Sexton Blake Bibliography: 1929
Publishing: Author Andrew Murray dies aged 49 after suffering a severe mental illness. He wrote his last Sexton Blake story in 1924.
The tradition of author anonymity ends with UNION JACK issue 1,360.
Blake: Miss Death indulges in her brief crime spree.
THE BOYS' FRIEND · 2nd series · Issue 181 · Mar. 1929 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Unknown
Notes: This is an abridged reprint of a serial that appeared in THE BOYS' REALM OF SPORT AND ADVENTURE from issue 18 to 29.
Unrated
THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 2nd series · Issue 174 · Jan. 1929 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
Illustrator: Arthur Jones
Other content: Guilty—But Innocent! (article)
Notes: This was anthologised in THE SEXTON BLAKE CASEBOOK (1987).
Unrated
THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 2nd series · Issue 178 · Feb. 1929 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
Illustrator: Arthur Jones
Other content: The Rival Gangs of New York (article)
Notes: Story features George Marsden Plummer and Vali Mata-Vali.
Unrated
Notes: None at present
Unrated
THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 2nd series · Issue 183 · Mar. 1929 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
Illustrator: Arthur Jones
Other content: Howling Wolf's Secret by Anon.; Women Crooks (article)
Notes: Story features Dr. Huxton Rymer and Mary Trent.
Unrated
THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 2nd series · Issue 189 · May 1929 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
Illustrator: Arthur Jones
Other content: Coloured Crooks (article)
Notes: What was behind the strangling of a British Secret Service man in a London motel bedroom? Sexton Blake, the world's most famous detective, tackles the problem and finds himself opposed to the Thugs of India — the vast sinister organisation that strangles its victims. How he penetrates their secret stronghold in disguise, and staking all, becomes a Thug himself, is vividly told in no. 189 of the Sexton Blake Library.
Unrated
THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 2nd series · Issue 195 · Jun. 1929 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Cranky Crooks (article)
Notes: My copy is missing its cover. A dark night — a man with fear in his heart waiting upon a lonely heath! From a closed car a masked figure emerges. No sound is heard, but the young man drops dead and the silent slayer fades back into the car. Who is this terrible masked avenger? How Sexton Blake solves this sensational and baffling problem is told in "The Silent Slayer".
Unrated
THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 2nd series · Issue 198 · Jul. 1929 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Unknown
Notes: Murdered for reading a play. This is the strange motive behind the series of baffling murders Sexton Blake is called in to solve. The author of the play, a wealthy recluse, is the first victim. Then follows the murder of the typist to whom the play is sent, and finally London is shocked by the discovery of a well-known theatrical producer found stabbed in his office. He also read the ill-fated play, but the manuscript has disappeared. The mystery deepens and Sexton Blake finds himself up against a big problem. The story of his triumph and the amazing revelations he discloses, involving a famous actress, makes one of the most thrilling dramas featuring the famous detective.
Unrated
THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 2nd series · Issue 202 · Aug. 1929 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
Illustrator: H. M. Lewis
Other content: Desert Crooks (article)
Notes: When the young typist told Sexton Blake of the robbery of a piece of parchment containing a concession for an oil well, he little knew of the dramatic events that were to follow. It was only when, utterly worn out, he and his assistant stumbled under a blistering sun over the African desert, that he realised the terrible nature of the case he had undertaken. To the perils of hunger and thirst were added those of native bandits and English crooks.
Unrated
THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 2nd series · Issue 205 · Sep. 1929 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
Illustrator: Arthur Jones
Other content: The Fire-Bugs (article)
Notes: In the South of England, hidden away in the wooded depths of its spacious grounds, stood an old-world mansion holding a strange and terrbile secret. The brutal murder, in a South-Coast express, of a well-known local resident brought Sexton Blake upon the scene. He realised that he could know no rest until he had solved the baffling mystery. From the start he was faced with an impenetrable wall of mystery — mystery terrible and dangerous, for death stalked the countryside. But grimly Blake stuck to the trail, till at the end the grisly solution of a terrible secret came to light.
Unrated
THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 2nd series · Issue 206 · Sep. 1929 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
Illustrator: Eric Parker
Other content: The Riddle of Radium (article)
Notes: 'A famous West-End doctor, house-surgeon at one of London's largest hospitals is involved in a dramatic mystery surrounding the illicit trading in radium. Here is a vivid story of an unscrupulous crook, setting an intricate problem for Sexton Blake. The duel between the two provides a succession of thrills and excitement as the detective relentlessly brings to light all the details of an astounding plot!' Story features Zenith the Albino.
Unrated
THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 2nd series · Issue 209 · Oct. 1929 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
Illustrator: Eric Parker
Other content: Car Swindles (article)
Notes: 'The huge glass-domed building of Olympia is packed with a seething crowd of car-lovers, the band blares forth a popular air, the brilliant arc-lamps shine down upon the laughing, chattering throng - and then comes tragedy. On one of the stands a man in murdered and his body is found in a demonstration car - yet the killer had left his victim in the little office where the crime had taken place! Who moved the dead man? Why? Who was the real murderer? There are a hundred baffling questions for Sexton Blake to answer in this sensational novel of detective adventure in London and the south of England.' Story features Gilbert and Eileen Hale.
Unrated
THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 2nd series · Issue 211 · Oct. 1929 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
Illustrator: H. M. Lewis
Other content: Up-To-Date Smuggling (article)
Notes: Little did the young naval officer dream of the tragic events in store, when on a wild winter night of wind and storm he took shelter in a desolate old house on a bleak stretch of the coast. In a passage lay the body of a man, the finding of which proved the start of a mystery sinister and astounding. Sexton Blake, flung accidentally into the strange case, faces desperate peril before at last he unravels the tangled skeins of a most amazing plot.
Unrated
THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 2nd series · Issue 214 · Nov. 1929 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Schools For Crooks (article)
Notes: On the scene within ten seconds of the murder! That was the boast Professor Larsen made about his crook-catching device - and it came true! In a deserted mill a man lay dead and the police arrived in time to arrest a young man as he was leaving. What connection had this murder with the strange house where the professor ran a school for engineers? This was the secret Sexton Blake set himself to probe.
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 1,321 · 9/2/1929 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Tinker's Notebook; Red Aces by Edgar Wallace; The Isle of Strife by Stacey Blake.
Notes: This story is narrated in first-person by Sexton Blake.
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 1,323 · 23/2/1929 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Eric Parker
Other content: Tinker's Notebook
Notes: Diana Temple is a Yorkshire lass from a poverty-stricken background. When a specialist reveals to her that she has just six months to live, it brings a reckless quirk in her character to the surface. Donning a skull mask, she becomes Miss Death, a criminal who has nothing to lose. She approaches a man named Hammerton Grice, a crooked lawyer, with the intention of robbing him. When she draws her weapon, he draws his at the same time. The lights go out, a shot is fired, and Grice is killed. However, neither he nor she had fired the shot; a third person, heard running away, is responsible (it later emerges that the murderer was one of Grice's victims — he confesses to the crime in a suicide note then shoots himself). Miss Death leaves with Grice's notebook, which is filled with the secrets of the rich and famous. It soon becomes known as The Book of Death. She establishes her base — The House of Secrets — in Leeds and gathers around her a gang of crooks, including Charlie the Chat (thief), Monty Lane (con man), Egloff the Peterman, the Bishop, the Cosher Kid, Civility Smith, Big Pete, Agronsky (the 'Arson King') and Kid Louis (forger). With the exception of Charlie, these men are all unwilling recruits blackmailed into working for her. Their departure from London for Leeds is noticed by Detective-Inspector Coutts and their crimes soon give reason for Sexton Blake to head north. Miss Death is using the criminals to rob from the rich so that she can give to the poor ... but they are a vicious lot and when Tinker falls into their hands he is threatened with torture. Blake comes to the rescue and, after a chase — and despite taking a bullet in the shoulder — manages to round up Cosher Kid, Big Pete and Egloff. In return for his efforts, he receives a warning message from Miss Death.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 1,324 · 2/3/1929 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Eric Parker
Other content: Tinker's Notebook; The Isle of Strife by Stacey Blake.
Notes: Splash Page travels to Sheffield to see what Sexton Blake is up to. His arrival is noticed by Charlie the Chat and reported to Miss Death. She is concerned about Blake's continued presence in the city and begins to plot against him. Meanwhile, Martin Rutherford, head of the Rutherford Razor empire, receives a visit from a Honduran, Dr Ramon Salvador, who brings with him a native South American named Zapotec. Dr Ramon offers Rutherford an ancient Atzec formula for a depilatory cream — Ica — which is so efficient it could make razors obsolete. His price is five million pounds. Unbeknown to Rutherford, his visiter is actually Monty Lane, the arch con-man. Rutherford arranges to meet Ramon again that evening along with some other leaders of the razor manufacturing industry. When he learns that Blake, with whom he is acquainted, is in town, he asks the detective to attend. Blake agrees and suggests that he should come along in disguise as 'Professor Browne'. Unfortunately, Miss Death's spies learn of this and her gang of crooks set a trap for the detective. They kidnap him, drug him, and replace him with a disguised villain named Bishop who arrives at the Rutherford meeting pretending to be the detective. There he supports Dr Ramon's assertions about Ica and the razor tycoon is persuaded to invest in the cream's development to a tune of £20,000. However, the scheme starts to go awry when the gang discovers that their captive isn't Sexton Blake at all but a disguised Splash Page. At this point, one of their own men suddenly reveals himself to be an impostor — it's Blake, and he quickly releases Splash in time for the newspaper man to join the subsequent free-for-all. During the fight, Miss Death escapes, though a great many of her gang are rounded up. The tale ends with Sexton Blake receiving a threatening letter from the lady crook.
Rating: ★★★★★
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 1,326 · 16/3/1929 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Eric Parker
Other content: Tinker's Notebook; The Isle of Strife by Stacey Blake.
Notes: Forty-eight hours have passed since the events of THE TRAIL OF THE BANDAGED MAN (UNION JACK 1,251) and Dr. Satira is still on the loose. While driving near the village of Sixstreet, he accidentally runs over and kills a man. Placing the corpse in the coffin he used to escape at the end of the previous story, he leaves it in the middle of the road. A few miles farther on he is stopped by a man named Mitch Emden who claims to have been robbed of twenty thousand pounds and valuable jewels. Satira realises that it was the thief he had killed, so he leaves Emden and turns back to retrieve the treasure, only to discover that the coffin has vanished. Concluding that it must have been taken to the local police station, he goes there with his two henchmen — Cruller and Dingle. Meanwhile, Sexton Blake, Tinker and Detective-Inspector Coutts — who suspect that Satira is in the area — encounter Emden and hear the same story. They take him to the police station and are immediately imprisoned by Cruller, who masquerades as the local constable. The criminal allows Emden to depart, then Satira sets fire to the station and flees in the Grey Panther, later dumping it in favour of a stolen removal van. Eventually arriving in London, he visits a villain named Black Brogan and asks for help in escaping the country. On his behalf, Brogan takes the stolen jewels to a fence named Dieman, who promises to bring payment for them to Satira's hideaway. However, Dieman is, in fact, Mitch Emden, who has a double identity for his less-than-honest dealings. Recognising his own jewels, he decides to tell Sexton Blake where Satira is. Before he can make the call, Blake arrives on his doorstep, having traced him. Later, the disguised detective accompanies Dieman to the doctor's hideout and slaps handcuffs onto the villain. He summons the police but before they arrive Brogan shoots Dieman and activates a trapdoor through which Blake falls into the Thames. The criminals try to escape in a boat but Blake capsizes it. Brogan drowns but Doctor Satira is finally captured and sent to prison where he will be hanged for his crimes.
Trivia Sexton Blake purchased the Grey Panther for nearly three thousand guineas.
This story was reprinted in DETECTIVE WEEKLY issue 306 as DR. SATIRA TAKES IT ALL (1938).
Rating: ★★★★★
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 1,327 · 23/3/1929 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Eric Parker
Other content: Tinker's Notebook; The Isle of Strife by Stacey Blake.
Notes: Posters asking ARE YOU PAUL CYNOS? suddenly appear all over London. It turns out to be a publicity stunt by a new story paper entitled Sensations. Between twelve and one o’clock, twenty men made up to accurately resemble Paul Cynos will roam the streets, each with £100 in his pocket. Any person who approaches, asks “Are you Paul Cynos,” and shows an issue of Sensations will receive five pounds. Blake realises that for that hour the real Cynos will be free to go wherever he wants. Detective-Inspector Coutts, having already mistakenly tried to arrest Cynos only to find that it was an imposter, accompanies Blake to the magazine’s office. The editor flatly refuses to end his marketing gimmick. Later, after Blake has identified him as a well-known crook, he sets fire to the office and flees. That night, Cynos disguises himself as Chief Commissioner Fairfax and is let into Scotland Yard by Detective-Sergeant Siburn, who happens to be one of his sons. Siburn telephones the various district stations, gives the addresses of houses supposedly identified as Cynos’s hideaway, and orders that large numbers of policemen should be gathered to raid the places. Next, Cynos plants a time bomb in Scotland Yard’s wireless room. A little later, Sexton Blake receives a telephone call from Judge Swain, who had overseen Cynos’s trial. Swain is convinced that he’s in danger. Blake and Coutts race to his house where they find that he has died of fright. Cynos appears and tries to shoot Blake but his gun jams. He escapes. By now, all over London, large teams of policemen are raiding the supposed hideaways and are finding nothing. While they are thus diverted, Cynos’s gang pulls off a number of big bank robberies. The bomb then half destroys Scotland Yard. With the police crippled, Blake vows to catch Cynos within the next eight hours.
Trivia: This was reprinted in DETECTIVE WEEKLY issue 316 as JUSTICE AT BAY (1939).
Rating: ★★★★★ A brilliant story!
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 1,333 · 4/5/1929 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Eric Parker
Other content: Tinker's Notebook; The Isle of Strife by Stacey Blake.
Notes: In Bradford, Lord Fairleigh, a major player in the wool industry, employs villains to rob Jem Stapler of a formula he has developed to aid wool processing. They murder the young inventor by pushing him under a train, then they deliver the formula to Fairleigh. Stapler's fiancee travels to London to ask Sexton Blake to investigate the killing. Meanwhile, Miss Death has fallen in with Sir Hector Jarman, an insane surgeon who has a grudge against the wool industry. While Miss Death intends to extort money from Fairleigh to give to the poor, Jarman's motives are altogether more ambitious and deadly. Sexton Blake visits Fairleigh's home only to learn that its owner has departed with Miss Death and 'Blake' — a man impersonating the famous criminologist. This impostor is Bishop who, with Charlie the Chat and Miss Death, escorts the wool tycoon to Greystoke Towers, home of Jarman. Here they force him to write a cheque for twenty-five thousand pounds. Meanwhile, Lady Fairleigh is terribly injured in a car crash. She is discovered by Jarman's African servant who, recognising her as the woman to whom his master was once engaged, carries her to Greystoke Towers. There, she dies, sending Jarman into a berserk rage. He rampages through the grounds with an axe and sets free his pet, a giant lizard — a Komodo Dragon — named Sohag the Terrible. Blake and Tinker arrive, having been led to the house by Pedro who has followed Mrs Fairleigh's scent from the scene of the car crash. They shoot the lizard dead. Jarman kills Lord Fairleigh then breaks free from the detectives and jumps into a pool of piranha fish that eat him alive. Miss Death and her cohorts escape from the house which, when searched by Blake, offers up a secret: Jem Stapler! The mangled body on the train tracks had never been his — it was placed there by Miss Death's gang to fool Fairleigh into thinking he was guilty of murder. The formula handed to him had also been fake and Stapler had been kept safe and out of the way by the strange villainess.
Rating: ★★★★☆
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 1,337 · 1/6/1929 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Eric Parker
Other content: Tinker's Notebook; The Isle of Strife by Stacey Blake.
Notes: Splash Page is sent to the seaside resort of Bournehampton to cover the local election. He calls at Baker Street to see whether Blake and Tinker would like to come with him and finds Ruff Hanson there. The American detective has been hunting a crook, Vandyke Jim, but that man is now rumoured to have returned to the States. Blake is unable to accompany Page, but Tinker and Ruff go with the newspaper man to the coastal town where they learn that the candidates are Hon. Eileen Belmont for the Conservatives, Councillor Dann for Labour, and Commander Rivington, an independent. Unknown to them, the latter is being blackmailed by a villain known as the Fixer, who is, in fact, Vandyke Jim. This criminal, in the guise of Reginald Fellows, is also advisor to Miss Belmont, a member of his gang whom he intends to get elected to parliament for the rich pickings that would come with such a position. Masked, the Fixer, reveals to Rivington that he is aware of his past and will make it public unless Rivington withdraws from the election. Sexton Blake joins his friends and informs Hanson that Vandyke Jim was not aboard the ship on which he'd supposedly booked passage to America. Sir Fenton Forbes, the Home Secretary, arriving in town to make a speech in support of Belmont, is kidnapped by the Fixer's gang, held prisoner, and told that he'll not be liberated until he revokes the death sentence he passed on a member of the gang who's currently in gaol. The Conservative supporters' meeting is further disrupted when, much to the Fixer's puzzlement, Belmont goes missing. When these two absences are announced, and Rivington becomes the third person to vanish, Splash Page senses a story. Hanson, in the meantime, is out walking when he encounters a man he recognises, one of the Fixer's gang, who — when threatened — reveals that the Fixer is on a yacht in the bay. Hanson boards the vessel, confronts his prey, identifies him as Vandyke Jim, and shoots him dead. While Hanson is engaged in a gunfight with the rest of the gang, Blake, Splash and Tinker, attracted by the shots, board the yacht and the Home Secretary is rescued. Next, the detectives travel to a nearby village and, in a boarding house, confront a tall woman and short man. The tall woman, Blake reveals, was once found guilty but insane for the murder of her husband and has since been masquerading as Commander Rivington. The small man is a crook who has been posing as Miss Remington. Both of them, they claim, have been trying to go straight and are now in love with each other. Blake suggests that they should come clean and the law will be lenient with them.
Trivia: A tale of gender fluidity in 1929!
Rating: ★★★★☆
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 1,338 · 8/6/1929 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Eric Parker
Other content: Tinker's Notebook; Scissors Cut Paper by Gerard Fairlie.
Notes: At Swiftsure, the taxi-cab company that Paul Cynos operates as a front for his criminal endeavours, cars are returning laden with loot from the many bank raids that have been carried out in the wake of his bombing of Scotland Yard. Meanwhile, Sexton Blake and Detective-Inspector Coutts are sitting on a bench beside the Thames cooking up a scheme to bring the arch-criminal out of hiding. Their plan involves a public announcement of Cynos's capture and arrest ... though, in truth, it will be his brother, Maximus, who they'll drag into court ... a purposeful case of mistaken identity! In the middle of their plotting, they are interrupted by the discovery of a dead police constable floating in the river. In his hand, he is clutching an identity disk of the sort issued to taxi drivers. Unknown to the two men, this will later prove to be a vital clue. Chief Commissioner Sir Henry Fairfax gives their scheme the go-ahead, so they set off for Maximus Cynos's house. On the way, they witness a taxi crash. Its driver is knocked unconscious. The two passengers struggle to free something from the wreckage but, when they see Coutts approaching, they run away. The Yard man retrieves the suitcase they'd been trying to wrench loose and finds it to be crammed with stolen banknotes. He and Blake continue on and arrest "Paul Cynos," ignoring his objections that he is actually Maximus. The next morning, every newspaper announces the capture of the notorious crook. Cynos telephones Blake and informs him that his bluff will be exposed when Maximus appears in police court later that morning. He keeps his promise: during the hearing, Maximus is set free by the judge who, the moment the prisoner has been liberated, reveals himself to be Cynos! In the chaos that follows, the master crook slips away, disguises himself, and purposely has himself arrested in the guise of Thomas Haggart, petty pickpocket. Placed on remand, he is sent to Brixton Gaol for three days, where he is safe from Blake and can also conspire with his imprisoned sons, "Professor Septimus Coss" and "Malcolm Burton." Coutts learns that the identity disk held by the dead constable was a forgery and communicates this to Blake. Furthermore, he has discovered that the cab that crashed had a device via which the driver could surreptitiously listen to his passengers' conversations. These clues lead the detectives to the Swiftsure taxi garage.They quickly identify it as Cynos's headquarters and find in it a stash of money from the recent bank robberies and also the receipt for an advert placed in newspaper personal columns that reads, "Find Thomas Haggart." This directs the detective to the man on remand, who is immediately identified as Cynos and arrested.
Rating: ★★★★☆
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 1,341 · 29/6/1929 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Eric Parker
Other content: Tinker's Notebook; Scissors Cut Paper by Gerard Fairlie
Notes: This issue marks the end of Miss Death. In Doncaster, a new locomotive — The Black Prince — gains an evil reputation after two of its drivers drop dead on the footplate. On both occasions, a young man named Jack Laidlaw was left to drive the train, making him something of a hero in the newspapers. Splash Page is covering the story, as is Abel Zorn, an American journalist from a rival newspaper owned by Hogan Flint, a millionaire. Flint has set up a coach service to rival the railways and is stirring discontent among the railway unions. When Laidlaw sees a skeletal figure at the rail yard one night, he approaches Sexton Blake, who agrees to investigate after surmising that Miss Death might be involved. He's correct; Miss Death and her cohorts, The Bishop and Monty Lane, are out to get Hogan Flint. Tinker shadows Monty to Miss Death's hideaway and overhears their plans to extort money from the evil millionaire. Unfortunately, he then trips over Miss Death's cat and is captured by the criminals. Miss Death visits the rail yard to leave a note warning that Flint has sabotaged the line, intending to wreck the The Black Prince. However, she's interrupted by Blake who arrives on the scene having worked out Flint's plan. Miss Death flees from the detective but her weak heart finally gives out and she dies, just managing to reveal Tinker's whereabouts before succumbing. Hogan Flint, upon hearing that his plans are exposed, commits suicide. The Bishop and Monty Lane are rounded up by Detective-Inspector Coutts.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆ The story is marred by a rather too contrived plot.
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 1,350 · 31/8/1929 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Eric Parker
Other content: Tinker's Notebook; Scissors Cut Paper by Gerard Fairlie.
Notes: As Paul Cynos appears in court, his gang goes on a spree of vandalism to protest against his trial. Cynos makes no plea at his hearing and it is therefore automatically entered as "not guilty," but John Coates, the manager of the taxi firm Cynos created as a cover for his criminal enterprises, has buckled under pressure and promises to give King's Evidence. Cynos promises him that he'll be dead within an hour ... and he is! Shot through the head in his police cell! Sexton Blake is visited by Jack Knowland, husband to Cynos's only daughter, Moya Grayle, and son of the man for whose crime Cynos had originally been convicted. He reports that Moya went to see her father and has not returned. Blake, Tinker, Detective-Inspector Coutts and Knowland drive to Brixton Prison to see if she visited but, as they approach, a car passes them and inside it they see Cynos and his sons Professor Septimus Coss and Malcolm Burton — escaped! The crooks make a successful getaway and Cynos immediately visits the home of Sir Thursby Thomas — one of the men upon whom he's vowed to avenge himself — with the intention of extorting money out of him. However, when he gets there, he finds that Sir Thursby has already been killed. He's then knocked unconscious by the dead man's servant. Knowland, meanwhile, receives a panicked telephone call from his wife. She informs him that Sir Thursby is in danger and then abruptly hangs up. Blake and Coutts race to the murder scene and clap handcuffs on the recovering Cynos. The villain identifies the servant as one of his gang and accuses him of a double cross. Blake is able to confirm that the servant was the killer and exposes him as John Coates's brother, out to revenge himself on Cynos. Malcolm Burton arrives to warn Cynos that the girl has escaped. He is immediately arrested and all the crooks are returned to prison. Moya Grayle returns home and tells how she was kidnapped, overheard the criminals plotting against Sir Thursby, escaped, and managed to phone her husband.
Trivia: Material from this story was reprinted in DETECTIVE WEEKLY issue 326 as GUILTY — BUT INSANE! (1939).
Rating: ★★★★★
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 1,351 · 7/9/1929 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Eric Parker (cover) and H. M. Lewis (interior)
Other content: Tinker's Notebook; The Flight for the Schneider Trophy; Scissors Cut Paper by Gerard Fairlie.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 1,352 · 14/9/1929 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Eric Parker (cover) and H. M. Lewis (interior)
Other content: Tinker's Notebook; The Seven Sleepers by Francis Beeding.
Notes: When a bank manager dies, apparently after accidentally inhaling gas from a stove, Sexton Blake investigates and finds useful assistance from a banker-in-training—a Chinese youth named Ah Wo. With Tinker on a job in the North, Ah Wo becomes Blake's temporary assistant, and acquits himself well, displaying acute observational abilities. Together, they discover that a man named Duller had recently taken over the shop next door to the bank, and had meddled with the gas pipeline in order to introduce poisoned gas into the victim's apartment, above the bank. He had then broken into the safe and stolen a considerable fortune. Further clues show that the crook plans to leave the country by ship, so Blake and Ah Wo follow, tracking him to the docks in Hull. They find that he has already sailed, but his vessel has run aground in stormy conditions, and Duller has been injured and taken to hospital. Blake sets off to waylay him there, while Detective-Inspector Harker and two constables board the ship to search for the loot, which they believe to be hidden somewhere on it. The man set to guard the vessel, upon learning that a fortune is at hand, locks them in the hold. He himself, however, is then confronted by Duller, who has discharged himself from the hospital. Blake arrives and, after shots are fired, catches the crook. Ah Wo retrieves the stolen bonds and notes.
Trivia: The original Grey Panther has been destroyed by machine-gun fire. Blake is about to replace it with a Rolls-Royce Tourer, which will inherit the name.
Rating: ★★★★☆
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 1,354 · 28/9/1929 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Eric Parker
Other content: Tinker's Notebook; The Seven Sleepers by Francis Beeding.
Notes: A magistrate, Mr Stanhope, asks Sexton Blake's advice after his black cat, Juno, is poisoned and posted to him. He suspects that the deed was done by a man named Thomas Brand, who he'd convicted some five years ago. Brand, now released from prison, had been accused of being the notorious 'Black Cat' — a cat burglar — though he always maintained his innocence. Clifford Scott K. C. and a judge named Sir Charles Row also receive dead black cats in the post, and they, too, had been involved in the Brand case. The next event is a murder: Sir Howard Denison is found poisoned, dressed in the skintight black suit used by the cat burglar. Detective-Inspector Lennard is at the crime scene and, with Blake, finds a note stuck to the dead man's forehead: Black Cat! You have taken your last prowl! Blake visits Scotland Yard and, upon emerging, finds a dandified young man sitting in the Grey Panther who introduces himself as Eustace Cavendish. Eustace tells the detective that he witnessed a man capturing and poisoning a cat. The man, Eustace later discovered, was Rev. Smiles, whose background is obscure. Thanking the amateur detective for his information, Blake visits the scene of Denison's murder and concludes that Lennard is on the wrong track in his pursuit of Brand. Returning to Baker Street, he finds Eustace there. The 'swell' young man reveals that he has been shadowing Smiles and overheard him enquire after a financier named Harland — another character whose history is mysterious. Blake and Eustace break into Smiles' house and they find evidence that he has been maniplating shares on the stock market. Denison's death made him a profit in that respect — and Harland's would do so too. Blake visits the financier the next morning to warn him that he is probably Smiles' next target. He finds himself looking down the barrel of a pistol. It turns out that Harland and Smiles are one and the same man! Blake locks him in his own strong room and summons Lennard. However, when the room is opened, Harland has vanished through a secret second door. Eustace, however, has seen and followed him, and calls Blake to inform him that Harland is currently hiding out in a bungalow in Twickenham. The police surround the premises but are held at bay when Harland starts shooting at them with a machine gun. Blake climbs through a skylight and pounces on the crook but as he does so a police marksman shoots Harland in the chest. As he dies, the criminal confesses that he used to work with the Black Cat — Denison — but had been betrayed by him. He had killed him and tried to frame a petty crook — Brand — for the murder.
Trivia: Sexton Blake dons a bullet-proof chain-mail vest during this case. This item of clothing has been mentioned in other adventures.
Rating: ★★★★★
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 1,357 · 19/10/1929 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Eric Parker
Other content: Tinker's Notebook; The Seven Sleepers by Francis Beeding.
Notes: Sexton Blake accompanies Eustace Cavendish to the village of Stoke Henney, which is being terrorised by an apparition known as the Man-Bat. When they arrive there, every house is in darkness, and even the inn is closed. No one except the vicar, Joshua Pendlebury, dares to go out at night. Blake and Cavendish proceed to the vicarage, where they find Mrs Pendlebury alone, her husband having gone to the next village to attend to a dying pensioner. Now she is anxious, as he has not returned. However, just minutes later, the vicar is delivered home by a lorry driver who'd found him cowering by his motorcycle at the side of the road. Pendlebury explains that he'd seen the bat creature and had been frightened half witless by it. His account is interrupted by the arrival of Randolph Bannister, a neighbour and noted agricultural expert, who reveals that the manifestations are causing him to lose his fieldworkers, hampering his research. After he departs, Blake and Cavendish ascend to the top of the church tower from which they can see for miles all around. They note that one of Bannister's fields has been made highly visible by phosphorescent manure. Against its glow, a bat-like form is flitting. Following it, they come to a walled estate. It belongs to the reclusive Mr Quilter, who lives there with a Japanese servant. The following day the detectives attempt to gain entry but Quilter refuses to let them in. Further investigations are interrupted when a gang of men assault Blake and Cavendish and throw them into a well. They are rescued by the Man-Bat, who immediately flies away. Soaked, the duo make their way back to Quilter's and demand his assistance. He pulls a gun and accuses them of being spies. They overpower him and make a quick inspection of the place, discovering materials used to make wings. The next morning, a monoplane flies over Bannister's field and a package drops from it. However, the aim is off, and it lodges at the top of the church tower. Bannister races to the edifice and starts to climb the ivy that grows up its sides but, before he reaches the top, the Man-Bat swoops down and snatches the package. Bannister shoots and damages the flying creature's wing, causing the apparition to crash to the ground. He then loses his grip and falls to his death. Blake and Cavendish approach the Man-Bat and discover that it is Waldo the Wonder Man! At this point in his career, Blake's old opponent has put crime behind him and is known as the Peril Expert. He'd been hired by the eccentric inventor Quilter to test the wings, which only he has the strength to flap. He hands over the package and Blake finds that it's full of stolen jewels. Bannister's glowing field had been a drop-off point and it was he who'd hired the thugs. Quilter promises to stop frightening the locals with Waldo's night flights.
Trivia: There's not even a mention of Tinker in this story.
Rating: ★★★★★
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 1,359 · 2/11/1929 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Eric Parker
Other content: Tinker's Notebook; The Seven Sleepers by Francis Beeding.
Notes: Paul Cynos has been assessed by brain specialist Doctor Harper Garrick and a medical verdict is due. Sexton Blake is concerned by the fact that two of Cynos's sons are still at large: Malcolm Burton and the as yet unidentified seventh son. As he leaves Scotland Yard, Blake is pounced on and held at gunpoint by Burton who demands information about his father. Blake confirms that Cynos appears to have lost his mind. Burton gives himself up but, when questioned, states that he doesn't know what false identity his remaining brother has adopted. Cynos's trial begins, and when the prisoner is brought to the witness box, he appears to be a broken man, an imbecilic lunatic. Doctor Garrick is called as a witness and attests to the criminal's incurable madness. The prisoner is found guilty but insane and is remanded to Roadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum. Afterwards, Cynos's daughter, Moya Garrick, faints. Upon her recovery, she tells Blake that she recognised Garrick as the masked man who had kidnapped her (see King's Evidence (UNION JACK, issue 1,350) ... he is Cynos's seventh son! Blake realises that Cynos's condition was induced by drugs and will wear off. Coutts arranges for police detectives to keep a watch on Garrick’s house but when the men chosen for the duty keep disappearing, Blake takes on the task himself. He keeps vigil from the house opposite, alternating watches with Tinker until his assistant, too, inexplicably disappears. Then he follows Garrick to the train station and is astonished to find that he has booked a seat on the same train that will take Cynos to Roadmoor. Blake sits in the compartment next to that occupied by the warders and their handcuffed prisoner. A passenger enters and renders him unconscious with a gas-loaded cigar. When the detective comes round, Cynos is gone! Meanwhile, Coutts has discovered Tinker and the missing policemen tied up in Garrick's attic. He and Tinker act on overheard information and race to a train station where they link up with Blake. Garrick and Cynos have made off in a fast car. Blake & co. catch up with it and, endeavouring to elude them, Cynos recklessly drives onto a train crossing. His car is hit by a locomotive and he and Garrick are killed.
Trivia: The author makes a bad mistake by asserting that Malcolm Burton is still on the loose. In fact, in the previous story, Burton had been returned to Brixton Prison and it was Septimus Coss who remained at liberty.
Material from this story was reprinted in DETECTIVE WEEKLY issue 326 as GUILTY — BUT INSANE! (1939).
Rating: ★★★★★
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 1,360 · 9/11/1929 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Eric Parker
Other content: Tinker's Notebook; The Seven Sleepers by Francis Beeding.
Notes: With this issue, the long tradition of author anonymity in the Blake saga comes to an end. From here on in, authors are identified (though often by a pseudonym). This story features Splash Page and the Shadow Club.
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 1,362 · 23/11/1929 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: J. H. Valda
Other content: Tinker's Notebook; The Seven Sleepers by Francis Beeding.
Notes: An aristocratic family with a curse, a perilous marsh, and a hideous beast bringing death to those unfortunate enough to encounter it. There's a definite touch of HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES about this one. But of course, it's Blake not Holmes, so H. H. Clifford Gibbons throws in as many extra ingredients as possible: a thrilling aeroplane chase that ends in a mid-air collision, a lake-bottom hideaway that floods with our heroes trapped inside, a raging inferno and plenty of fist fights. The story begins with Warrender, a hulking great man, observing the comings and goings in a disreputable drinking den. In fact, he is a leading West End actor studying for a role. Unfortunately, things get out of hand and a fight erupts during which he retrieves a roll of canvas. To his amazement, it's a painting by Van Dyke; a portrait of a beautiful girl. He takes the painting to Sexton Blake who immediately recognises it as the recently stolen property of Lord Carham. Blake, Tinker and Warrender set off for the Fens, a large expanse of extremely flat land in the east of England. The author does a great job of creating a still and silent, mist enshrouded landscape. Before they've even had a chance to meet him, Lord Carham is murdered, his chest punctured by huge wide-spread claws. Through the mist, Blake captures a glimpse of a hunched, animal-like figure. It is, the house servant tells them, the gnomid, a legendary creature that has cursed the Carham family for generations. A painting of it hangs on the wall, hidden behind a tapestry. Every time the painting is shown, so the legend goes, something terrible happens. Before Blake has time to investigate further, there's another shock. A girl comes crashing through the glass of the patio doors. Fortunately, she is not badly hurt and is able to explain that she was on her way to an appointment with a local landowner when she was chased by the creature. Bizarrely, she bears an uncanny resemblance to the girl in the Van Dyke portrait. How does she relate to the mystery? What is the creature? And who's behind the deadly conspiracy? Of course, Blake gets to the bottom of it (and, simultaneously, to the bottom of a lake).
Trivia: The artwork on the cover of this edition of UNION JACK is a superb rendition of the monstrous beast.
This was reprinted under the same title in DETECTIVE WEEKLY issue 342 (1939) and anthologised in THE CASEBOOK OF SEXTON BLAKE (2009).
Rating: ★★★★★ There's plenty of chasing, shooting and fighting in this adventure, with Warrender getting a big slice of the action, proving to be a strong, resourceful and likeable character. Unfortunately, this means that Tinker gets rather pushed into the background. You even forget he's there until he pipes up and says something. Nevertheless, The Gnomid is an excellent and highly entertaining example of Blake at his best.
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 1,364 · 7/12/1929 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Kenneth Brookes
Other content: Tinker's Notebook; The Seven Sleepers by Francis Beeding.
Notes: The Hon. Eustace Cavendish is driving through the snow one evening, on his way to his family's country estate, when his car slides into a ditch. He walks to the nearest house, which happens to be the home of Sir Henry Chadwick. Cavendish had been at Oxford with Sir Henry's nephew and ward, Roderick, a dissolute gambler and womaniser, who he hadn't liked at all. Nearly a year ago, Roddy had disappeared from the social scene, having been invited to live at Chadwick Manor and look after the estate. Indeed, he is there when Cavendish calls, drunk and delighted to see him, and complaining that his uncle has kept him virtually a prisoner. The deal, he explains, is that, for a full year, he must remain in the house and not mix with the gambling set with whom he used to associate. If he breaks either of those rules, he will lose his allowance and be written out of his uncle's will. Sir Henry, it appears, is bedridden, though Roddy considers the old man's ailments to be entirely hypochondriacal in nature. When his uncle hears him talking with Cavendish, he leaves his bedchamber and, from the top of the stairs, yells at the visitor, demanding that he leave the house at once. The row is interrupted by the arrival of Sir Henry's doctor, Smallwood, who, after calming his patient, gives Cavendish a lift home. On the way, the doctor expresses his disdain for Roddy. After spending a few days with his family, Cavendish returns to his chambers in London's Half Moon Street only to read in the newspaper that Sir Henry has been stabbed to death. Roddy turns up in a blind panic, pleads his innocence, but is followed by the police and arrested. Cavendish calls Sexton Blake and tells him that, though he despises the accused man, he believes him. The two men drive to Chadwick Manor and meet with the local police inspector, who considers the case a straightforward one. Doctor Smallwood is also convinced of Roddy's guilt. He informs them that the uncle and nephew had argued ferociously after Sir Henry declared his intention to cut Roddy from his will. Blake, though, after viewing the evidence, feels that it lines up rather too conveniently and doesn't tally with the circumstances or with Roddy's character. As he uncovers a number of inconsistencies, the trail of clues leads him to the next village and results in the exhumation of a blacksmith who died a year ago. The detective uncovers an astonishingly clever plot to frame Roddy ... and when he hears the motive, he and Cavendish can't help but feel sympathy for the true perpetrator of the crime. They wonder whether the police inspector might find a way to avoid a prosecution ... and hope he does. Days later, in jail, Roderick Cavendish has a fatal heart attack.
Trivia: Sexton Blake has had a telephone line installed between his house and Cavendish's chambers in order to be able to call him directly, bypassing the exchange. This seems somewhat unlikely!
Rating: ★★★★★
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 1,365 · 14/12/1929 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Eric Parker
Other content: Tinker's Notebook; The Seven Sleepers by Francis Beeding.
Notes: Though this story is attributed to Gwyn Evans in the official records, George Rees informed W.O.G. Lofts that he actually wrote it as a favour when Evans was ill.
Story features Splash Page, Ruff Hanson and The Robin Hood League.
Unrated
UNION JACK · New series · Issue 1,367 · 28/12/1929 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Eric Parker (cover) and H. M. Lewis (interior)
Other content: Tinker's Notebook; The Seven Sleepers by Francis Beeding.
Notes: Captain “Sunny Jim” Minto is on leave and motorcycling through the countryside when his petrol runs low. He approaches a house, hoping to beg a can of fuel, and there witnesses a man bound to a chair and surrounded by five grey-cloaked men, all in leper masks. They are about to shoot their captive when Minto bursts in, throws the prisoner over his shoulder, and escapes. He takes the man to another house, owned by Winston, who arrives a few minutes later. The captive, named Schenker, is unable to explain why he had been sentenced to death. Moments later, while Minto and Winston are distracted, he is stabbed to death. The numeral “1” is painted in blood on his forehead. Minto and Winston separate to hunt the murderer, but Winston then disappears, leaving signs of a violent struggle. Minto summons Sexton Blake. The detective surmises that Schenker may have been staying at a nearby hotel. That establishment is hosting a Chinese ball, which Ah Wo is attending. With the latter’s help, Blake identifies a man named Lipmann as Schenker’s colleague and cautions him that his life may also be threatened. Lipmann summons two others—Hardy and Cullis—and the three men flee. While Minto shadows Hardy and Cullis, Blake follows Lipmann but is unable to prevent his assassination. The grey men corner Minto, Hardy and Cullis on a houseboat, and Winston is revealed as the gang’s leader. He reveals that the condemned men were once members of a team of treasure hunters that discovered a fortune in diamonds. They made off with the gems, leaving their colleagues trapped in a leper colony. Now, vengeance will be wrought. Winston condemns Hardy and Cullis to death. However, one of the grey men throws off his cloak and mask and levels a revolver. It is Sexton Blake! Having heard Winston’s account, and sympathising with it, he allows the grey men to escape on the condition that they will immediately leave the country. They go, but some weeks later, Blake learns that Hardy and Cullis have been killed in France.
Trivia: Ah Wo has assisted Blake in “one or two affairs” while Tinker is on business up north. R. C. Armour's pen name is spelled incorrectly in this issue (should be Reid Whitley).
Rating: ★★★☆☆ Ah Wo replaces Tinker but is under-employed.