Sexton Blake Bibliography: 1934
Publishing: George E. Rochester makes his Blake debut. Born in 1898, 'Geo' Rochester served in the Royal Flying Corps during the war and was shot down over Germany where he was made a P.O.W. He began writing during the post-war years and had his first story published in 1926. The following year, his career blossomed with a series of tales of aerial adventures. He produced a number of Sexton Blake stories for DETECTIVE WEEKLY and THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY before, in the 1950s, concentrating on writing for the woman's market. He died in 1966.
The Sexton Blake saga shows obvious signs of ill-health this year with the normal quota of 48 SEXTON BLAKE NOVELS reduced to 37, with 11 of them being reprinted Pierre Quiroule (W. W. Sayer) stories. The policy of reprinting old novels would continue for the remainder of the decade. Former editor H. W. Twyman identified issue 50 of DETECTIVE WEEKLY as the nadir of the Sexton Blake saga.
With the super-crooks gradually disappearing from the scene, DETECTIVE WEEKLY feels increasingly irrelevant. However, over in THE SEXON BLAKE LIBRARY, there are the glimmerings of the "kitchen sink dramas" that would come to dominate the next fifteen years or so.
DETECTIVE WEEKLY · Issue 46 · 6/1/1934 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Eric Parker
Other content: The Round Table (ed.); The Mystery Escaper of Sing Sing (article); Arsene Lupin the Elusive by Maurice Leblanc; Tinker's Notebook
Notes: Story features Mlle. Roxane.
Unrated
DETECTIVE WEEKLY · Issue 47 · 13/1/1934 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Lang
Other content: The Round Table (ed.); Crazy Crimes That Gave the World a Laugh (article); Arsene Lupin the Elusive by Maurice Leblanc; Tinker's Notebook
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
DETECTIVE WEEKLY · Issue 48 · 20/1/1934 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Eric Parker
Other content: The Round Table (ed.); Tinker's Notebook; The Pants Presser Prince (article); Arsene Lupin the Elusive by Maurice LeBlanc.
Notes: Story features Waldo the Wonder-Man.
Unrated
DETECTIVE WEEKLY · Issue 50 · 3/2/1934 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Eric Parker
Other content: The Round Table (ed.); Tinker's Notebook; The Bamboozling of Benjamin Babbitt (article); Arsene Lupin the Elusive by Maurice LeBlanc
Notes: The former editor of the UNION JACK, H. W. Twyman, stated that this issue marked the nadir in the Sexton Blake saga: "It couldn't go on! By now too many Blake lovers had given up in despair, and the almost-level line was nose-diving to death. It hit bottom with issue No. 50."
Unrated
DETECTIVE WEEKLY · Issue 51 · 10/2/1934 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Lang
Other content: The Round Table (ed.); Tinker's Notebook; The Mystery Man From Mexico (article); Five Years For France by W. J. Blackledge
Notes: This was anthologised in SEXTON BLAKE WINS (1986).
Unrated
DETECTIVE WEEKLY · Issue 52 · 17/2/1934 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Eric Parker
Other content: The Round Table (ed.); Tinker's Notebook; The Man Who Improved on Murder (article); Five Years For France by W. J. Blackledge
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
DETECTIVE WEEKLY · Issue 53 · 24/2/1934 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: The Round Table (ed.); Tinker's Notebook; The King of Convict Jester's (article); Five Years for France by W. J. Blackledge
Notes: Story features Zenith the Albino.
Unrated
DETECTIVE WEEKLY · Issue 54 · 3/3/1934 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Eric Parker
Other content: The Round Table (ed.); Tinker's Notebook; Where Do Stolen Pictures Go? (article); Five Years for France by W. J. Blackledge
Notes: Story features Waldo the Wonder-Man.
Unrated
DETECTIVE WEEKLY · Issue 55 · 10/3/1934 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Fred Bennett
Other content: The Round Table (ed.); Tinker's Notebook; When Bullets Betray (article); Five Years for France by W. J. Blackledge
Notes: Story features Gilbert and Eileen Hale.
Unrated
DETECTIVE WEEKLY · Issue 56 · 17/3/1934 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: A. Jones (cover), unknown (internal)
Other content: The Round Table (ed.); Tinker's Notebook; Fingertip Clues (article); Five Years for France by W. J. Blackledge
Notes: Having finished one of his periodic trips as a crew member aboard a trading ship, The Honourable Ronald Sturges Vereker Purvale arrives back in England and is at once involved in a fight with thugs who work for a crime lord known as Tiger Bronx — a villain whose true identity is kept hidden behind a rubber face mask. R.S.V.P. is aided by an American brawler named 'Shrimpy' Dorgan and another sailor who turns out to be a disguised Sexton Blake. Shortly afterward, the trio witnesses a girl being kidnapped by more of the Tiger's men. She turns out to be Purvale's cousin, Alicia Goring. While Purvale's valet, 'Flash' George Wibley, tries to find out what's going on via the criminal 'grapevine', Blake and R.S.V.P. visit Alicia's home. There, her husband, Sir Keith Goring, reveals that he's been receiving letters from the Tiger in which it is threatened that, unless he hands over a large sum of money, Alicia's younger sister, Dorrie, will be kidnapped and tortured. Purvale and Dorgan set out to find Alicia but are captured by the Tiger's men, who seem to know their every move in advance. Tinker and Flash Wibley are also taken prisoner. Blake, who has formed an idea of the Tiger's true identity, raids the criminals' headquarters, assisted by Detective-Inspector Coutts. R.S.V.P. breaks free and rips the mask from the Tiger's face, revealing the shocking truth about his identity. The band of heroes clean up the villains and Alicia is rescued.
Rating: ★★★★☆
DETECTIVE WEEKLY · Issue 58 · 31/3/1934 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Eric Parker
Other content: The Round Table (ed.); Tinker's Notebook; Sizing up the Underworld! (article); Five Years for France by W. J. Blackledge
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
DETECTIVE WEEKLY · Issue 59 · 7/4/1934 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Eric Parker
Other content: The Round Table (ed.); Tinker's Notebook; Science Sees Through— (article); Five Years for France by W. J. Blackledge
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
DETECTIVE WEEKLY · Issue 60 · 14/4/1934 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Lang
Other content: The Round Table (ed.); Tinker's Notebook; Hunting Murderers with a Microscope (article); Five Years for France by W. J. Blackledge
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
DETECTIVE WEEKLY · Issue 61 · 21/4/1934 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Eric Parker
Other content: The Round Table (ed.); Tinker's Notebook; Mechanical Manhunt (article); Five Years for France by W. J. Blackledge
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
DETECTIVE WEEKLY · Issue 62 · 28/4/1934 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Arthur Jones
Other content: The Round Table (ed.); Tinker's Notebook; The Worst Prison in the World (article); Five Years for France by W. J. Blackledge
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
DETECTIVE WEEKLY · Issue 64 · 12/5/1934 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Lang
Other content: The Round Table (ed.); Tinker's Notebook; Coffee for One (article); The Count in the Fo'c'sle by Count Jean Louis D'Esque; Justice Amok! (article)
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
DETECTIVE WEEKLY · Issue 65 · 19/5/1934 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Eric Parker
Other content: The Round Table (ed.); Tinker's Notebook; The Count in the Fo'c'sle by Count Jean Louis D'Esque; They Steal to Hoarde (article)
Notes: In the early hours of the morning, Lord Vayne of the Foreign Office summons his nephew, Hon. Ronald Sturges Vereker Purvale, to his home where his guard has been murdered and a crucially important treaty stolen from the safe. Purvale finds another man stabbed to death outside the premises. He calls for assistance from Sexton Blake who, upon arrival, is shot at from a passing car. It is then discovered that the stabbed man has vanished. Lord Vayne explains to the detective that a large European country is seeking to destabilise a much smaller one by financing the "Iron Army," a group of terrorists. Britain intends to help the smaller country via the secret treaty, which must be returned before it is seen by the head of the terrorists, Captain Hauptmann, who is due to arrive in England at dawn. Blake identifies that the safe was opened by a French cracksman named Jules Langenac. He and Purvale head off toward the Foreign Office but, en route, the detective realises that they're being followed. R. S. V. P. hangs back and pounces on their shadower, an assassin named Donnataro. Purvale floors him and makes off, accompanied by Blake, before the police arrive. Meanwhile, the Iron Army, under the command of Captain Grundahl, has occupied the London embassy of the country it intends to overthrow, has murdered all the staff, and is now awaiting the arrival of Hauptmann. Blake consults with the Secret Service at the Foreign Office and learns that Grundahl and his men were spotted some time ago keeping watch on the embassy. As Blake and R. S. V. P. set off for that building, Donnataro attempts to kill them. A gunfight erupts, the police are alerted, but the villain gets away and phones Grundahl to warn him that Blake is on his way. Blake and R. S. V. P. avoid the waiting men by entering the embassy via the rooftops. Tinker, unknown to them, follows behind. They watch as Langenac, who has not yet handed the stolen treaty over to Grundhal, accuses the captain of betrayal and shoots him dead. As the cracksman then tries to flee, Blake swoops on him, handcuffs him, and retrieves the treaty. With timely assistance from Tinker, the heroes fight their way to safety just as a force of policemen arrive led by Detective-Inspector Coutts. They already have Captain Hauptmann in custody. The treaty is returned.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
DETECTIVE WEEKLY · Issue 67 · 2/6/1934 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: J. H. Valda
Other content: The Round Table (ed.); Derby Crimes (article); A Count in the Fo'c'sle by Count Jean Louis D'Esque; Tinker's Notebook
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
DETECTIVE WEEKLY · Issue 68 · 9/6/1934 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Gil
Other content: The Round Table (ed.); Tinker's Notebook; Crooks of Credit (article); A Count in the Fo'c'sle by Count Jean Louis D'Esque
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
DETECTIVE WEEKLY · Issue 70 · 23/6/1934 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Fred Bennett
Other content: The Round Table (ed.); Patience and Prussic Acid (article); A Count in the Fo'c'sle by Count Jean Louis D'Esque; Tinker's Notebook.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
DETECTIVE WEEKLY · Issue 71 · 30/6/1934 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Lang
Other content: The Round Table (ed.); The Man Who Slipped the Tombs (article); A Count in the Fo'c'sle by Count Jean Louis D'Esque ("Chips"); Tinker's Notebook
Notes: Story features Zenith the Albino.
Unrated
DETECTIVE WEEKLY · Issue 72 · 7/7/1934 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: The Round Table (ed.); A Modern Monte Cristo (article); A Count in the Fo'c'sle by Count Jean Louis D'Esque; Tinker's Notebook.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
DETECTIVE WEEKLY · Issue 73 · 14/7/1934 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Eric Parker
Other content: The Round Table (ed.); Crook's French Leave (article); A Count in the Fo'c'sle by Count Jean Louis D'Esque; Tinker's Notebook.
Notes: Story features Leon Kestrel.
Unrated
DETECTIVE WEEKLY · Issue 74 · 21/7/1934 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: The Round Table (ed.); The Art of Escaping (article); A Count in the Fo'c'sle by Count Jean Louis D'Esque; Tinker's Notebook, Don't Be Had by a Piece of String (article)
Notes: Detective-Inspector Coutts investigates the murder of a young inventor named Millward, who was apparently knifed by a one-legged man. A domino is left at the crime scene, suggesting the involvement of the Double Four. Coutts also finds the murder weapon and ... a wooden leg! He takes the evidence to Sexton Blake who asserts that the killer wasn't one-legged but was, in fact, Lou Lamont. Splash Page receives a message from The Ace: if Olaf Olsen and Dickie Tregenna aren't released from jail, and the entire gang granted an amnesty, London will be attacked. To demonstrate his power, the Ace vows to steal the Domesday Book and the Portland Vase. Olsen and Tregenna, however, escape of their own accord and rejoin the Double Four. Twenty-four hours pass, and, with no amnesty granted, the city suddenly suffers a complete blackout and, in the British Museum, where Blake and Coutts are guarding the Portland Vase, Millward's stolen inventions climb out of Egyptian sarcophagi—they are robots! One of the machines walks off with the vase and there's nothing that can be done to stop it. Blake, however, has already planted the seed of the Double Four's doom. Putting his plan into action, he and the police trace the gang to their lair in an abandoned underground train station. The vase is revealed to be a fake, the robots are deactivated, and Ace and his cohorts are finally rounded up. The detective reveals that Serbovia has become a republic and that "King Karl II" actually has no claim to the throne. The crooks pay the price for their crimes. It is the end of the Double Four.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆ A low-key and rather silly end to the Double Four. There's the sense that Gwyn Evans had grown tired of his creation.
DETECTIVE WEEKLY · Issue 75 · 28/7/1934 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Eric Parker
Other content: The Round Table (ed.); Defeating the Dips (article); Black Magic of 1934 (article); A Count in the Fo'c'sle by Count Jean Louis D'Esque; Tinker's Notebook.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
DETECTIVE WEEKLY · Issue 76 · 4/8/1934 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Lang
Other content: The Round Table (ed.); They Believe in Witchcraft (article); Black Magic of 1934 (article); A Count in the Fo'c'sle by Count Jean Louis D'Esque; Tinker's Notebook.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
DETECTIVE WEEKLY · Issue 77 · 11/8/1934 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Eric Parker
Other content: The Round Table (ed.); Ju-Ju Justice! (article); A Count in the Fo'c'sle! by Count Jean Louis D'Esque; Round the Libraries (article); The Worst "Bad" Man (article).
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
DETECTIVE WEEKLY · Issue 78 · 18/8/1934 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Arthur Jones
Other content: The Round Table (ed.); Chinese Pirates (article); Europe's Master Spies (article); A Count in the Fo'c'sle! by Count Jean Louis D'Esque; Tinker's Notebook; Tinker's Notebook
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
DETECTIVE WEEKLY · Issue 79 · 25/8/1934 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Eric Parker
Other content: The Round Table (ed.); Europe's Master Spies (article); A Count in the Fo'c'sle! by Count Jean Louis D'Esque; Tinker's Notebook.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
DETECTIVE WEEKLY · Issue 82 · 15/9/1934 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: The Round Table (ed.); Sensation-by-Sea (article); Belguim's Nurse Cavell (article); Tinker's Notebook; The Three Crows by John Hunter.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
DETECTIVE WEEKLY · Issue 83 · 22/9/1934 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: S. D.
Other content: The Round Table (ed.); ); Ten Years of Treachery (article); Tinker's Notebook; The Three Crows by John Hunter.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
DETECTIVE WEEKLY · Issue 84 · 29/9/1934 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: The Round Table (ed.); Reconstructing the Crime (article); The Three Crows by John Hunter; Melodrama Verdicts (article); Tinker's Notebook.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
DETECTIVE WEEKLY · Issue 85 · 6/10/1934 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: A. Jones
Other content: The Round Table (ed.); Spy-Craft! (article); The Three Crows by John Hunter; Crime Souvenirs (article); Tinker's Notebook.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
DETECTIVE WEEKLY · Issue 87 · 20/10/1934 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Eric Parker
Other content: The Round Table (ed.); Six-Gun Law (article); The Three Crows by John Hunter; Tinker's Notebook.
Notes: Story features Zenith the Albino.
Unrated
DETECTIVE WEEKLY · Issue 92 · 24/11/1934 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Eric Parker
Other content: The Round Table (ed.); Tinker's Notebook; The Mystery of Room 66 (article); The Three Crows by John Hunter.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
DETECTIVE WEEKLY · Issue 94 · 8/12/1934 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: The Round Table (ed.); Tinker's Notebook; The Amazing Mystery of the Wynekoop Mansion (article); The Three Crows by John Hunter
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
DETECTIVE WEEKLY · Issue 95 · 15/12/1934 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Xmas Round Table (ed.); Kidnapped at Christmas by Anon.
Illustrator: Eric Parker
Notes: It is the evening of the 18th December and, in response to an article by Sexton Blake published in a newspaper, in which he claims that criminals have neither a sense of humour nor sportsmanship, a challenge has been issued. A crook known as the Christmas Cavalier has issued a statement in which he tells Sexton Blake that, this very night, between 10 p.m. and midnight, he will steal the detective's jade tobacco jar from the mantelshelf in the consulting room. If he succeeds, Blake must donate a thousand pounds to a hospital; if the crook fails, he will donate a similar sum to the charity of Blake's choice. Splash Page 'phones and asks if he can send a press photographer named Slade over to take pictures of the jar and the consulting room. Blake allows this. As the press man gets to work, Tinker becomes increasingly jumpy, suspecting that the photographer might be the crook. But Slade simply does his job then departs. Next to arrive is Detective-Inspector Coutts. When he reaches for the jar, Blake pulls a gun on him. With the Christmas Cavalier being a master of disguise, anyone could be the crook! Tinker identifies a tattoo that proves that Coutts is who he says he is. The Yard man storms out indignantly. A few minutes later, a female reporter tries to trick her way into an interview with Blake. She also comes under suspicion and is ejected from the house. Blake, on edge, next accuses Tinker himself of being the Cavalier! Finally, as midnight strikes, the truth is revealed ... and only a cunning turnaround performed by Sexton Blake — who is also a master of disguise — can prevent the crook from winning his challenge! Defeated, the Cavalier happily writes a cheque — which the detective asks him to make out to Mrs Bardell.
Trivia: This is a play, rather than a story. In it, the author indicates that Sexton Blake has iron-grey hair! Detective-Inspector Coutts has a red and blue tattoo of a swallow-tailed butterfly on the inside of his forearm with the initials H.A.C. above it. He had it done when he was in Ceylon with Sexton Blake.
This was anthologised in THE CASEBOOK OF SEXTON BLAKE (2009).
Rating: ★★★☆☆
DETECTIVE WEEKLY · Issue 96 · 22/12/1934 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Eric Parker
Other content: The Round Table (ed.); I Was Locked in the Catacombs (article); The Mystery of the Missing Oil King (article); Dear Freind, Unless — (article); Tinker's Notebook
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
DETECTIVE WEEKLY · Issue 97 · 29/12/1934 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: T. Hubbard
Other content: The Round Table (ed.); The Clue from the Skies (article); Murder as the Curtain Falls by Anthony Ford.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 2nd series · Issue 415 · Jan. 1934 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
Illustrator: Eric Parker
Other content: The Trail in the Snow (article)
Notes: In this story it is revealed that George Marsden Plummer has a brother, Larry. Plummer's childhood name was Gee.
Unrated
THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 2nd series · Issue 416 · Jan. 1934 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
Illustrator: Eric Parker
Other content: Murder by Poison (article)
Notes: Story features Granite Grant and Mlle. Julie. This is a reprint of THE SECRET OF THE FROZEN NORTH, which appeared in THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY 1st series issue 163 (1921). It was also reprinted in DETECTIVE WEEKLY issue 263 as THE SECRET OF THE LAST SURVIVOR (1938).
Unrated
THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 2nd series · Issue 423 · Mar. 1934 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
Illustrator: Eric Parker
Other content: The West End Hotel Crime (article)
Notes: After enquiring for a Madame Defage at a hotel on the French coast — and learning that she is not a guest there — a man named Paul Rudolphe books a room and waits for her. He is followed by Martin Dubois who, during the night, breaks into his room and murders him, taking an envelop from the body. When Rudolphe's corpse is found beside a golf course on the south coast of England, the club manager becomes Inspector Frenton's top suspect. The accused man consults Sexton Blake who, upon examining the body, finds a patch pasted against the sole of one foot. Inscribed upon it are five parallel lines and six black dots. The detective realises that the dead man was dropped from an aeroplane and learns that a plane owned by Dubois made a crash landing in France the same night that the corpse was discovered. Furthermore, he deduces that the dots are musical notes that spell out D-E-F-A-G-E. Blake and Tinker cross the Channel to Boulogne where they discover that Rudolphe — whose description matches that of the corpse on the golf course — vanished after staying in a hotel room next to Dubois. Also now arrived at the hotel is the mysterious Madame Defage. Associating her with the three black dots, Blake meets her only to discover that she is, in fact, Mademoiselle Julie of the French Secret Service. She reveals that Rudolphe had been a courier for the Corps Diplomatique who was on a mission to pass to her top secret information concerning the political situation in Russia. The detective, his assistant and the secret agent drive to Dubois' estate where they confront him and demand the return of the stolen document. He calmly admits to its theft before making a getaway in his biplane. Tinker, though, has stowed away aboard the machine and ends up in Paris, captive of Dubois and his partner, Baron Rodanoff (who first appeared in THE CASE OF THE KING'S SPY, THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY 1st series issue 110, 1920). These two have the secret document but not the keyword required to decipher it. So, after making a copy, they come up with a scheme: Rodanoff should contact Julie and sell the document back to her, learning the keyword when she decodes it in his presence. Following this plan, the Baron approaches Julie only to discover that she doesn't know the keyword either. However, Sexton Blake works it out in Rodanoff's presence and the villain makes a quick getaway with the information. Tinker escapes from the villains and makes his way to Madam Julie's house where he reveals Dubois and Rodanoff's plan. The detective, Julie and Tinker race to intercept Rodanoff before he can pass the keyword to Dubois but the latter spots them and runs them off the road. He then tries to escape in his biplane. However, Tinker catches up with it and leaps aboard as it's taking off. He causes it to crash and Dubois is badly injured. The secret document is recovered and Blake and Tinker begin their journey back to Baker Street. As for the Baron, he lives to fight another day.
Trivia: Tinker seems to be unusually dense in this tale. He doesn't speak French and he acts as if this is his first experience of flying when, in fact, he's been in the air many times by this point in the saga. Blake also seems rather out of sorts. It takes him ages to work out how Rudolphe's body came to be beside the golf course (it's rather obvious to the reader), he reveals a codeword in front of the villain who's after it, and he even forgets that on the continent they drive on the right rather than on the left!
The author's pen-name is spelled incorrectly in this issue (it should be 'Quiroule'). This is a reprint (possibly a rewrite) of THE SECRET OF THE SIX BLACK DOTS from THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY 1st series issue 169 (1921). It was reprinted again as THE MYSTERY OF THE MISSING AVIATOR in THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY 2nd series issue 589 (1937).
Rating: ★★★☆☆
THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 2nd series · Issue 426 · Apr. 1934 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Consulting Room Chat (ed.); Guardians of the Law (article).
Notes: Story features Granite Grant and Mlle. Julie. This is a reprint of THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY 1st series issue 258 (1922).
Unrated
THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 2nd series · Issue 432 · May 1934 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
Illustrator: Eric Parker
Other content: The Crook Who Stole a Crown (article)
Notes: In 1890, Prince Bismarck's private secretary stores a box filled with
his employer's memoirs in the vaults of Goyle's Bank, London. He puts the bank receipt
in a flask which he throws into the Thames. He is never seen again. Thirty years later,
the flask is found by a river worker who takes it to Sexton Blake. A German agent named
Stromburg has a brief tussle with the detective before raiding the bank and stealing
the memoirs. By intercepting a letter from Lord Vavasour to Stromburg's employer, Count
Dorflisch, Blake learns what the box in the bank vault had contained. Vavasour's letter
concerns a forthcoming meeting between him and Dorflisch. When this occurs at Vavasour's
home, Mylton Towers, Dorflisch reveals that the memoirs contain damning facts about Vavasour's
father. His attempted blackmail is cut short though; Vavasour leaves the room for a moment
and when he returns he finds a man dead on the floor and Dorflisch gone. But even worse,
he discovers that important government papers pertaining to Persia have been stolen from
his desk. A disguised Sexton Blake arrives on the scene to investigate and sees that
the dead man is Stromburg. Meanwhile,
Sir Vyrmer Fane, head of the Secret Service, sends
Granite Grant to find out what has become of the Persian documents.
Mademoiselle Julie also appears on the scene. Between them, they identify the
real killer, reclaim Vavasour's lost papers and recover the Bismarck memoirs.
Trivia: My copy is missing the cover. This is a reprint of THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY 1st series issue 151 (1920). The review is from a reading of that issue. It was reprinted again as SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY 5th series novel 28 with the title THE CASE OF THE BISMARK MEMOIRS (1966). Story features Mlle. Julie and Granite Grant.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 2nd series · Issue 436 · Jun. 1934 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Unknown
Notes: Story features Granite Grant and Mlle. Julie. This is a reprint of THE SECRET OF THE RED MOUNTAIN from THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY 1st series issue 204 (1921).
Unrated
THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 2nd series · Issue 439 · Jul. 1934 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
Illustrator: Eric Parker
Other content: Consulting Room Chat (ed.); Hunting the Forgers (article).
Notes: A highly successful young broker named Hugh Staveley is informed that the crooked and now imprisoned financier, Raynor Kelton, is the father he never knew. This fact will be revealed in the memoirs Andrew Garron, formerly Lord Dalesford, who had been innocently involved in and ruined by the Kelton scandal. If the memoirs are published, Staveley's reputation will be damaged beyond repair. So he visits Sexton Blake to find out Garron's whereabouts. Blake gives him the address and, as Staveley rushes off, follows him in the Grey Panther. Arriving at Garron's cottage, the detective enters and finds the young man hunched over the ashes of the burned memoirs with the dead body of the former lord beside him. Staveley pleads his innocence and isn't charged, though Detective-Inspector Coutts remains suspicious. Blake then discovers that Raynor Kelton is on the loose, having been replaced in prison by an impersonator. Staveley is kidnapped. Blake spots a heavily disguised Kelton staying at a London hotel and orders Tinker to shadow him. The lad follows the financier to a secret cellar beneath a warehouse where he witnesses Kelton meeting with three villains named Sheer, Rayles and Mannex. They are demanding a share of half a million pounds which Kelton stashed away before going to prison. If he does not cooperate, they will frame Staveley for the murder of Garron. Tinker organises a police raid but by the time the forces reach the warehouse it has been set alight and burns to the ground. Blake traces its owner who is then killed by the gang. But a clue is left which leads the detective to Mannex. Kelton visits Blake and promises to reveal all if his son can be saved. Soon Mannex and the rest of the gang are rounded up, Staveley is rescued, and Kelton receives a free pardon. Unusually, this adventure ends with a teaser for one of the other stories published this month: issue 437.
Trivia: Tinker likes to play golf.
<Rating: ★★☆☆☆ An overlong plot which lacks the variety needed to maintain interest. Good but forgettable.
THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 2nd series · Issue 440 · Jul. 1934 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Unknown
Notes: This is a reprint of THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY 1st series issue 221 (1922).
Unrated
THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 2nd series · Issue 443 · Aug. 1934 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
Illustrator: Eric Parker
Other content: Unknown
Notes: This is a reprint of THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY 1st series issue 193 (1921).
Unrated
THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 2nd series · Issue 448 · Sep. 1934 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
Illustrator: Eric Parker
Other content: Foiling the Kidnappers (article)
Notes: This is a reprint of THE CRIMSON DOMINO, which appeared in THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY 1st series issue 243 (1922). Story features Granite Grant and Mlle. Julie.
Unrated
THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 2nd series · Issue 451 · Oct. 1934 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Unknown
Notes: This is a reprint of THE MYSTERY OF THE LIVING SHADOW, which appeared in THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY series one issue 141 (1920).
Unrated
THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 2nd series · Issue 455 · Nov. 1934 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Unknown
Notes: This is a reprint of THE OUTLAW OF YUGO-SLAVIA, which appeared in THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY 1st series issue 287 (1923).
Unrated
THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 2nd series · Issue 458 · Dec. 1934 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Unknown
Notes: This is a reprint of THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY 1st series issue 300 (1923).
Unrated
