THE EMPTY HOUSE (1907).

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Notes: This is an abridged reprint of UNION JACK issue 190 THE STOCK EXCHANGE DETECTIVE (1907).

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Notes: This is an abridged reprint of UNION JACK issue 191 THE STOLEN GAINSBOROUGH (1907).

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Notes: This is an abridged reprint of UNION JACK issue 211 THE CATTLE MYSTERY (1907).

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Notes: This is an abridged reprint of UNION JACK issue 197 THE CASE OF THE MISSING PRESIDENT (1907).

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Notes: This is an abridged reprint of UNION JACK issue 203 BASE COIN (1907).

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Notes: This is an abridged reprint of UNION JACK issue 202 SEXTON BLAKE AT THE OPERA (1907).

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Notes: This is an abridged reprint of UNION JACK issue 205 SEXTON BLAKE IN AMSTERDAM (1907).

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Notes: This is an abridged reprint of UNION JACK issue 210 THE MYSTERY OF THE LIGHTSHIP (1907).

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Notes: This is an abridged reprint of UNION JACK issue 207 SEXTON BLAKE, LUMBERMAN (1907).

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Notes: This is an abridged reprint of UNION JACK issue 213 THE CARD SHARPERS (1907).

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Notes: This is an abridged reprint of UNION JACK issue 218 BY ROYAL COMMAND (1907).

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Notes: This is an abridged reprint of UNION JACK issue 220 SEXTON BLAKE, CHEMIST (1907). It replaces Inspector Grange, from the original, with Inspector Widgeon.

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Notes: This is a rewrite of chapters 9 to 13 of of UNION JACK issue 217 THE SLATE CLUB SCANDAL (1907).

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Notes: George Marsden Plummer, a detective at Scotland Yard, is the rightful heir to the title of Earl of Sevenoaks and the fortune that goes with it ... or, at least, he would be had an accident of birth not placed two others in line before him. Covering his movements with a series of masterful disguises, Plummer visits the first of the men, who having no idea that he is in line to a fortune, works as a coastguard. Plummer informs him that he belongs to an aristocratic family before, under the cover of a thick fog, pushing him over the edge of a cliff. However, unknown to the villain, his victim drops into the sea not far from a boat occupied by Sexton Blake, Tinker and Pedro. They rescue the stricken man and nurse him to health. Meanwhile, Plummer has visited the current Earl of Sevenoaks and murdered him. The police are called and put one of their best officers on the case ... Detective-Sergeant Plummer! With Blake now involved, Plummer is forced to pretend an alliance with him while actually attempting to throw him off the scent at every opportunity. Soon, though, the Baker Street detective realises the truth and a battle of wits and disguises commences. Blake gets battered over the head and shut in a burning house, while Tinker is drugged and nearly drowned, but, ultimately, Sexton Blake wins the day and Plummer is thrown into prison, vowing to escape at the first opportunity.

Trivia: This is an abridged reprint of UNION JACK issue 222 THE MAN FROM SCOTLAND YARD (1908) — The story that introduced George Marsden Plummer. The review is based on a reading of that issue. It also appeared in THE DREADNOUGHT (1912). The original version was anthologised in THE CASEBOOK OF SEXTON BLAKE (2009).

Rating: ★★★★★

Notes: This is an abridged reprint of UNION JACK issue 224 SEXTON BLAKE'S CHAMPIONSHIP (1908).

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Notes: When Harry Armytage returns home after two years at sea, he discovers that his uncle, Fenton Joyce, has died and the man's daughter, who is Harry's fiancee, has vanished. Harry consults Sexton Blake who discovers that Joyce's grave is empty. It seems that he isn't dead after all. Further investigations reveal that Joyce and his daughter are in the power of the villainous Gaspard Sellars. Blake exposes the criminal's scheme to extort money from Joyce, Sellars plunges to his death, and Harry and his fiancee are reunited.

Trivia: This is an abridged reprint of UNION JACK first series issue 2 SEXTON BLAKE — DETECTIVE: THE STORY OF A GREAT MYSTERY (1894), which is often mistakenly cited as the first ever appearance of Sexton Blake. In addition to it being reprinted here, it also appeared in an even more abridged form in the 2nd SEXTON BLAKE ANNUAL (1940) and again in the VALIANT BOOK OF TV'S SEXTON BLAKE (1968). This review is based on a reading of the original version.

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

Notes: This is an abridged reprint of UNION JACK issue 230 SEXTON BLAKE, WRESTLER (1908).

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Notes: This is an abridged reprint of UNION JACK issue 228 SEXTON BLAKE IN BAKU (1908).

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Notes: This is an abridged reprint of UNION JACK issue 231 PEDRO'S TRAIL (1908).

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Notes: This is an abridged reprint of UNION JACK issue 232 SEXTON BLAKE IN TURKEY (1908).

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Notes: This is an abridged reprint of UNION JACK issue 233 SEXTON BLAKE IN ROME (1908).

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Notes: This is an abridged reprint of UNION JACK issue 234 SEXTON BLAKE AT COURT (1908).

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Notes: In a wild area of Northern England, on the outskirts of the village of Weirwater, Bill Ferrers is out to recover a document which will mean the downfall of his enemy, Jabez Speers. As he wanders past marshland, Ferrers is attracted into it by a will-o'-the-wisp. It guides him to a spot where a body lies sinking into the mud; a man he thinks is a victim of Speers. He continues his journey, passes Westrall House, where Speers lives, and continues on through thick fog towards the Westrall Iron Foundry. When he gets there, he finds that it has vanished! Shocked and confused, he attempts to flee but bumps into Sexton Blake who arrives on the scene with Nelly and Eva Ainsley — cousin and sister of Jack Ainsley, the Assistant Government Inspector of Mines, who has gone missing in the region. Workers arrive at the scene, led by Jock Hunt the forge-master, who, the next day, assists the detective when a mob attacks Jabez Speers over the disappearance of the foundry manager, Edwin Wainthorpe. Blake orders the arrest of an elderly man named Ben Thorley, accusing him of murder. Thorley, who had been defending Speers from the mob, escapes. The crowd turns on Speers and tries to lynch him but they are interrupted by a fire which spreads through Weirwater. Hearing that the two women are stuck in the village, Blake goes to the rescue but is tempted into a booby-trapped house in which he finds himself a prisoner with Thorley. They fall through a shaft into a mine where Blake learns that Thorley — who is actually a disguised criminal named Black Joe — and two other conspirators are behind the crimes in Weirwater. Somewhere a document holds the key to the mystery. Black Joe is killed in the mine and Blake escapes in time to find Jack Ainsley and Edwin Wainthorpe. He also unravels the mystery.

Trivia: This is an abridged reprint of UNION JACK first series issue 172 DEAD MAN'S HAND (1897). The review is based on a reading of that issue.

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

Notes: This is an abridged reprint of UNION JACK issue 235 SEXTON BLAKE N.S.P.C.C. (1908).

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Notes: This is an abridged reprint of UNION JACK issue 236 A WARD IN CHANCERY (1908).

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Notes: This is an abridged reprint of UNION JACK issue 237 SEXTON BLAKE AT MONTE CARLO (1908).

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Notes: This is a rewrite of chapters 1, 2, 14, 15, 16 and 23 of UNION JACK issue 217 THE SLATE CLUB SCANDAL (1907).

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Notes: This is a rewrite of chapters 17 to 22 of UNION JACK issue 217 THE SLATE CLUB SCANDAL (1907).

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Notes: None at present.

Unrated

Notes: Count Ivor Carlac conspires with two other crooks—Derk Charlett and Joe Selder—to rob a boxing tournament of its funds. The event has been organised by John Malcolm, a Canadian who, during his voyage to England, has formed a romantic attachment to a young woman, Kate Elliot. On arrival, Malcolm is kidnapped by the crooks. Later, while the villains are setting up the event, Sexton Blake sends Tinker to secure an interview with its promoter. At Malcolm's office, Tinker encounters Charlett and Selder, who tell him that the Canadian is seldom there. Miss Eliott arrives but is tricked into thinking that the promoter has changed his mind about her and does not want to see her. Blake meets a young boxer who has met Malcolm. The pugilist's description, however, does not match that given to Tinker by Miss Elliot. Intrigued, Blake spies on the promoter’s office and discovers Carlac impersonating the man. Realising a villainous scheme is under way, and Malcolm is captive somewhere, Blake vows to save him. Carlac, aware that Miss Elliot knows Malcolm's true appearance, has her captured and imprisoned in the same country house as the Canadian. Tinker, following Charlett, overhears its location, but the crook notices he is being shadowed, attacks the lad, and leaves him bound hand and foot beneath a railway arch. A day passes before Tinker is rescued. He then rushes to Baker Street with his news. Blake immediately travels to the house and liberates Malcolm and Elliot. The next day, the boxing event begins, and money pours from the turnstiles into Carlac’s bottomless pockets. A police cordon tightens around the venue. Charlett and Selder are arrested. A blunder by a police inspector, however, alerts Carlac, and he gets away, though without any of the money. Malcolm and Miss Elliot marry.

Rating: ★★★☆☆ This would have scored a higher rating had Blake and Carlac confronted each other during the story … but they never meet!

Notes: Luke Fielding has created a formula for a new explosive, which he sells by instalments to a financier, Sir Charles Norton, who intends to keep it off the market. Out of his initial payment, Fielding gives his assistant, Dick Barton, a hundred thousand pounds as a wedding present, for Barton is engaged to his daughter, Phyllis. That night, the girl finds her father poisoned to death. Barton is accused and arrested. Norton asks Sexton Blake to investigate. Blake discovers that a man named Dr. Luigi Makili, an expert poisoner who recently escaped from Bleakmoor Prison, knew of Fielding’s project. Meanwhile, after George Marsden Plummer reads a newspaper report about the case, he tracks down Makili, knowing he probably stole the formula, which is worth a fortune. However, before he catches up with the man, Makili is arrested and returned to Bleakmoor. Plummer conceives a daring but dangerous scheme: he goes to the prison and gives himself up. When Blake—who already suspects that the master-crook is involved—hears this, he arranges with Sir Henry Fairfax of Scotland Yard to have himself incarcerated—in disguise—as a convict. At Bleakmoor, he is put in the same quarry-gang as Makili and Plummer. While the group is working—and a fog is rising—Plummer informs Makili that he has hidden disguises nearby and will help him to escape in return for half the money gained from selling the formula. Makili refuses. Both men escape, anyway, and Blake sets off after them. Makili is quickly recaptured. Plummer makes it to the cave were he has stashed his disguise kit. When Blake catches up with him there, the crook knocks him out, changes prison uniforms with him, leaves him tied and gagged, and uses his make-up kit so that he can return to Bleakmoor in Blake’s guise. There, he overpowers the governor and takes up a new impersonation, masquerading as that man, in whose name he orders Makili to be flogged. Tinker uses Pedro to trace Blake’s whereabouts and rescues him. The next day, the detective exposes Plummer, who is captured. Makili commits suicide but makes a deathbed confession. The formula is recovered and Dick Barton’s innocence is proven. Plummer remains incarcerated at Bleakmoor.

Trivia: Lewis Carlton here takes over responsibility for George Marsden Plummer from Norman Goddard.

As mentioned in earlier stories, Blake is a qualified lawyer.

There is an “off-stage” appearance by the now retired William Spearing.

The governor of Bleakmoor is Colonel William Carlton.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: In Australia, eight men — Ike Vineburg being foremost among them — swindle a ranch owner named Mrs Cartier out of all she possesses. Shocked by her losses, the woman collapses and dies. Her daughter, Mademoiselle Yvonne, realises that a swindle has occurred and vows revenge on the men. Months later, disguised as a male jockey, she joins Vineburg's stables and rises through the ranks until she is given the task of riding in the Melbourne Cup. She purposely loses the race at the last moment, costing Vineburg thousands of pounds. Having herself won a considerable sum, Yvonne sets sail for Europe. Six years later, aboard her yacht — which is captained by Captain Vaughan and has Hendricks as Mate — she plans with her uncle, Jack Graves, running a vigilante campaign against all men of Vineburg's type. By this time, the villain in question is operating as a jeweller in London under the assumed name of Bechstein. With his finances pressed to the limit, he seeks credit on a valuable pearl necklace only to be informed that it is fake; the original has been stolen. In desperation, he calls Sexton Blake. Yvonne discovers this and visits the detective in the guise of an elderly nun. Blake is immediately suspicious and sends Tinker to follow her when she leaves but she turns the tables and captures the lad. Blake's investigations lead him to an isolated farmhouse known as the Grange where Yvonne has her underground base and here he too becomes her prisoner. The next day, they make their escape while Yvonne, disguised as Tinker, visits Blake's Baker Street office to search for the evidence against her. The detective and his assistant arrive and a long car chase ensues, leading them to Yvonne's moored yacht where, once again, Blake and Tinker are taken prisoner. Yvonne offers the detective the chance to join her campaign. He refuses but, when she tells him her full story, he offers a truce providing she gives up the pearl necklace. She does so and they part both feeling strangely stirred by their new-found relationship. Bechstein/Vineburg commits suicide before Blake has a chance to return the pearls.

Trivia: This story marks the first appearance of Mlle. Yvonne Cartier. It was reprinted in a revised (?) form in DETECTIVE WEEKLY (issue 351, 11/11/1939) under the title THE GIRL WHO MADE PEARLS. The review is based on a reading of that issue.

Rating: ★★★★★

Notes: Story features Count Ivor Carlac.

Unrated

Notes: When Prince Carlo of Eurania visits Bleakmoor Prison, he is attacked by an insane convict and saved by George Marsden Plummer. He promises to reward Plummer by helping him to escape, but though he fulfils a part of the plan, he later has second thoughts and confesses what he has done to Sexton Blake. The detective drives immediately to the prison, arriving there just as Plummer breaks free. The criminal steals Blake's car and flees. He later arrives in the factory town of Great Orville, which is currently suffering a spate of burglaries and has an undermanned police force. Plummer joins up and, as a constable, gets on the track of the burglar, spying on him as he breaks in to the house of Sir Samuel Stranger then following him to his residence. The next day, an indignant Sir Samuel, scornful of the police, declares that he will call in Sexton Blake. This disturbs Plummer, of course, but also — and inexplicably — his superior, Sergeant Mates. When the detective and Tinker arrive, they interview Plummer, who is well disguised, and he gives them a false clue that implicates an innocent man. That evening, he spies on the burglar as he gloats over his ill-gotten gains and is amazed to see him remove a disguise to reveal himself as Sergeant Mates. When Mates goes to bed, Plummer creeps in and removes the greater part of the loot, leaving only sufficient to incriminate the crooked policeman. The next morning, another burglary is reported. Pedro follows a scent to Mates's home and what remains of the stolen goods are discovered there. The sergeant is arrested but is obviously amazed that the most valuable parts of his haul are missing. Back at the scene of the most recent break in, Blake recognises the fingerprints of Plummer and realises that he's masquerading as a police constable. At the same moment, the master villain, seeing that his game is up, flees to the train station with his loot. However, he is spotted by Tinker, who follows him to a hotel in London before then summoning Blake by telephone. Plummer, though, calls in the debt owed by Prince Carlo, who arranges his escape in return for the stolen goods, which are returned to their owners. Blake is disappointed that Plummer is still on the loose, though the crook has fled empty-handed.

Trivia: William Spearing gets a mention.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: My copy is missing its cover. When Dr. Huxton Rymer tries to join forces with Mademoiselle Yvonne Cartier in the tropical country of Salvarita, he gets his wish but on her terms, not his. Together they plot to steal two million in bullion from the country's President — a man named Pearson, who is one of the men responsible for the downfall of Yvonne's family. They succeed in this endeavour and also kidnap Pearson, so that he is blamed for the disappearance of the funds. Sexton Blake is commissioned to investigate and sends Tinker on ahead to Salvarita. However, the detectives are being watched and, out at sea, Tinker is attacked and thrown overboard. Blake is loaned a yacht and travels to the tropical country, which he enters disguised as a sailor. He too, though, is being observed and is followed and stabbed in the back. Ten days later he regains consciousness to find himself in the care of a Spanish woman. The crew of his yacht, with help from Pedro, track him down and the group sets sail on the trail of Yvonne, whom Blake has identified as Pearson's kidnapper. Meanwhile, Tinker, who after many hours at sea was rescued by a passing ship, makes his way back to London and then on to Hong Kong to rendezvous with Blake. After they are reunited, Tinker sneaks aboard Yvonne's yacht, the Fleur-de-Lys, but is captured. Blake disguises himself as the vessel's Chinese cook and joins the crew. Days later, as they approach an island near Fiji, he doses the food with a sleeping draft and thus gains the upper hand. Blake releases President Pearson and hands over the yacht and prisoners to him. Some considerable time later, back at Baker Street, the detective learns that Pearson has been assassinated by a disgruntled soldier and Yvonne and her crew have escaped. Yvonne severs her alliance with Dr. Huxton Rymer.

Trivia: This was reprinted as THE VENGEANCE OF YVONNE in DETECTIVE WEEKLY issue 366 (1940). The review is based on a reading of that issue.

Rating: ★★★★★

Notes: Story features Count Ivor Carlac.

Unrated

Notes: Story features George Marsden Plummer.

Unrated

Notes: Harry Mayfield's marriage is breaking down due to his addiction to gambling. When George Marsden Plummer — in London under the guise of Vicomte Jules de Faillarde — learns this, he causes the gambling den that Mayfield attends to be raided. He then establishes a new one and sees to it that the young man's losses increase, intending to drive him to suicide. In the meantime, adopting a new disguise, he introduces himself to Mayfield's wife, Nell (see Plummer in Society, UNION JACK issue 490, 1913), as Denis O'Neal, de Faillarde's secretary, and begins to inveigle his way back into her affections. When the girl expresses her concern about her husband to Sexton Blake, the detective becomes suspicious of de Faillarde and has Tinker follow him to find out where he lives. "O'Neal" convinces Nell that she should teach her spouse a lesson by leaving him. She does so, and Mayfield rushes to Blake and asks him to find her. Upon learning that O'Neal had visited Nell, Blake goes to de Faillarde's house to interview the secretary. The man gives an innocent explanation for the meeting but the detective's suspicions are aroused. That night, Blake disguises himself as Mayfield, enters Plummer's gambling den, and tells "de Faillarde" that it is make or break — if he doesn't make up his losses, he will shoot himself. As he gambles and loses, Blake pierces Plummer's disguise. When all his money is gone, he adopts an attitude of despair, and the next day fakes Mayfield's suicide. As O'Neal, Plummer hurries to comfort Nell, who has taken refuge in Boulogne, but he is followed by Blake and Tinker. Mayfield also arrives in the French port, where he is spotted and tracked by Plummer, who is in turn is shadowed by Tinker. They go to a casino, where Plummer picks a fight with Mayfield, which they agree to settle by fighting a duel. While Tinker races to fetch Blake, the two men meet on a beach and battle with swords. Mayfield is badly wounded. Plummer takes refuge in the town's castle ruins while Blake administers emergency first aid to the fallen man. Nell is summoned, and for the next three days, she nurses her stricken husband while gendarmes lay siege to the ruins. Plummer finally emerges, half starved, and after a shoot-out, he collapses and is captured. Mayfield finally recovers and is told that, because the gambling den was illegal and Plummer a swindler, he will get all his money back.

Trivia: This acts as a sequel to a previous story, which I'm assuming is the foregoing issue Plummer in Society (UNION JACK issue 490, 1913), which I don't currently own. In that tale, Plummer, operating under the name Rupert Greer, travels to Switzerland with a rich man named Henry Flayl and attempts to woo his daughter, Nell. When he finds himself really falling in love with her, he proposes marriage. Sexton Blake, however, exposes him as a master crook, and Plummer is spurned.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: Continuing her campaign against the men who cheated her mother, Mademoiselle Yvonne Cartier sets her sights on Mortimer Todd. In this she is aided by a new ally, Dr. San Lo. He comes to her rescue when Sexton Blake spots her at a theatre and tries to follow her taxi as she departs. San Lo pours a substance onto a tyre of Blake’s taxi, which causes the rubber to rapidly deteriorate. Having evaded the detective, Yvonne and her Uncle Graves pose as a millionaire and his niece and lease a house near Manchester, close to where Mortimer Todd has his large cotton mill. They quickly ingratiate themselves with him and Todd starts to romance Yvonne. Meanwhile, an employee named Jack Layton shows Todd a new and more efficient method for dying cotton. Todd says he’ll consider it but vows to cheat Layton by patenting the method himself. San Lo purchases a large quantity of cotton from Todd. He then uses the substance that rotted the taxi tyre to ruin the shipment, which he sends back, demanding immediate replacement or the payment of damages. Yvonne, in the meantime, breaks into the mill one night and employs acid to sabotage all the machines. She also steals money from the safe, along with the documents that outline Layton’s invention. As she departs, she's pounced on by Layton, who was passing the mill and saw her torchlight. She holds him at gunpoint, leads him to the house that she and Graves occupy, and imprisons him in its cellar. The next morning, Todd discovers that he is on the brink of ruin. When he hears that Layton is missing, he feels certain that the young man is responsible for the wrecked machines and theft. He hires Sexton Blake, unaware that the detective has already been asked by Layton’s fiancée to look into the young man’s disappearance. Blake immediately becomes suspicious of Todd. After noting the similarity between the way the rejected cotton is rotted and the way his taxi tyre deteriorated, he sends Tinker to investigate San Lo. Yvonne learns that Blake is in the area and sends a couple of men to capture him. They, however, are driven away by Pedro. In London, a disguised Tinker spies on his quarry but is caught and identified by Graves, who has him bound and gagged and left in a sewer to be eaten by rats. Blake realises that Yvonne and her cohorts are driving to the capital. He follows, searches for San Lo, and—thanks to Pedro—discovers and saves Tinker. He then catches the Chinaman and Graves and has them arrested. Yvonne doubles back to Manchester where she thinks she is now safe, what with Blake being in London. He, however, has anticipated her. He swoops, she is arrested, and later she's sentenced to five years in prison. Layton is set free and regains his documents. Todd is ruined.

Trivia: This was reprinted (possibly in an abridged form) in DETECTIVE WEEKLY issue 354 as The Case of the Purple Cotton (1939). These review notes are based on a reading of that issue.

Graves is unusually heartless in his treatment of Tinker. It’s hard to believe they ever became friendly after this!

In this story, Tinker can neither speak nor understand Chinese. By 1927, according to the same author, he is fairly proficient at the language (see, for example, The Adventure of the Yellow Beetle, THE UNION JACK issue 1,224).

Rating: ★★★★★

Notes: In Melbourne, Doctor Huxton Rymer has been leading a dissolute existence since his first disastrous encounter with Sexton Blake. Ever the opportunist, though, when he gets the chance to steal a priceless jewelled dragon statuette from Hang Lee, a Chinese gangster, he seizes it. What he doesn't realise is that the item has enormous symbolic significance and is being fought over by rival Chinese factions: the monarchists — represented by Hang Lee — and the republicans. Rymer persuades a clueless Englishman, Harry Graham, to carry "a package" back to England. Graham, feeling uneasy, decides that rather than acting as courier himself, he will send the item by post to his fiancé, Grace Lansing. When Hang Lee's men attack him, they therefore find nothing. Bewildered by what seems to him an inexplicable assault, he sets sail for England only to have his voyage delayed by a storm. Meanwhile, the other players in the game have avoided the bad weather by sailing via America. Weeks later, they begin to gather in London. At the Chinese embassy, Li Hong, who represents the republicans, commissions Sexton Blake to recover the lost artefact. Blake agrees but Hang Lee learns of his involvement and two attempts are rapidly made on the detective's life. Rymer, still en route, is also attacked by one of Hang Lee's agents and left for dead. Arriving in London, the celestial then visits Grace, who by this point has taken delivery of the package. He tries to persuade her to hand it over but her suspicions are aroused and she refuses. After the man's departure, she opens the parcel and finds the diamond dragon inside. Shocked, she seeks advice from Sexton Blake. He is astounded to learn that she has the very thing he's been asked to locate but when he accompanies her back to her house, they find that the dragon has been stolen. Rymer, having survived the assault, had spied on her while she unwrapped it and took his opportunity while she consulted with the detective. However, he leaves a fingerprint behind, and from this, Blake is able to identify him as the thief. While Hang Lee arranges for Grace to be kidnapped and used as a bargaining chip, Rymer meets with a fence named Morris to arrange for the sale of the dragon the following day. Tinker, having stumbled upon the scene, spies on the meeting before following the master crook. Rymer realises that the youngster is on his track and turns on him, throwing him into the River Thames. Tinker is swept along until he manages to grasp the basement windowsill of a waterside house. Looking into the premises, he sees two men fall through a trapdoor into the room, knocking over a lamp and starting a fire. One of these individuals turns out to be a disguised Sexton Blake, who, having traced Grace to the house, had confronted Hang Lee and plummeted through the trap, grabbing the Chinaman as he fell. Tinker rescues him and they locate and liberate the girl. Blake next disguises himself as Morris and, when Rymer returns to hand over the dragon to the fence, he is handcuffed and arrested.

Trivia: Easter double issue.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆ Like the pre-twentieth century Sexton Blake tales, the plot of this one is dependent on a sequence of utterly implausible coincidences.

Notes: In Lagos prison, a dying man, Denver Raymond, tells his story to Count Ivor Carlac, to whom he possesses a startling resemblance. Raymond is an heir to a title but not to the big Norfolkshire estate with which it is associated. Three years ago, after leading a dissipated life, Raymond had stabbed a man and been committed to the jail where his health has steadily deteriorated. He shows Carlac a packet hidden in his shirt and tells him that, when he is dead, the count must take it and read the contents. He must use the information to escape, make his way to England, and there masquerade as Raymond, claim the title, find out who has inherited the estate ... and acquire it! This plan is followed, and weeks later, Raymond's nephew, Jack, is ejected from Raymond Towers by Carlac, who now becomes Sir Denver Raymond. The family property and fortune was bequeathed to the dead man's sister, Barbara, who not having seen her brother for so many years, believes Carlac to be him. The crook gains control of her and, with help from gipsies — Joe and Lil — imprisons Jack. He then sets about raising rents and selling land. This infuriates the local farmers who decide to confront him. Tinker and Pedro, who've been tasked by Sexton Blake to locate the missing Jack, accompany them. Meanwhile, it comes to Blake's attention that "Flash Harry" is regularly depositing large sums into a bank account — always in coins — though he shows no sign of having a job. The detective discovers that the crook is living in a flat once occupied by Carlac. Evidence connects Harry to Raymond Towers. At that place, the local villagers voice their objections to "Sir Denver," receive short shrift, and a fight breaks out. In the gloom of the evening, Tinker hasn't recognised Carlac, but Pedro has, and after the villagers return home, the bloodhound tries to attack the master villain, is wounded by Gipsy Joe, and Tinker is captured. The next morning, Blake takes the train to Norfolkshire ... the same train that Flash Harry is travelling on. At the local police station, Blake discovers that Pedro has been chained in one of the cells. The hound, bearing a shallow knife wound, had been found during the night tearing around the village. Accompanied by a constable, the detective encourages Pedro to lead him to Tinker. The trail leads to a derelict riverside house where Gipsy Joe is overpowered and Jack Raymond and Tinker are discovered in the cellar. However, Lil opens a sluice, causing the basement to flood with Blake, the policeman and the two captives inside. When she attempts to close a trapdoor to prevent their escape, Pedro attacks her. She flees but Blake follows her to Raymond Towers where he confronts Sir Denver and recognises him as Carlac. Flash Harry runs away leaving the two men to fight. Lil interferes and Carlac makes a successful getaway on horseback, his scheme in tatters.

Trivia: "Flash" Harry was known as "Swagger" Harry during The Regent Street Robbery (UNION JACK issue 468, 1912).

The manner in which Pedro is described in this story gives the impression that he is not a young dog and that, rather than being a resident at Baker Street, he is taken care of by a vet. This supports my notion that there were many Pedros (see THE SEXTON BLAKE TIMELINE).

"Tinker!" said Lady Armstead, arching her eyebrows. "What a curious name! What is his other name?"
Blake's grave face widened into a smile.
"He has no other name," he said.

Rating: ★★★★★

Notes: With help from Uncle Graves, Hendricks, and Captain Vaughan, Mademoiselle Yvonne Cartier escapes from prison, having served six months of her sentence. She recuperates in Cairo, then sets her sights on the next of those who ruined her family, a man named Gorgon “the Money King” Kelly. He is awaiting a shipment of gold worth two hundred thousand pounds as repayment for a loan he made to an Egyptian business concern. Yvonne has it intercepted, and Kelly receives boxes of lead instead. He commissions Sexton Blake to investigate, but also hires another private investigator, who implicates his secretary, Marian Powers. Yvonne sets up in an office from which she can spy on Kelly. By reading his lips, she gains knowledge of all his crooked activities on the stock exchange and is able to make a fortune by undercutting his every move. Despite Marian being engaged to a young man named Arthur Bentwood, Kelly is intent on marrying her for the purpose of gaining control of securities of which she is unaware, they having belonged to her now deceased father. When she turns down his proposition, Kelly imprisons her in his house. He then removes Blake from the case, but this serves only to make the detective suspicious. Arthur Bentwood consults Blake about the vanished Marian. Meanwhile, Tinker has followed Kelly to his house but there falls into the man’s clutches and is held captive with the young woman. Blake investigates Kelly and discovers his schemes. When he realises that Yvonne has manoeuvred the financier to the brink of ruin, he agrees that if she returns the stolen gold, he will give her 24 hours to get clear. This, however, after they have first worked together to save Marian. Kelly realises the game is up and prepares to flee, but Blake and Yvonne arrive, and Pedro downs the crook. Tinker and Marian are rescued, Kelly is arrested, and Yvonne returns to her yacht.

Trivia: This was reprinted in DETECTIVE WEEKLY issue 357 as THE CASE OF THE MONEY KING (1939).

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: Story features George Marsden Plummer.

Unrated

Notes: Story features Count Ivor Carlac.

Unrated

Notes: Story features Mlle. Yvonne Cartier.

Unrated

Notes: Story features George Marsden Plummer.

Unrated

Notes: Story features Count Ivor Carlac.

Unrated

Notes: Aboard the liner Mastodonic, Mademoiselle Yvonne Cartier, sets out to revenge herself on Canadian millionaire, Cornelius Patterson, who is one of the men who cheated her family. He has custody of a priceless jewel — the Sun's Eye — which he intends to send to England via carrier-pigeon before then claiming it to have been stolen. Yvonne intercepts the bird, gains the jewel, then sends the pigeon on its way bearing the message "What price the Sun's Eye?" She jumps ship and is picked up by Captain Vaughan and her Uncle Graves in her amphibious aeroplane, "Silverwings." Meanwhile, Sexton Blake and Tinker are taking part in air trials, flying Blake's own, self-designed monoplane, the Grey Panther (here making its first appearance). Their next test is to land on a platform erected on a battleship. En route, Patterson's pigeon flies into the Grey Panther's cockpit and is injured. Blake reads the message. After the detective has landed, the battleship's captain alerts him to a report from the Mastodonic in which it is announced that the Sun's Eye has been stolen and a female passenger is missing. Blake has the captain call to the liner and request that it constructs a makeshift landing platform. He then flies to the vessel, where clues reveal to him that Patterson had released the pigeon. The description of the vanished passenger — recognisably Yvonne — gives the detective the basis of the plot that has unfolded. Leaving Tinker to keep an eye on the Canadian, Blake flies back to land. He learns that Patterson had insured the Sun's Eye against theft for half a million. The trials of the Grey Panther continue with a race to Paris and back. As Blake and the other competitors take off, Silverwings flies in to join the race, pitting itself only against Blake's machine. The detective recognises Yvonne at its controls. She veers away and is soon lost from sight. Later, he receives from her a mocking letter in which she invites him to tea but without informing him where she is. With the pigeon recovered from its injury, Blake releases it and follows it in the Grey Panther. It leads him to a farm. He lands nearby and spots Silverwings taking off from the grounds of a house not far distant. In disguise, he goes there and confronts Yvonne, informing her that, because Patterson is playing a double game, he will not arrest her providing she hands over the jewel immediately. She does so. Patterson arrives at the farm and argues with the man to whom the pigeon should have delivered the jewel. Blake pounces but the crooks elude capture and hijack Silverwings. With Yvonne as his passenger, Blake gives chase in the Grey Panther and catches up with the villains, who are promptly arrested. While he arranges for them to be taken into custody, Yvonne and Graves slip away.

Trivia: The Grey Panther's pilot and passenger seats are built to face each other, with a pivoting framed navigation chart between them. After seeing "Silverwings," Blake decides to paint his monoplane the same shade of silver blue, which proves to be excellent camouflage. Blake will continue to fly the Grey Panther throughout the war years but at the end of the decade, he'll transfer its engine into a Rolls Royce car, which he'll call by the same name.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: Story features George Marsden Plummer.

Unrated

Notes: Story features Count Ivor Carlac.

Unrated

Notes: Blake is commissioned to locate Heron Almadale, who has vanished in the forests of central Brazil. Calling on the assistance of Sir Richard Losely and Lobangu, Blake, Tinker and Pedro meet their friends on the banks of the Amazon. They all travel to the town of Itaituba, along a tributary, the Tapajos, up which Almadale has reputedly travelled. There, they recruit a guide, Jose, who hires men and puts together an expedition. They set off, and en route hear rumours concerning a lost race of "white Indians," a hidden city, and a dangerous tribe that lives in the trees. The latter soon attacks but, after a fierce battle, Blake and his friends are able to drive the enemy away by starting a forest fire. As a consequence, the next part of the trek is through ash, and a terrible thirst torments them until they finally find a huge lake. It is populated by pterodactyl-like creatures, so after slaking their thirst, the members of the expedition skirt around its edge to the foot of a high mountain. Taking only Jose and six porters — leaving the rest to establish a basecamp — Blake, Tinker, Losely and Lobangu then begin to climb. At the foot of a glacier, they discover a white native entombed in the ice. It is evidence that the fabled Indian tribe exists. Next, Blake discovers a rock with Almadale's initials carved onto it ... and beneath it, a letter in which the tribe and the route to their city is described. These people, the Loo-chins, are possessed of a vast wealth of jewels, but they're ruled over by an evil high priest named Loo-soo, who — during Almadale's first visit — tortured him horribly. The next morning, the expedition is able to look down upon the city. They hear rifle shots, and realise that Almadale is alive but in trouble. Forging ahead, they arrive at the outskirts of the city where Almadale is holed up in a besieged house. They add their rifle fire to his and race to the building, which they gain, there to find their man in a state of utter exhaustion. He reports that he has killed Loo-soo. He then fires across at the city's central temple, hitting the dynamite that he had formerly planted. The edifice explodes and collapses. The Loo-chin flee, and Blake and his friends take advantage of the opportunity to make their getaway. Almadale has with him a fortune in gemstones. The expedition heads home.

Rating: ★★★★★

Notes: Story features Mlle. Yvonne Cartier.

Unrated

Notes: None at present.

Unrated

Notes: Three Englishmen have learned that a secret Chinese society named The Brotherhood of the Yellow Beetle intends to bring Europe under the heel of the Orient. Two of these men return to Britain before the Brotherhood is aware of their knowledge. The third, Sir George Halliday, is hunted but appears to get away. The leader of the Yellow Beetle, Prince Wu Ling, calls a meeting at which he announces his attention to travel to London to kill the three men and begin a campaign of terror. However, unknown to him, Sir George is not only still in China but is spying on that very meeting! Weeks later, in London, Godfrey Carslake, who is engaged to Halliday's daughter, summons Sexton Blake after finding Sir George dead in his study. At the scene, Pedro goes wild and chases a yellow beetle from the room. Even though Halliday's death appears to be from heart failure, Blake thinks otherwise and begins researching rare poisonous beetles. Soon he has a close encounter with one of the insects, which is placed in his bedchamber by one of the Brotherhood. He is saved from death by Pedro. Tinker, meanwhile, surprises Wu Ling when the Chinaman enters the Baker Street house on some nefarious mission. The villain escapes but Tinker follows him to the house next door to Halliday's. There he is captured and taken to another premises where he is condemned to the 'Room of Glass'. Halliday's daughter is also kidnapped, to be held until all her father's papers, which may contain details of the Brotherhood, are handed over. Sexton Blake follows with the police in tow. He wins a fist-fight against Wu Ling and rescues Tinker and the girl, narrowly avoiding a swarm of deadly yellow beetles. Most of the oriental gang are rounded up but Wu Ling escapes and manages to destroy Halliday's papers, leaving Blake unaware of the Brotherhood's purpose.

Trivia: This story was reprinted in DETECTIVE WEEKLY issue 367 as THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE BEETLE (1940) and anthologised in THE CASEBOOK OF SEXTON BLAKE (2009).

Rating: ★★★★★ The first story to feature Wu Ling and a terrific adventure. Very highly recommended.

Notes: Story features Steve Derrick, the American Detective.

Unrated

Notes: Having made a fortune illegally mining Emeralds, Travers Bentley stabs his partner, White, in the back, leaves him for dead, and sails for England. White, however, has survived, sets off on a mission of vengeance, taking with him his trained ape, Caesar. Six months later, a representative of the Colombian government asks Sexton Blake to find and retrieve the emeralds, as they belong to his country. Blake recognises Bentley by name as the man who had previously cheated Mademoiselle Yvonne. The detective gets to work and quickly discovers that Bentley is currently residing at Carthorpe Hall. To his surprise, he then finds that the man’s enemy, White, is living in the adjoining property. Indeed, White , whose presence is unknown to Bentley, has started to torment his enemy, by means of the ape, forcing him slowly to the brink of madness. Another presence now arrives on the scene in the form of Yvonne, who has traced Bentley to Carthorpe. She breaks into his house and holds him at pistol-point but, wildly, he attacks her and renders her unconscious. During the scuffle, her ring falls under his sofa. Now, though, Caesar arrives, having escaped from White’s control, and half-strangles Bentley, who passes out. White enters and sends the ape away. He revives Yvonne and, after they each describe their experiences with Bentley, they agree to share the emeralds. White takes Bentley captive, intending to reconvene with Yvonne the following day to decide what to do with him. That night, Blake and Tinker break into Carthorpe Hall and find evidence of the struggle. Blake discovers Yvonne's ring. He then approaches White and hears his story. The detective makes a deal, White can keep half of the emeralds if he gives Bentley over to Blake's custody. Blake will then parlay with Yvonne. White agrees to the terms but, moments later, his prisoner escapes and flees. Caesar pursues and kills him. Pedro then kills the ape. Blake tells White to leave the country immediately to avoid trouble with the police. White gladly agrees and departs. The detective then visits Yvonne and retrieves from her the rest of the emeralds, which will be returned to the Colombian government. He gives her a birthday present: a free pardon for her previous crimes.

Trivia: Blake plays the Stock Market and is reckoned “one of the biggest financial forces of his day.” He gives away a fortune each year to charity. For the completion of this case, he charges a fee of £25,000 (the equivalent of more than a million by modern-day standards).

This marks the end of Yvonne's mission of vengeance. Henceforth, she will be one of Blake's best allies.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: Police Inspector Bragley is puzzled when a fourth girl, in as many days, is found unconscious in Aylesbury Square. Like the others, she is taken to a nearby doctor, Professor Kew, but once recovered refuses to speak of her experience. Bragley doesn't know it but all four girls have been Kew's "guinea pigs," testing a narcotic he has developed. The inspector visits Sexton Blake and tells him about the case. The detective begins investigating. When Kew learns of this, he decides that, as this is his first foray into crime, he should test Blake. He therefore sends him an anonymous note, which reveals that, at the Ranee of Magwar's ball, he intends to steal her priceless emerald necklace. He challenges the detective to prevent this theft. At the ball, a dissipated young nobleman, Lord Alpineby, who is under Kew's power, gives the Ranee a gift of a small ivory casket. When she opens it, fumes from the narcotic send her into a trance. Alpineby leads her into the garden and leaves her there. Kew then takes the necklace and makes off, though not without his shadowy figure being spotted by Blake. Next day, the detective goes to Alpineby's flat to question him but finds him vanished; and there are signs of a struggle and traces of the drug. He takes the latter to a chemist for analysis but the substance isn't recognised. Blake is referred to the expert in such matters — Professor Kew! — and during the subsequent interview quickly recognises him as the man behind the crimes. Blake sets Tinker to keep watch on the criminal and the lad follows Kew to a house where Alpineby is imprisoned. He sends a note to his guv'nor shortly before falling into the hands of the villain. Blake comes to the rescue and also recovers the emerald necklace but Kew gets away to fight another day.

Trivia: This was reprinted as THE DOCTOR'S DUPES in DETECTIVE WEEKLY issue 347 (1939).

Rating: ★★★★★

Notes: A victim of Chinese pirates, castaway John Strang lands on the island of Kaitu, which turns out to be his attackers' base. From his hiding place, he witnesses the arrival of a captive English girl, who he subsequently rescues. They escape in possession of a box containing a fortune in gemstones. Twenty years later, Strang is a multimillionaire, the girl he saved and married is recently deceased and he has a daughter named Alice. Strang loans £10,000,000 to a Chinese organisation, not realising that it is the Brotherhood of the Yellow Beetle. During negotiations, Prince Wu Ling's mentor and right-hand man, San recognises Strang, for San had been chief of the pirates and the gems had been his entire fortune. Wu Ling recovers a down-on-his luck Dr. Huxton Rymer from an opium den and sets him the task of impersonating Strang, who is subsequently kidnapped and held captive. When Alice notices that her 'father' is not acting normally, she voices her suspicions to Sexton Blake and Mademoiselle Yvonne Cartier. The detective sends Tinker to work as a page at the Venetia Hotel in order to keep watch on the room where the bogus Strang is staying. Meanwhile, Blake begins to investigate the millionaire's recent movements. Wu Ling realises that the detective has taken an interest and so kidnaps Alice for extra security. However, unknown to him, his victim is actually a disguised Yvonne. Rymer leaves the hotel and, upon learning this, Tinker takes the news to Baker Street only to be captured by Wu Ling's minions. The next morning, Sexton Blake realises that the bogus Strang, Yvonne and Tinker have all gone missing and, aided by Yvonne's uncle Graves, he begins to follow the clues, tracing Wu Ling to an old country house. Here, the real Strang is being tortured by San, as is a now rebellious Rymer. Tinker manages to escape and leads Blake and Graves to Wu Ling. Blake and the villain make a pact: the detective will allow the Prince to go providing the prisoners are released and Strang's money is returned. Wu Ling agrees to this, though Rymer is found to have escaped of his own accord.

Trivia: This issue is a summer double-length special. It marks the first of a number of meetings between Prince Wu Ling and Dr. Huxton Rymer. John Strang (aka 'Strang the Silent') reappears in SCOUNDRELS ALL UNION JACK issue 613 (1915) and in THE ADVENTURE OF THE BOWERY TAR BABY UNION JACK issue 1,170 (1926).

Rating: ★★★★★

Notes: For twelve months, John Marsh has been struggling to make a living as a rancher on the American prairies but now his wife, Hilda, is ill and a crooked financier named Jabez Pelham wants him as a partner in a swindle to attract investments to a worthless tract of land. Marsh, though, has promised Hilda that he will stay straight. When he refuses to join Pelham, they fight, and the crook imprisons Marsh in a mine shaft. A crippled Indian smuggles a scribbled note out for him and gives it to a Britisher who travels to New York and hands it to Sexton Blake, who's just finished a case there. Blake and Tinker seek out Pelham but are sent packing. They make their way to Marsh's ranch, where they nurse Hilda back from the brink of death. Later, a white-bearded, bedraggled and semi-delirious man stumbles onto Pelham's land and rants about having discovered, forty miles away, a huge deposit of gold. Pelham and his men immediately ride away to lay claim to it. Left alone, the deranged miner removes his disguise and is revealed as Sexton Blake. Tinker joins him and they descend into the mine shaft to rescue Marsh. Unfortunately, when they attempt to climb out, the rope snaps, trapping them all. Pelham and his men return and discover they've gained two more prisoners, but the villain unexpectedly sets them free. Marsh, Blake and Tinker ride to Marsh's ranch where they discover that Hilda is gone. Blake incapacitates the raging Marsh before then donning a disguise to make himself identical to him. When Pelham rides up and declares that Hilda is his prisoner, "Marsh" agrees to work for him. However, when it comes to signing a contract, he asks that, instead of receiving pay, he should be awarded the right to shaft three, in which he'd been held captive. Thinking it worthless, Pelham agrees, unaware that Blake had discovered gold in it while attempting to dig his way out. While Blake is examining documents pertaining to Pelham's criminal scheme, Marsh recovers, arrives, and inadvertently spoils the detective's ruse. Pelham's men pounce on the two men and attempt to lynch them but Tinker arrives with a posse and routes the gang. Pelham, in attempting to flee, falls into a gully and breaks his neck. Case complete, Blake and Tinker return to England where, weeks later, they receive a letter from Marsh. Hilda's health is restored and gold from the shaft has enabled them to get back on their feet.

Trivia: In THE KIDNAPPED INSPECTOR (UNION JACK 401, 1911), John Marsh's wife was named Julia. Here, she is Hilda, though definitely the same woman, as the author refers to her having previously helped Marsh and George Marsden Plummer escape from Bleakmoor Prison.

Rating: ★★★★★

Notes: Melville Hendry and Philip Jordan are friends and business partners who own a mine in Tasmania. Unfortunately, Hendry is losing his mind and attempts to kill Jordan. After he fails to do so, the two men sail for Britain. As they approach the home country, Hendry makes another attempt on his partner's life but is foiled by Sexton Blake, who happens to be aboard. Jordan refuses to allow Blake to prosecute. In London, the partners settle into a hotel. Hendry has been given the address of Professor Kew and commissions him to murder Jordan. The professor accepts the job while also swindling Hendry out of a fortune. When Tinker sees the two men together, he informs Blake who promptly dons a disguise and moves into the hotel room next to the wayward mine owner's. He witnesses Kew giving Hendry a syringe filled with cholera bacilli, instructing him to inject it into his partner. The detective, after causing a diversion, replaces the bacilli with water, thus saving Jordan's life. After the murder attempt, Hendry regains his sanity. Kew drugs him and sends to a nursing home. Tinker discovers its location and Blake, disguised as an ailing old man, is booked in as a patient and occupies the same room. He is there when Kew arrives. The professor attempts to hypnotise Hendry into approving a cheque for £200,000 but is interrupted by Tinker, who is spying through the window. A fight breaks out and Kew is overpowered. However, there is no solid evidence against him and, though his schemes are defeated, Blake is forced to let him go. Hendry, now sane, is reunited with his friend Jordan.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: Blake is visited by Louis Sabini, manager of the Cosmopolitan Hotel, who complains that valuables are going missing from the place practically every day. A guest at the hotel, Mrs Aldridge, then calls to tell the detective that all her money has been stolen. A third visitor to Baker Street, an American millionaire named Brand, has had his daughter kidnapped from the hotel and she is now being held for ransom. Blake immediately concludes that all this is the work of Gideon Preece. Disguised, he goes to the hotel, examines the clues, and concludes that Preece is probably posing as a member of its staff. He orders Tinker to mingle with the employees and keep his eyes open while the detective goes to fetch Pedro. Meanwhile, Preece is disguised and working as the hotel's interpreter. Aware of Blake's presence, he nevertheless intends to stay for a further four days, as rich clients are due to arrive and he means to rob them. Tinker, though, recognises him and follows him into the hotel's wine cellar. There Preece overpowers the lad and throws him through a trapdoor into a sewer tunnel. He then captures and immobilises the manager before masquerading as him and arranging for Blake to be served poisoned wine. Just as his intended victim is about to drink it, Tinker, having survived his ordeal, appears and saves his guv'nor's life. The guests, overhearing that Preece is in the hotel, begin to leave in droves, taking their valuables with them. Preece has lost his rich pickings ... but worse, Pedro now gets to work. Knowing he will be detected, the criminal flees. Further investigations reveal to Blake that Preece may have hatched his plot with a man named Vanfield. He traces this individual who confesses that he recommended the hotel to Brand in order to make it possible for Preece to kidnap that man's daughter. It is now imperative that the girl is found, but Brand is panicking and refuses to cooperate. Instead, he raises a loan with which to pay the ransom. Blake goes to the address where the American is to receive the money but it's a trap and he's set upon by Preece. He manages to put a bullet into the villain but fails to capture him. A trail of blood leads Blake to an asylum where Brand's daughter is being held captive. There, he catches up with the wounded man ... but Preece has one last trick up his sleeve. If Blake doesn't let him go, Brand will be killed by a time bomb. Reluctantly, the detective rushes to save the millionaire while Preece, divested of all his stolen loot, gets away ... only to be caught a little later by the police and, ultimately, sentenced to twenty years.

Trivia: It is clearly indicated that other Preece tales have been published between his debut (THE LABORATORY MYSTERY, UNION JACK issue 420, 1911) and this one, yet within that two-year period I haven't found a trace of a single one. Apparently, there's a story that includes Preece visiting Blake's lodgings. Since this reference makes it clear that Baker Street is meant, it discounts all the ANSWERS and PENNY PICTORIAL tales, as the detective is resident elsewhere throughout those (I've checked them, nevertheless, but to no avail).

Gideon Preece is pretty much a second rate George Marsden Plummer. He'd be an excellent character had Plummer never existed but, as it is, he's thoroughly overshadowed.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: My copy is lacking a cover.

Unrated

Notes: Story features The Scorpion. The author has the distinction of being the man who created NELSON LEE and NIPPER.

Unrated

Notes: Story features Mlle. Yvonne Cartier.

Unrated

Notes: When a number of aristocrats fall ill with the beri-beri sleeping sickness, Blake discovers that the malady is caused by a shipment of purposely infected tea. He quickly concludes that Prince Wu Ling and the Brotherhood of the Yellow Beetle are responsible for the outrage. The tea seller, Fan Kai, flees to Canton. Blake, Tinker and Pedro follow. There, Wu Ling has been gathering his forces. His following has greatly increased and weaponry has been distributed. He is at the height of his power. Blake nevertheless dons the disguise of a mandarin and, having discovered the hotel in which Wu Ling is a resident, has Tinker keep watch. The “young ‘un” soon witnesses the Chinese warlord meeting with emissaries from South America, but before he can report this to Blake, he is captured. Meanwhile, the detective locates Fan Kai, takes him prisoner, and delivers him to a British ship. When he then discovers that Tinker is missing, Blake kidnaps Wu Ling's young wife and newborn son, and arranges a prisoner swap. It goes ahead without a hitch. With his assistant restored, and the tea poisoner under arrest, the detective departs China. He takes home valuable information … Wu Ling is planning a massive emigration drive to South America.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: Story features Professor Kew.

Unrated

Notes: Story features The Scorpion.

Unrated

Notes: On the Texas prairie, John Marsh and his wife, Hilda, have made a great success out of their ranch. Their fortunes change, however, with the arrival of Caley Wilsham, late partner to Jabez Pelham (see THE COWBOY DETECTIVE, UNION JACK issue 513). Wilsham threatens to inform the British police of Marsh's whereabouts unless he signs over a half share of the ranch. Given no choice short of murder, Marsh submits to the bribery. A few weeks later, Sexton Blake receives a letter from Hilda, sent without her husband's knowledge, in which she pleads for help. Blake and Tinker voyage to America and, in disguise, enter Prairieville, the closest settlement to Marsh's property. In the saloon, they learn that Wilsham has been gambling away a good deal of Marsh's money and, when the man himself arrives intent on a game of poker, the detective is quick to join it. Wilsham recklessly raises the stakes again and again, and by the end of the game, Blake has won most of the crook's money — well over a thousand dollars. Cleaned out, Wilsham invites Blake and Tinker to his home to continue gambling. This is agreed to, and when they arrive at the house, which is close to Marsh's, Wilsham rides off to demand more money from his victim. The detectives follow and surreptitiously watch as the villain pushes Marsh to his breaking point, causing him to draw his revolver with the intention of killing his tormentor. At this juncture, Blake intervenes, quietly reveals his identity to Hilda, and has her communicate to her husband that he should do whatever Blake says. The Baker Street man then offers to buy Marsh's half of the ranch. When his proposal is accepted, the deal is done, and the detective then gambles his half against Wilsham's and wins. The crook is foiled but, the next morning, Marsh despairingly declares that he'll never be free from the evil-doer's clutches and notes that the sole remaining financial advantage open to the crook can come only if he, Marsh, were to die. This, indeed, is what Wilsham now seeks to achieve. Riding to a Sioux reservation, he frames Marsh for acts against the Indians that, in truth, he himself has committed. However, his plans go awry and he ends up cornered in the saloon by Blake and the Indians. Wilsham draws his gun on Blake and shoots but the Indian chief jumps into the bullet's path before, with his dying breath, stabbing the crook in the chest. Wilsham dies, Marsh is saved, and his property and money are returned to him.

Trivia: The reformation of John Marsh is one of the most convincing character developments in the entire Blake saga (which is notably lacking in such literary refinements). Furthermore, he ages realistically and his features are affected by the series of setbacks he experiences over the course of his stories.

At the end of this story, Blake vows to stay with Marsh in Texas for six months. It is highly unlikely that he did so.

Rating: ★★★★☆ The first three chapters develop a plot concerning one of Marsh's former victims. It has great promise but falls by the wayside with the arrival of Wilsham at the start of chapter four. It feels as if the author was developing a story that got supplanted by another.

Notes: None at present.

Unrated

Notes: Imprisoned on Devil's Island, the French traitor Henri Garock aka the Snake (here making his debut) endures solitary confinement while his hatred for Sexton Blake, the man who put him there, festers. When chance gives him the opportunity to escape, he grabs it, drifts out to sea, nearly dies from exposure, and is rescued by the liner Eastern Queen. Unfortunately for him, Sexton Blake and Tinker are aboard it and the detective, recognising Garock, has him locked up. Later, the crook overpowers Allan Dean, the second mate, escapes, steals a passenger's jewels, and goes into hiding on the ship. Blake feels certain that Garock has an accomplice. After a week has passed, a passenger, Sir Colin Conyers, comes under suspicion, and when the liner is just a mile off the fogbound British shore and a collision with a cargo vessel causes panic, Blake notes that Conyers grabs his camera before anything else. He feels certain that the jewels must be inside it. Furthermore, a panicked plea from inside the man’s large luggage case gives away Garock’s hiding place. However, amid the chaos, the detective is unable to hold the crook, who leaps overboard and swims to shore. Blake recovers the diamonds and issues a stern warning to Sir Colin. Garock witnesses a train crash and takes the clothes and identity of one of its victims. Days later, he visits Baker Street and tries to kill Blake. Tinker and Pedro intercede. The crook flees. Next day, Sir Colin is found murdered and Allan Dean is arrested for the crime. Blake is quickly able to prove that, in fact, Garock was the killer. When an informant reveals where the crook has his headquarters in London, Blake infiltrates a gang meeting and learns that Garock has kidnapped Marion Weston — Sir Colin's ward — and intends to force her into marriage. Giving Tinker the appearance of one of the gang, Blake has himself delivered by the youngster into the crook's custody. The detective tricks Garock into signing a confession of Sir Colin's murder before then capturing him and delivering him to a police station. By the time they've got home, he's escaped. Working on the premise that he'll again try to abduct Miss Weston, Blake and Tinker race to her and, there, Tinker dresses up as the young woman. He allows himself to to be driven away by Garock, the crook oblivious to the fact that not only has the girl been replaced but so has his chauffeur — by Sexton Blake! They pounce on him but, realising that he is cornered, Garock takes cyanide. It's a ruse; he again escapes. Blake gives chase, he shoots the criminal in the arm, they tussle in a river, are knocked unconscious by a barge, and when Blake recovers, Garock has gone. A month later, Blake receives a letter from the Snake, who looks forward to their next bout.

Trivia: Garock experienced a number of encounters with Sexton Blake prior to the one that ended with his arrest and conviction. None of them were recorded.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆ The story feels like one of the very earliest Blake tales, with an illogical plot strung together by innumerable absurd coincidences and containing utterly unbelievable scenes such as the one where Tinker passes off as a woman, even perfectly mimicking her voice.

Notes: Two thugs approach Professor Kew and ask him to remove a bullet from their colleague who was shot during a robbery. Kew agrees and finds the wounded man — Gilbert Dykes — to be a cut above his companions; a gentleman, in fact. The bullet is duly removed but the professor realises that Dykes has consumption and will die soon anyway. Three months later, Lady Marjory Mountjoy hits on a novel idea for a fund-raising party. She has a small model ambulance built into the back of which her guests will deposit jewellery. The items will be auctioned off to raise money for hospitals. Kew learns of this and employs Dykes in a scheme to rob the ambulance of its cargo — what he doesn't realise is that Lady Mountjoy and Dykes are old acquaintances. The robbery goes without a hitch — the body of the ambulance, filled with jewels, is replaced with an empty copy. When this is discovered, Sexton Blake, who is a guest at the party, begins investigating. Unknown to him, Tinker witnessed the swap, followed Dykes, and has fallen into the hands of Professor Kew who has paralysed him with a drug. The next morning, worrying about his assistant's absence, Blake discovers evidence that points at Dykes. He also learns that his suspect is Lady Marjory's cousin and that they had been childhood sweethearts. Meanwhile, Tinker is taken to a hospital where Kew advises that a brain operation is necessary to cure him of the paralysis. The patient is wheeled into an operating theatre where, fully conscious but unable even to blink, he listens in horror as the surgeon decides that no anaesthetic will be required. Sexton Blake tracks down Gilbert Dykes who confesses to his crime and reveals Kew's whereabouts. The detective confronts the professor who, cornered, offers a deal: he will prevent Tinker's death at the hands of the surgeon and return the stolen jewels in return for his freedom. Blake agrees to these terms and Kew telephones the hospital to stop the operation. Tinker is rescued and cured of his paralysis. Dykes attempts to revenge himself but before he can reach Kew his illness overtakes him and he dies.

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

Rating: ★★★★★

Notes: Story features Dr. Huxton Rymer and Prince Wu Ling.

Unrated

Notes: Story features Henri Garrock.

Unrated

Notes: Mademoiselle Yvonne Cartier and her uncle Graves return to Binabong, her family home in Australia, which is now owned by a man named John Treherne. However, during a terrible drought, Treherne has been swindled out of ownership by his unscrupulous neighbour, Edward Jameson. Yvonne quickly recognises Jameson's methods and vows to assist Treherne. In Melbourne, Sexton Blake and Tinker are taking a holiday when they run into Captain Brien O’Brien, one of Blake's 'varsity mates. He invites them to join him at Walla-Walla, which is owned by another of their friends, "Dumpy" Campbell. Blake agrees, and thus finds himself on the ranch that adjoins Jameson's property. One night, the latter arrives and asks Campbell to help him to discover how so many of his sheep are disappearing. The circumstances suggest an enormous rustling campaign, but how it functions is a mystery, and so Blake is quickly roped into the investigation. While riding on guard duty, Tinker is kidnapped by Yvonne's men and taken to a well-concealed canyon where the stolen livestock is being kept. Yvonne is startled to find him in Australia but nevertheless continues to organise the campaign against Jameson. When Tinker escapes, he becomes lost in the canyon, discovers a stash of gold, and falls over a ledge. Meanwhile, Blake learns of Yvonne's presence, confronts her, and hears the whole story. She allows him to take command of the situation, and he exposes Jameson's dirty dealing. Cornered, the villain withdraws all claims to Binabong, which once again becomes a Cartier property. Yvonne employs a grateful Treherne to manage it. Blake then leads the search for Tinker, who is discovered hanging in a tree over a precipice. He is rescued. The gold is divided among those who can rightfully claim it, Tinker being among them.

Rating: ★★★★★

Notes: American Secret Service man Bryant Kennedy visits Sexton Blake at Christmas and enlists his help. He has been investigating how vast numbers of illegal Chinese immigrants have been entering the States and the trail has led him to England. After he departs, the Duchess of Carrisbrooke arrives and asks Blake to investigate the disappearance of her daughter, Sybil, during a trip to Cardiff. Probing the girl's past, the detective is told that, while the family were in China the previous year, Sybil had rejected the attentions of a man named Dr Li-Fuang. Blake quickly learns that this man is, in fact, Prince Wu Ling. During Christmas dinner with Mademoiselle Yvonne, Blake discusses the case and, unknown to him, she decides to help by trying to get herself kidnapped the same way as Sybil. The detective makes her a gift of a fabulous Chinese carved jade sphere, then departs. The sacred sphere was once handed from emperor to emperor until the Ming Dynasty gave way to the Manchu, at which point it was lost. The detective leaves a letter warning her to keep it hidden, for it would be much prized by Wu Ling. Yvonne places it in a small chamois bag that she wears on a chain around her neck. She then travels to Cardiff with her uncle Graves and puts her plan into action. Meanwhile, from the Eastern Queen, docked in that same city, Dr Huxton Rymer comes ashore intent on investigating the disappearance of Sybil, for whom a huge reward has been offered in the newspapers. He witnesses the kidnapping of a girl and learns that she is to become the wife of a Chinese governor. She, along with thirty-nine illegal Chinese immigrants, is taken aboard the Eastern Queen where Rymer finally sees through the disguise and recognised her as Yvonne. A fortieth immigrant joins the ship and it sets sail across the Atlantic. This fortieth Chinese is, in fact, a heavily made-up Sexton Blake and he is quick to notice Rymer's presence. As the voyage progresses — and with Yvonne's yacht Fleur-de-Lys carrying Tinker, Pedro, Kennedy and Graves not far behind — Blake overhears Rymer proposing marriage to Yvonne, who summarily rejects him. He also manages to find a way for her to pass to him the sacred sphere for safekeeping. At last the ship reaches Canada and its human cargo is transferred to another ship, bound for America. Blake manages to get a note to his allies, who follow. In American waters, the Fleur-de-Lys attacks. During the terrific battle that ensues, Rymer gets away with Yvonne as his prisoner. Discovering the route along which Sybil had been sent, he follows the trail to Boston. In that city, Prince Wu Ling and his lieutenant, San, interrogate Sybil in an attempt to discover the purpose of her father's diplomatic missions to China. She tells them nothing and the interview is interrupted by the arrival of Rymer and Yvonne. Wu Ling immediately sentences Rymer to a lifetime of slavery as a consequence of his past betrayals. His encounter with Yvonne, though, is disrupted by yet another arrival: Sexton Blake. Blake informs him that the place is surrounded by Kennedy's Secret Service men and demands the return of both women, the closure of the illegal immigration route and the handing over of sixty-eight immigrants. In return, he will allow Wu Ling to go free. The prince has no choice but to agree to this arrangement. Yvonne then begs Blake to plead for Rymer's release. Wu Ling refuses the request, so Blake exchanges Rymer's freedom for the sacred sphere.

Trivia: Double Christmas issue.

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

Rating: ★★★★★ Simply one of the best Sexton Blake tales of all time.

Notes: While staying with John Marsh, Blake and Tinker prevent a crook named Nathan L. Spike from cheating a cowpuncher, George Witney, out of the deed to Tree Hill Mine, a stretch of land believed to be rich in gold. They then help him defend his property when Spike and his four henchmen attempt to jump the claim. Holed up and outnumbered, Blake sends Tinker to fetch Marsh. Meanwhile, a wagon train is approaching, transporting Geoffrey Grant and his family to a new life in the West. When Spike and his gang attack it, intending to rob it of its supplies, Grant, who is one of Marsh’s former victims, is wounded. Tinker and Marsh arrive in time to drive the raiders away. They take the Grant family to Hill Tree Mine, hoping that Blake can save the injured man's life. He does so, but then Grant recognises Marsh. Blake appeals to him to give the reformed criminal a chance and allow him to make reparations. Grant agrees to this but Spike has eavesdropped on the conversation and vows to turn Marsh in and claim the reward for his capture. Over the next few days, Blake and his friends build cabins and start to mine the land. They strike gold but their celebrations are cut short when a posse arrives and Marsh is arrested and taken into custody to await positive identification. Weeks later, Inspector Frean arrives from Scotland Yard and Spike overhears the sheriff telling him that a hundred thousand dollars in gold is to be transported from Tree Hill Mine, which Blake and the others have continued to work. The crook gathers his gang and they steal the fortune. The sheriff raises a posse that includes Blake and his friends but the detective, feigning a fall from his horse, manages to get separated from them and sets off for the fort where Marsh is being held. There, he pulls off a clever scheme whereby Marsh is mistaken for another man, cannot be identified by Frean, and gains his freedom. Spike and his henchmen, meanwhile, are caught and arrested. With his share of the gold, Marsh takes his wife to New York to build a new life.

Trivia: Mrs. Marsh is now named Hilda again. In the past, she has occasionally been Julia.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: In a ward at St. Cyr's, Professor Francis Kew operates on the victim of a road accident and learns from his patient's incoherent babbling that the man is a blackmailer. The next morning, Kew uses a truth serum to gain further details. The man, it turns out was once a chauffeur in the employ of someone named Marcus Hendrigg. One day, they had found an unconscious man by the side of the road. Upon searching him, they discovered that he was Anthony Glave, returning from South Africa to claim his entitlement: Warbury Hall, a big estate at Deignmouth. Hendrigg arranged matters so that Glave was committed to an insane asylum under the name "Jacob Weber" while he — Hendrigg — stole his identity and inheritance. The chauffeur had been paid for his silence but was attempting to extort more from Hendrigg. Kew travels to Warbury Hall and confronts the imposter, telling him that he'll rid him of his blackmailer in return for fifteen thousand pounds. Meanwhile, Sexton Blake is approached by the father of Anthony Glave's sweetheart, Hazel, and is commissioned to find the missing man. He quickly discovers that Glave must have been on a train that was destroyed in a terrible collision. The next day, Hazel tells Tinker she doesn't believe that Glave died in the crash and she wants to visit the scene of it, for she has frequently dreamed of Glave lying injured beside a road. They go and her dreams prove accurate, the landscape is exactly as she envisioned it. Blake is summoned and learns that a man matching Glave's description is in the local asylum. Tinker takes Hazel to see the outside of the place, little knowing that Professor Kew is inside examining "Weber," who has amnesia. The crooked surgeon leaves the asylum and is much disconcerted when he encounters Tinker outside. Returning to Warbury Hall, he receives a telegram informing him that the blackmailer has died. Hendrigg is also aware of this, having steamed the missive open. Realising that Hazel will identify the man in the asylum, Kew and Hendrigg kidnap her but, as they drive away, Tinker spots them and records the car's registration. Blake traces it to Warbury Hall. Kew realises that Hendrigg will not be as easy to extort money from as he'd thought, so he reveals to Hazel that "Weber" is, indeed, Glave and that his memory can be restored. Kew, however, will only perform the operation if he is paid fifteen thousand. Hendrigg overhears this deal and vows to kill Kew. Knowing his game is up, he sets fire to the hall with Hazel still in it and makes a getaway, taking Kew with him. Blake and Tinker arrive at the scene and rescue the girl before then pursuing the villains. Hendrigg sends his car plummeting into a quarry, intending to kill himself and the professor. Kew jumps from the vehicle in the nick of time. Blake captures him and makes a deal — Kew will go free if he operates on Anthony Glave. This is done. Glave and Hazel are reunited ... and Sexton Blake wonders at the humane side of Kew that possesses such skill.

Trivia: The "old landlady" who looks after Blake and Tinker bears little resemblance to Mrs Bardell.

Rating: ★★★★★ The scene where Blake rescues the girl from the blazing building is truly thrilling.

Notes: Story features Henri Garrock.

Unrated

Notes: In Scotland, ruined financier Douglas Romanis wrongly suspects his wife of having an affair with her friend Noel Mackinder. The two men fight, Mackinder falls into a river, and Mrs Romanis drowns while trying to save him. Romanis, now a widower, vows vengeance. He moves to America with his daughter, changes their names to Alister and Helen Ferguson, and raises her to hate Mackinder. Over the next fifteen years, he becomes a rich man. He then returns to England and tries to hire Sexton Blake to locate Mackinder. Blake refuses but decides that Mackinder should be found and warned that he's being hunted. He orders Tinker to shadow Ferguson. The same morning, Mackinder — much changed in appearance and now known as Rupert Dorrance — has a chance encounter with Helen Ferguson and they arrange to meet again. Her father, meanwhile, hires a crooked enquiry agent named George Heddon. Tinker spies on their meeting and, in Heddon's office, finds in an open safe containing a diamond known to have been stolen by Laban Creed. Heddon catches him, overpowers him, and locks him in the strongbox. When his assistant fails to return, Blake dons a disguise, goes to Heddon's office, and confronts the other investigator. They fight, Heddon flees, and Blake liberates Tinker who reveals that, beneath a disguise, the villain is Creed. Blake travels to Scotland and interviews Mackinder's childhood nurse, who has a photograph of him in his present guise as Dorrance. Creed, who has followed Blake — and thrown Tinker from a train — shoots him in the shoulder. Tinker survives his ordeal and arrives on the scene before Creed can snatch the photograph, though the crook catches a glimpse of it before making his getaway. In London, Helen tells her father that she has been meeting Dorrance, has fallen in love with him, and wants to marry him. Creed returns from Scotland and reveals who Dorrance really is. The hatred for Mackinder instilled in Helen by her father wells up and she agrees to write a letter to lure him into a trap. Blake learns of this, collects Detective-Inspector Widgeon from Scotland Yard, and races to the arranged rendezvous where Dorrance has been tied up by Ferguson and Creed and left in a cellar. Unknown to Ferguson, the chamber is flooding, and when Creed believes Dorrance to have drowned, he attempts to blackmail his erstwhile client. Helen arrives in time to have a change of heart and rescue Dorrance. Creed escapes when Blake, Tinker and Widgeon arrive. True identities are established and Mackinder finally proves to Romanis that he was always entirely innocent in his friendship with the late Mrs Romanis. He and Helen marry.

Trivia: Mrs Bardell's first name is Betsy rather than the usual Martha.

Rating: ★★★★☆ A quintessential William Murray Graydon tale.