Sexton Blake Bibliography: 1941
Publishing: THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY second series comes to an end and the third series begins with a new price of 6d.
Author John G. Brandon dies aged 62. The incomparable Edwy Searles Brooks makes his last contribution to the Blake saga.
SEXTON BLAKE ANNUAL 1941 · 1941 · Amalgamated Press · Price unknown
Other content: Mystery Corner Problem 1: The Dean Road Garage Mystery; Mystery Corner Problem 2: The Seaville Murder Problem; Mystery Corner Problem 3: The Beechwood Tragedy; Puzzle Page.
Illustrator: Eric Parker
Notes: None at present.
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Illustrator: Eric Parker
Notes: This is an abridged version of a story that appeared under the same title in UNION JACK issue 1,130 (1925). The story features Splash Page.
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Illustrator: Eric Parker
Notes: This is an abridged version of a story that appeared under the same title in THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY second series, issue 614 (1938).
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Illustrator: Eric Parker
Notes: None at present.
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Illustrator: Gil (?)
Notes: Monocle-wearing Furg the Fur Man is the manager of the All-Alaska Fur Store Ltd. — a London firm that upon its inception quickly begins to snatch trade away from bigger, better established companies. When a Canadian competitor named Jeff Wallard attempts to shoot Furg during an auction, Sexton Blake's curiosity is aroused. Furg never bids ... so where do his furs come from? Commissioned to investigate, Blake goes to Vine Street police station to interview Wallard and learns that the man was trying to avenge his brother, who died after stumbling into one of Furg's traps on the 'Haunted Trail' in Canada's Strong Woods. This trading passage has been avoided since Furg appeared in the district and has gained a reputation for being haunted and unlucky. Some weeks later, Blake and Tinker arrive in North West Canada and trek to the fur-trapping country around Strong Woods. At the first trading post they come to, they find that its commissioner has been fatally stabbed, evidently because he had discovered something about the Haunted Trail. He says one word — "McEnemy" — and dies. The detective and Tinker proceed to 'Big Divide', the next trading post. Leaving Tinker to guard the huskies, Blake enters the post and is confronted by a huge brute of a man known as The Red Factor. This villain, with his sidekick, Francois the Wolf, overpowers Blake and leaves him tied up before making a getaway. Tinker comes to the rescue and he and Blake discover a huge stash of furs in a cellar beneath the trading post. Plainly, there is illicit business going on. When a man — McEnemy — turns up, Blake holds him at gunpoint and forces an admission from him: he has been helping fur poachers to smuggle out furs beneath the noses of the officially sanctioned companies. Further explanations are interrupted by the arrival of a mountie — Trooper Bell — who arrests Blake for the murder of the commissioner and takes him and Tinker away for questioning. McEnemy awaits the return of The Red Factor and, upon that villain's arrival, informs him that as soon as Blake's identity becomes known, the game will be up. The Red Factor races south along the Haunted Trail and warns his gang — which preys on fur trappers who pass along the trail — that Blake is on the warpath. While the detective, still in Trooper Bell's custody, is delayed by a blizzard, the crook reaches a telegraph office and sends a message to Furg. Three days later, Blake reaches the same office and receives messages that prove to Bell his innocence. He sends the Mounty to join forces that are, at his orders, surrounding the Strong Woods. These forces round up the gang, one of whom confesses to killing the commissioner of the trading post. Furg's stash of smuggled furs are destroyed by a mysterious fire and the fur man claims the insurance. Blake knows that arson was committed but cannot lay the crime at Furg's door.
Trivia: This is an abridged version of a story that appeared under the same title in UNION JACK issue 1,257 (1927). The review is based on a reading of that issue.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Illustrator: J. H. Valda
Notes: This is an abridged version of a story that appeared under the same title in UNION JACK issue 1,080 (1924). The story features Sir Richard Losely and Lobangu.
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Illustrator: Eric Parker
Notes: This was reprinted in the anthology SEXTON BLAKE WINS (1980).
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Illustrator: Eric Parker
Notes: None at present.
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Illustrator: Eric Parker
Notes: None at present.
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Illustrator: Unknown
Notes: This was reprinted as a supplemental story in THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY 85 (1944).
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KNOCK-OUT COMIC AND MAGNET · Issue 99 · 18/01/1941 · Amalgamated Press · 2d
Illustrator: Anon. (Alfred Taylor)
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: While searching for the stolen ring of Mohammed, Sexton Blake and Tinker, and their friend, Ahmet, are captured by Italians. They are taken to the Vanishing Fort and presented to the Hooded Stranger. After being imprisoned, they escape their cell and make their way to a radio room, from which Blake sends a call for help. His S.O.S. is received by a British secret weapon—the Desert Dreadnought. Blake &: co. are recaptured, but the Dreadnought arrives and engages in battle with the fort.
Rating: ★★★★☆
KNOCK-OUT FUN BOOK 1941 · Date unknown · Amalgamated Press · Price unknown
Illustrator: Anon. (Alfred Taylor)
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: The steamship Arcania is attacked by pirates who are led by a man wearing a steel mask. They board the vessel and force its passengers to hand over valuables and money. The chief of the shipping line, Sir Charles Carter, along with his secretary, visits Sexton Blake and commissions him to investigate the increasingly frequent attacks. Blake and Tinker join the passengers of the next liner out of Southampton and inform its captain that a rumour has been spread that the vessel is carrying a lot of gold. Two days into the voyage, the pirates swoop. However, they already know that Blake is aboard, and after firing sleep-gas shells onto the deck, they abduct him. The unconscious detective and his assistant are taken to a secret island and into a castle built inside a vast cave. Blake recovers and sees that a powerful wireless station has been erected in the castle's courtyard. By means of this, the pirates are able to monitor and track shipping. The two prisoners are thrown into a dungeon but they soon escape, sneak into the wireless station, and render its operator senseless. Using the equipment, Blake directs a British battleship to a certain position. He then takes a microphone, attaches a long length of wire to it, and runs it all the way back to the dungeon cell. When the wireless operator recovers and reports to the man in the steel mask, the pirate leader checks the cell and sees that his prisoners are still in it. Blake then uses the microphone to send a false message that gives the impression that the Arcania is out at sea. As the pirates prepare to race to the liner's location, Blake and Tinker hide aboard the crooks' speed boat. The craft rounds a headland, expecting to find the liner, and is instead confronted by the battleship. The detectives pounce on the gang leader, remove his mask, and discover him to be the twin brother of Sir Charles's secretary. The two have been working together to prey on passenger ships.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 2nd series · Issue 735 · Date unknown · Amalgamated Press · 4d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Unknown
Notes: This was the only Sexton Blake story written by this author. Tragically, he was killed by a mine explosion after the end of the war.
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THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 2nd series · Issue 738 · Date unknown · Amalgamated Press · 4d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Unknown
Notes: This is a reprint of THE GHOST TRAIL from THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY 2nd series issue 344 (1932).
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THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 2nd series · Issue 740 · Date unknown · Amalgamated Press · 4d
Illustrator: Eric Parker
Other content: A Lucky Witness (article).
Notes: This is a reprint of THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY 2nd series issue 335 (1932).
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THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 2nd series · Issue 744 · Date unknown · Amalgamated Press · 4d
Illustrator: Eric Parker
Other content: The Crime at the Crossing (article); Hunting the Forgers (article)
Notes: The final issue of THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY's 2nd series. Story features Waldo the Wonder-Man. This is a reprint of THE NIGHT WATCH; OR, THE CASE OF THE YELLOW INGOTS in THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY 1st series issue 374 (1925).
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THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 3rd series · Issue 1 · Jun. 1941 · Amalgamated Press · 6d
Illustrator: Eric Parker
Other content: Crook Colonies (article)
Notes: This is the first issue of the Sexton Blake Library's 3rd series. A British diplomat, George Randall, is due to visit Binali in East African to pursuade the tribal chiefs of the area to ally with Britain. A fortune in gold has been sent ahead as a gift to his hosts. But before his mission starts, Randall disappears. His daughter, Diane, ask Sexton Blake to investigate. Clues lead the detective to a wharf on the Thames. The owner, Abe Gunson, denies any knowledge of Randall. Later, though, he brings a man named Prendergast to see Captain Dack, the owner of the Mary Ann Trinder. Prendergast wants to hire the ship to take him to Binali. Meanwhile, Tinker falls foul of a gangster named Lou Valeski and is imprisoned in an empty house. Valeski, together with Prendergast, Gunson, Diane and a number of henchmen, boards the Mary Ann Trinder and sets sail for Binali. Dack soon finds that he has a stowaway aboard — Tinker! The lad, after overhearing Valeski's plans, had managed to escape and secretly board the ship after first sending a message to Blake instructing him to fly to Binali. Dack tries to keep Tinker hidden but, during a battle with a U-boat, Blake's assistant is spotted. The submarine is sunk and four survivors are taken aboard. Prendergast conspires with them and, one night, with their help, he and his men hijack Dack's ship, imprisoning Tinker and the crew. Upon arrival in Binali, the villains begin their negotiations with the tribal chiefs, pretending to represent the British government when, in fact, they simply want to steal the gold. Dack escapes and allies himself with a chief named Karsa. Prendergast and Valeski, on the other hand, align themselves with Lanton, a well-educated but devious rival chief. The two factions battle, with Dack's group ultimately triumphant. Karsa is made the new leader of the region, Dack secretly lays claim to some of the gold, and Sexton Blake arrives on the final page just in time to see everything cleaned up.
Rating: ★★★★☆ A superbly well-plotted and very entertaining tale but Blake and Tinker are pushed so far into the sidelines that this novel barely justifies its inclusion in THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY.
THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 3rd series · Issue 2 · Jun. 1941 · Amalgamated Press · 6d
Illustrator: Eric Parker
Other content: Fatal Germs and Poisons (article)
Notes: At a ball thrown to celebrate a newly appointed peer, the man’s rival turns up uninvited and is promptly stabbed to death. Superintendent Venner and Detective-Inspector Belford are called in to investigate. They quickly establish that practically any one of the guests could have committed the crime but it is the peer himself who comes under suspicion. He hires Sexton Blake to clear his name. Clues lead Blake to an ironworks, where the dying words of a man fatally injured in an air raid hold the key to the mysterious events surrounding the murder. After eliminating a series of false trails, the criminologist discovers that the Secret Service is also on the case in the guise of Beltom Brass, who is being assisted, as ever, by the French agent, Mademoiselle Yvonne de Braselieu. Teaming up, they discover that the murder is part of a far larger blackmail plot involving the bombing of factories. Blake and Brass expose the saboteurs.
Trivia: This is the third story to feature Beltom Brass and Mademoiselle Yvonne de Braselieu.
The chief of Scotland Yard is Sir Edward Rames (presumably Sir Henry Fairfax has retired by now). The head of the Secret Service is Colonel Williams.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 3rd series · Issue 4 · Jul. 1941 · Amalgamated Press · 6d
Illustrator: Eric Parker
Other content: Country House Crimes (article)
Notes: This is a reprint of THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY 2nd series issue 356 (1932).
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THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 3rd series · Issue 8 · Sep. 1941 · Amalgamated Press · 6d
Illustrator: Eric Parker
Other content: Dungeons of Doom (article); Secret Messages (article).
Notes: Isobel Ensor, a secretary at Southern Aircraft Company, is sentenced to ten years for selling secret plans to the enemy. The evidence against her is conclusive: she was the only person with access to the plan; it had been photographed with a camera watch that had been a gift from her German friend Anna Muller; the photographs were smuggled out of England by a man named Larry Rue, who she'd been seen dining with; and £5,000 had been deposited in her bank account for "photograph safely to hand." Her only defence is that, on the night in question, she was not with Larry Rue, but with a man named Walter Paine. He, however, cannot support her alibi, as he is missing believed killed in France. Her fiancé, John Maynard, vows to enter occupied France to find the man. He joins the Airforce under an assumed name and, six months later, is on the brink of his first mission. He intends to crash land his Spitfire in France so that he might begin his search. However, the evening before the mission, a woman Maynard into a house where men attempt to kill him. After shooting one of them dead, Allen returns to his airbase. The next morning, Superintendent Venner arrives to investigate. He exposes Maynard's true identity and the man is put under military arrest. Isobel Ensor's lawyer asks Sexton Blake to investigate. The detective quickly discovers that the man Maynard killed was friends with Rue. He then visits the aircraft company and, on the way back from it, he is followed by a car that, in turn, is followed by Detective-Inspector Belford, whom Venner has tasked with keeping an eye on Blake. Tinker traces its number plate, which he discovers belonged to a different car, a stolen one, the same that had been used by the woman that deceived Maynard. Blake, in disguise, visits the place where Ensor supposedly dined with Larry Rue. He catches sight of Anna Muller and, while attempting to follow her, is captured and imprisoned in a cellar by the Baron, a man who appears to lead the espionage gang and who thinks that Blake knows the whereabouts of Paine. Beltom Brass of the Secret Service comes to the rescue and reveals that Mademoiselle Yvonne de Braselieu of the French Secret Service is hunting for Walter Paine. The two men manage to get to a telephone and summon the police. The Baron and his gang flee leaving behind another prisoner, Mr Ogilvie, the manager of Southern Aircraft, who had been kidnapped and interrogated about his company's new fighter plane. Blake and Brass get permission to search for Paine and parachute into occupied France. They make their way to Rouen, where they rendezvous with Mlle. Yvonne. They learn from her that Paine, who lost both his legs during a bombing, was last seen with his nurse, Sister Agnes, and both are somewhere in the town. It takes them six days to trace this woman, and when they do, she leads them to Paine. He is dying but, in his last moments, is able to provide a signed affidavit that proves Isobel Ensor's innocence. Blake returns to England and exposes the true power behind the spy network.
Trivia: Beltom Brass and Mademoiselle Yvonne de Braselieu appear to be Anthony Parson's "modernised" versions of Granite Grant and Mademoiselle Julie. One can't help but wish he'd stuck with the original characters.
Superintendent Venner has little more than a walk-on role in this story.
Rating: ★★★★★
THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 3rd series · Issue 10 · Oct. 1941 · Amalgamated Press · 6d
Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: The Debt of Death (article); A Deserter in Disguise (article)
Notes: None at present.
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Notes: This is a reprint of UNION JACK issue 1,245 (1927).
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