Sexton Blake Bibliography: 1930

Notes: 'The end of the murder trial has come... public and counsel await the return of the Jury. Whilst in the waiting-room at the back of the court twelve silent figures loll grotesquely round the big table. What is the astounding mystery behind the dead Jury?' Story features Splash Page.

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Notes: 'George Marsden Plummer --- master crook and international adventurer! This is the dynamic influence behind the colossal swindles that are amazing London and Paris. The action of this sensational novel moves swiftly between the two capitals. Robbery and murder lead to Sexton Blake's entry upon a case that is enthralling in its vivid description of Apache villainy and the scheming of a super crook.'

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Notes: Story features Detective-Inspector Coutts.

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Notes: My copy is missing its cover.

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Notes: 'In the doorway of Dutch Pete's dive, the broken-down English exile met his death by a murderer's knife. What was the secret he carried with him? — the fatal secret that had made him a victim of the terrible gang run by the Pirate of the Timor Sea? There is little law save that of gun and knife in the islands of Malay, but Sexton Blake is determined to see justice done. His fight against the notorious pirate makes a breathlessly exciting narrative with the Far East for colourful background.'

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Notes: Story features Dr. Ferraro.

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Notes: Story features Zenith the Albino.

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Notes: Story features Dr. Huxton Rymer.

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Notes: Story features George Marsden Plummer and Vali Mata-Vali.

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Notes: This is the first issue of the Sexton Blake Library to drop the policy of author anonymity. Henceforth, all issues will carry the author's name or pen-name.

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Notes: 'A grim old house in the country, well hidden from prying eyes --- and in it a sinister gang of crooks. In it, too, a famous professor with a mysterious secret. Here in this gloomy mansion, with its mouldering cellars and secret passages, is staged a drama of thrills and excitement. Stealthily and silently the gang draw the professor into their deadly clutches.'

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Notes: Story features Dr. Ferraro.

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Notes: Story features Zenith the Albino.

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Notes: This was reprinted in DETECTIVE WEEKLY issue 329 as THE BLONDE BOMBSHELL (1939).

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Notes: After down-and-out Eric Fanhurst is accidently knocked off his bicycle by John Shonham, the latter offers him a job. There's a remarkable resemblance between the two men and Shonham wants Fanhurst to "be me" for three months. Fanhurst will be able to live Shonham's life of luxury for that time and at the end of it he'll be paid £1,000. It's an offer Fanhurst can't refuse and he soon becomes accustomed to the luxurious lifestyle, moving between Shonham's city chambers and country cottage and passing as his employer with ease. Then, one month into the job, Fanhurst returns to his (or rather to Shonham's) apartment after a day out and finds a dead man slumped over the table. He calls the police and, after they have finished with him, visits Sexton Blake and tells him the whole story. The detective decides to take a look at Shonham's country cottage, so they drive out there only to discover another body slumped in an identical fashion to the first. Once again, the police investigate and find nothing to indicate who might have commited the crime. Later, Tinker and Fanhurst return to the cottage for another look around. They are captured and taken to a nearby camp by Gipsy Logan, an escaped jewel thief and enemy of Shonham. Tinker manages to leave a sign for Blake, indicating that he has been kidnapped. The detective sees this and begins searching for his assistant. Instead, he finds the real Shonham and is held at gunpoint while the villain explains that he and Logan used to be a part of the same gang until he, Shonham, ran away with their loot. The two murdered men are ex-gang members who came looking for him. Shonham makes his getaway by plane, dropping Blake by parachute onto a desolate marsh. Tinker, too, has been abandoned here by the gipsies and is delighted to find himself unexpectedly reunited with 'the guv'nor'. Logan realises that Fanhurst is not Shonham and frees him. He goes in search of the real Shonham while Blake, Tinker and Scotland Yard hunt for both the villains. The story climaxes during a storm over the marsh where all the protagonists gather for a final confrontation.

Trivia: A nice morsel of social history: When a dishevelled Blake attempts to hitch a ride, the suspicious driver asks, "How did you get here and what are you doing without a hat?"

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆ A rather dull and uneventful tale which doesn't live up to the promise of its excellent opening chapters. Far too much talking and not enough action.

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Notes: This was reprinted in DETECTIVE WEEKLY issue 312 as THE TRAIL OF THE RED SOMBRERO (1939).

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Notes: Story features Gilbert and Eileen Hale.

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Notes: My copy is missing its cover.

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Notes: Story features Dr. Huxton Rymer and Marie Galante. This was reprinted in DETECTIVE WEEKLY issue 298 as THE ADVENTURE OF THE PEARL PIRATES (1938)

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Notes: In Hong Kong, a mandarin named Li Ping hires Dr. Huxton Rymer and Mary Trent to retrieve his illegally-gained fortune, which is in a box buried in the grounds of his house in Canton. He has a map describing the precise location. The city, now overrun by the Kuomintang, is too dangerous for him to enter himself. However, while Li Ping is entertaining his guests, he is assassinated by a singer named Twilight Feather, who escapes with a document he had hidden in his sleeve. Rymer and Trent decide to recover the dead man's fortune and keep it for themselves. Meanwhile, Sexton Blake is in the city, meeting with an agent named Sunyati to discuss how to get back a document stolen from the British government. Having heard that Rymer and Trent were Li Ping's guests, a disguised Blake and Sunyati follow them as they board a junk and set off for Canton. They witness Rymer meeting with a Russian agent named Sekko Baritsky but, before they can work out what is going on, the junk is attacked by a gunboat—an event that Blake thinks was staged to enable Rymer and the Russian to evade anyone that may be following them. All the protagonists escape and make their way to the city. There, Sunyati spies on Twilight Feather as she meets with Baritsky, witnesses them have a violent disagreement, then takes the girl to Sexton Blake. She confesses to the detective that Baritsky had hired her to retrieve the government document from Li Ping. Blake and Sunyati next face the Russian, and after a fight, gain the paper. They also confront Rymer and Trent as the pair are digging up the box. Blake takes possession of it on behalf of the Hong Kong authorities but allows Rymer and Trent to go free with the hundred thousand dollars Li Ping had promised for their work. Sunyati marries Twilight Feather.

Rating: ★★★★★

Notes: Story features the Shadow Club, Ruff Hanson and Splash Page.

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Notes: Story features the Shadow Club, Ruff Hanson and Splash Page.

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Notes: While playing golf, Sexton Blake miss-hits a ball and watches in horror as it strikes the head of a man who is apparently sleeping at the foot of a tree. Upon reaching the prone figure, the detective discovers that he is dead. A man named Charles Bedisloe appears and claims to have shouted a warning to Blake before he took his swing but the detective cannot recall hearing anyone shout. A police investigation reveals that the victiom was named Henry Slater. At the inquest that follows, Blake faces a hostile judge and jury. Thanks to Bedisloe's skewed statement, a verdict of manslaughter is pronounced and Blake is arrested. Given bail, he has just three weeks to prove himself innocent. Returning to the golf course, he and Tinker find clues that suggest Slater was already dead when the ball struck him. Blake probes into the dead man's past and discovers that he had stayed in a hotel owned by an ex-con named Tripp. Blake knows Tripp and upon questioning him discovers that Slater had been mixing with a gang of diamond smugglers. The gang, aware that Blake is investigating them, sets a trap for him. Knocked unconscious, he awakens in a warehouse, tied and bound. Tripp comes to his rescue and he escapes but not before learning that Bedisloe is a member of the gang. Detective-Inspector Coutts later confirms that Bedisloe has 'done time' for receiving stolen gems. Blake disguises himself as a well-known American gangster and takes a room at Tripp's hotel. He lets it be known that he's interested in selling stolen diamonds, hoping that the gang's leader will contact him. Sure enough, a meeting is arranged through Bedisloe and Blake is taken to meet the 'Boss'. This proves to be a man named John Venner. A 'deal' is struck and Blake departs. Coutts informs the detective that Venner is known to the Dutch police, so Blake sends Tinker to Amsterdam to gather information while he returns to the golf course for further investigations. There, he is attacked and once again knocked out. When he recovers his wits, he is hundreds of miles from home and his trial is the next day! A former client helps him to reach the court in good time. His appearance shocks the gang, which has gathered to watch the trial. It goes badly for Blake until, halfway through the proceedings, Tinker arrives with an affdavit from the Dutch police. This helps Blake to make his case. He proves himself innocent and identifies the men who murdered Slater. Verner, Bedisloe and their cohorts are arrested.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: Story features Zenith the Albino.

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Notes: Story features Splash Page.

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Notes: Story features Gilbert and Eileen Hale.

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Notes: When Mademoiselle Roxane Harfield and her mother are cheated out of the business that had been built by the now dead John Harfield — the twenty-seven thousand acre Harfield Lumber Concession in New Brunswick, Canada — the shock kills Mrs Harfield. Roxane makes a vow of vengeance on the eight men responsible for this. Five years later, one of them — Harold Carruthers — visits Sexton Blake. Carruthers is in London on business but his secretary, Miss Harrison, has disappeared with sixty thousand pounds of his funds. He had then received a written message, purportedly from John Harfield, which acknowledged the receipt of money owed. While Carruthers is in the Consulting Room, Blake takes a telephone call and a female voice advises him not to pursue the case. Upon leaving the Baker Street house, Carruthers is followed by Tinker and both are captured by Roxane. She explains to the crooked businessman that she was Miss Harrison, his secretary — a clever disguise — and that she has planned for five years to revenge herself upon him. Now she reveals that while in his employ, she has slowly ruined him, leaving him with barely any resources. Some time later, while searching for Tinker, Sexton Blake is called to Bow Street Police Station by Detective-Inspector Thomas. There he finds that a ragged and heavily doped man has been brought in — a man who keeps speaking his name — and that man is Carruthers. Puzzled by the deepening mystery, Blake walks into a trap and is captured by Roxane. He finds himself with Tinker aboard her private yacht, La Brise, where he is told the full story. Though he sympathises with Roxane's history, she has, nevertheless, broken the law and Blake insists that she must return the sixty thousand pounds to Carruthers. Unable to accept this, Roxane tells the detective that he and Tinker will be handed over to a Berber tribe on the shore of Morocco. They will 'keep him out of trouble' until Roxane's campaign of vengeance is completed. When Blake attempts an escape, Roxane trips down some stairs and is knocked unconscious. The detective, rather than fleeing, remains and nurses her back to health. She puts him and Tinker ashore at Tangier, handing him the money she had stolen. However, by the time Carruthers receives it, he is deeply in debt and has to hand it over to his creditors. He leaves England a broken man.

Trivia: The Grey Panther is kept in a garage in the lane at the back of Sexton Blake's Baker Street premises.

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

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: 'Sexton Blake on the Stage. The writer of this story, Mr. Donald Stuart, is also the author of the stage-play "Sexton Blake." Announcement has already been made of its presentation in London, and during forthcoming weeks provincial readers should look out for details of bookings in their own or near-by towns. Full information will be given in the first possible issue.'

Trivia: This was anthologised in SEXTON BLAKE WINS (1986).

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Notes: While sailing off the coast of French Guiana in the region of Devil's Island, Mademoiselle Roxane and her crew spot a man swimming far out at sea and bring him aboard the yacht, La Brise. The man, a shattered wreck, explains to Roxane that he had been falsely accused of murdering his own wife and had served ten years on Devil's Island before being transferred to the mainland where he was condemned to a further ten years of forced labour as a 'libre'. After years of hell, he had swum out to sea intending to drown. On the mainland, in the port of St. Laurent, a man named Gaston Dubois is informed that '206' has escaped. 206 is special, for Dubois has received anonymously a large payment together with instructions to work the man to death. Meanwhile, not far away, Sexton Blake is part of a scientific expedition exploring the fauna and flora of the region. Blake is researching exotic poisons for the appendix to a monograph he has written. However, the expedition becomes a crime scene when the libre porters rebel and make off with a chest of medical equipment after killing one of the scientists. With the intention of discovering the cause of the libre unrest, Blake and his associate, Professor Colbert, trek to St. Laurent and there find Roxane's yacht moored in the harbour. The detective is approached by Dubois who begs for help — Roxane had kidnapped him and threatened him with torture and death unless he handed over his fortune of a million Francs. She had then distributed this among the libres, who in consequence were now rampaging out of control. Blake correctly guesses that Dubois is actually Chris Henley, the second of the eight men who had cheated Roxane's family out of their business, causing her mother's death. The Baker Street man attempts to stop Roxane but the crew of La Brise intercede. A fight breaks out between them and men gathered by Dubois. It is broken up by the arrival of a French officer, who separates the forces pending an official investigation. Professor Colbert reveals to Blake that prisoner 206 is his brother, who was framed for murder by a rival suitor. Colbert won't help Blake against Roxane, since to do so might interfere with his brother's escape. When Roxane then uses her feminine charm to delay the authorities taking any action against Dubois or in favour of Blake, the detective finds himself unable to make a move and looks on helplessly as Roxane sails away.

Rating: ★★★★☆

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Notes: Detective-Sergeant Bryce Allard has been sent to Saigon to arrest a crooked businessman named Digby Farren. He arrives at the man's home just as Farren is being gassed and abducted by Mademoiselle Roxane Harfield, for Farren is the third of the eight men against whom she has vowed revenge. When Allard tries to interfere, he is overpowered. Later, Sexton Blake arrives at the port en route to London and is visited by Sunyati (see THE TWILIGHT FEATHER CASE (UNION JACK issue 1,368). The Chinese detective has been commissioned by a powerful merchant, Li Fu Cheng, to recover a valuable pearl that Farren swindled from him. In the course of his duty, he witnessed the abduction of Farren and Allard. Blake agrees to help him and they head to the well-guarded and palatial residence of a fat crook and slave trader named Otto Bruner, who is holding Allard captive for Roxane and who, unknown to her, intends to make her his own. After fighting through murderous guards, the two detectives infiltrate the palace dungeons to search for Farren and Allard. However, before they locate them, Blake is astounded to hear the voice of Roxane. She is telling the imprisoned Allard of her past, of how Farren and his business partners cheated her family and caused the death of her mother. Despite this, Allard insists that she give Farren into his custody. She refuses and leaves him in his cell. While Blake and Sunyati work at breaking the Scotland Yard man free, Roxane interrogates Farren. She has already stripped him of his assets but now she wants the priceless pearl he swindled from Li Fu Cheng. When Bruner digs it from its hiding place beneath the skin of Farren's armpit, Roxane is sickened and suddenly realises that she is among ruthless, amoral men. Detecting her hesitation, Bruner makes his intentions clear. As he advances towards her, she screams. Blake barges in and attacks the obese but physically powerful villain. Their battle is short and ferocious but Blake wins through. He carries Roxane to her yacht, docked at the nearby riverside, and sends her on her way. Allard arrests Farren. The pearl is returned to its rightful owner. Bruner is later found with a dagger in his heart. Blake suspects that the murder weapon might have been Sunyati's.

Trivia: Tinker doesn't even get a mention.

Rating: ★★★★★

Notes: Sir James Charteris returns early from a business trip intending to surprise his children, Jim and Grace. However, he finds his home, Winslow Chase, empty and shuttered. In the grounds, he encounters three men apparently digging a grave. They shoot him dead. The next day, Sexton Blake is asked by Grace Charteris to investigate the murder. She reveals it was her brother's idea to shut Winslow Chase, supposedly to save money. After she departs, Eustace Cavendish arrives and states that, in a seedy nightclub, he noticed a young man named Larry Manners react badly to the news of Sir James's death. Manners is known to be associated with a gang leader, Stanley "Red" Coulson. After leaving the nightclub, Manners went to see Jim Charteris. Blake decides to take Grace to Winslow Drive while Eustace and Tinker investigate Manners. Cavendish enters Jim's apartment block and encounters Detective-Inspector Lennard, who has come to inform Jim of his father’s demise. This is done, Lennard departs, and Cavendish remains to challenge Jim. When he does so, Manners emerges from another room and attacks him. Cavendish is bound and gagged. Jim later joins Lennard and they drive to Winslow Chase, arriving at the same time as Blake and Grace … and Cavendish!—the latter having escaped with Tinker’s assistance. The grave is discovered, dug up, and found to be empty. After Lennard’s departure, Jim tells his story. There is supposedly a family treasure buried on the estate. After accruing gambling debts with Red Coulson, Jim had told the gangster about it and closed Winslow Chase to give the gang the opportunity to search it. Coulson himself now arrives on the scene, with two thugs, guns levelled. They have forced a diviner to accompany them. Blake, Cavendish, and Jim, however, manage to overpower the crooks, who are then hauled away by the police. The diviner gets to work for Jim, and the treasure is pinpointed by the "quivering steel" of his divining rods.

Trivia: It is again asserted that Blake values Eustace's services so much that he has had a special telephone line fixed between Baker Street and Half Moon Street, where Eustace has his chambers.

Rating:★★★★☆

Notes: Story features Splash Page.

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Notes: Story features Ah Wo.

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Notes: Story features Mlle. Roxane.

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Notes: Story features Mlle. Roxane.

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Notes: Story features Mlle. Roxane.

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Notes: Story features the Shadow Club.

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Notes: Story features Mlle. Roxane.

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Notes: This was reprinted in DETECTIVE WEEKLY issue 288 as THE HOUR OF FEAR (1938).

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Notes: Story features Mlle. Roxane.

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Notes: Story features Zenith the Albino.

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Notes: This author usually wrote under the pen-name 'Warwick Jardine'.

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Notes: An explorer and adventurer — and friend of Sexton Blake — named Mortimer Savage finds a white-haired intruder in his home. The gun-toting stranger is looking for Savage's father, whom he calls Jackson Conlon. However, the senior Savage — whose name was John — has been dead for eight months. The intruder is just about to reveal something about Savage's father when he is shot by someone outside the window. Mortimer calls Sexton Blake but when the detective gets there, his friend has gone, having received written instructions to flee from the house and go to his late father's yacht. The servant has called the police who arrive — led by Inspector Piper — to view the body but, while they are there, it vanishes. Blake discovers that the intruder had been wearing a bullet-proof vest and had merely been knocked unconscious by the gunshot. The detective then receives a letter from a man named Joel Guiler who wants him to discover the whereabouts of Jackson Conlon. Blake recognises the description given as belonging to John Savage. When he then receives a summons from a lawyer who has a letter for him from the late Savage Sr., Blake forgets his appointment with Guiler. He and Detective-Inspector Coutts find the lawyer bound and gagged — the white-haired man got there first and has stolen the letter meant for Blake! The detective returns to Baker Street and learns that Guiler has left the hotel. He also discovers that Guiler has a secretary named Quinlan who fits the description of the white-haired man. Meanwhile, Mortimer arrives at his father's yacht only to find himself once again looking down the barrel of a gun. He is held by two men — Guiler and his chauffeur, Stillman — and Guiler is on the point of exposing something about John Savage's past when a third man enters and a gunfight erupts. Minutes later, Blake and Coutts, acting on an anonymous phone call, arrive at the yacht. Guiler and Stillman are gone, leaving behind them a man dying from a bullet wound. It is John Savage. With his last breath he admits that it was he who had called Blake. He confesses that he faked his own deah to try to escape from the past. In America, he had been a crime lord known as the Crime Minister, real name Jackson Conlon. However, he had gone straight and escaped to England to raise his motherless son. Guiler and Stillman were members of his old gang and were after their share of his fortune. John Savage dies. Blake then discovers Mortimer tied and gagged in a cupboard. He has overheard everything ... but will this knowledge change him?

Rating: ★★★★☆

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Notes: Story features The Crime Minister.

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Notes: Story features Mlle. Roxane.

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Notes: Story features Zenith the Albino.

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Notes: Story features Splash Page.

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Notes: Story features Zenith the Albino.

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