Sexton Blake Bibliography: 1955

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Notes: A head clerk in a London gold firm, a man named George Dixon, has gone missing and Sexton Blake has failed to find a single clue. He is visited by Dixon's daughter who announces that she has received a birthday card from her father. Blake notes that the top corners have been snipped off the envelope and that it is stained with food and grease. The detective pulls out a map and identifies a place where six roads meet as the likely spot where Dixon is being held captive. Driving there, he and Tinker go to the rear of a working man's café where a woman, responding to the detective's questions, tells him that she posted the envelope after finding it between two plates. For the next couple of hours Blake watches customers come and go from the eatery until he spots a known crook taking away a covered tray of food. He shadows the man to a warehouse where he finds Dixon held prisoner. The crook is held at bay by Pedro while Blake calls Dixon's daughter. He explains to her that her father was being forced to divulge the gold firm's secrets but had found away to reveal his location by giving the envelope six corners.

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

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Notes: Sexton Blake and Tinker are watching a football cup final on television, their interest prompted by the fact that an attempt has already been made to steal the gold trophy. The match is interrupted when Benson, captain of the Rovers, is called to the telephone to be informed that his father is seriously ill. If his team wins, he will accept the cup before being rushed to his father's side. Blake realises that something is up and he and Tinker drive furiously to the football ground. The detective takes the place of the man assigned to take Benson to the hospital. The Rovers win and Benson, with the cup in his possession, gets into the car. On the way to the hospital, the footballer insists that Blake should drive onto the common and park. There he attacks Blake, who realises that his opponent is not Benson but a lookalike. Tinker pops up from the back seat of the car and helps his guv'nor to overpower the crook. They return the cup to the football ground where the real Benson has been found tied up.

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

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Notes: Mr Bellman, a diamond expert, is resetting the gems in a valuable tiara. In the adjoining office, his assistant, Kitty Royle, is frightened by a gorilla peering through the window. The next moment, it vanishes and she hears Bellman cry for help. Running to his office, she sees that the tiara has gone. Bellman mumbles, "Tell them it was a monkey's fist!" before then passing out. Inspector Coutts is called and is accompanied to the scene by Blake and Tinker. After hearing Miss Royle's story, Coutts is convinced that the crime was committed by a gorilla that must have escaped from a nearby circus. Blake, though, has other ideas. After asking whether the still unconscious Bellman was ever in the navy and receiving an affirmative answer from Royle, he drives with Coutts to the docks. On the way, they see a sailor, who promptly takes to his heels. They catch him and find the tiara in his possession. Blake explains how the "monkey's fist" had led him to the docks ... and the gorilla's lack of involvement is revealed.

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

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Notes: Pianist William Cracknell led a secret life as a safe cracker, amassing a fortune which he never spent. Upon his death, his will instructs that his piano be sent to Inspector Coutts with a note explaining that it holds the clue to the whereabouts of all the stolen money and gems. Puzzled, Coutts calls in Sexton Blake. After listening to the piano's tones, Blake puts through a call to a famous conductor, Sir Arthur Melton. He plays the piano over the phone, hitting every key one by one. Each time Sir Arthur hears a slightly out-of-tune note, Blake jots it down in his notebook. By the end of the call, he has decoded a 'musical message' that reveals the whereabouts of the stolen loot.

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

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Notes: Sexton Blake and Tinker are at a large sea port where they find a strange-looking ship named The Salvador. Captain Hickman explains that it's a new type of dredger, which he is going to use to clear the notorious Ridge Shoal, upon which the liner Ocean Queen had been stuck a few days previously. Someone, though, is trying to sabotage this mission. Blake visits the Ocean Queen and, some time later, returns and recommends that Hickman set sail. The dredger moves into position and begins its work. During the operation, an alarm sounds to indicate that something has stuck in the pipes. Blake, who was expecting this, recovers a film canister. The ship returns to shore where Inspector Coutts is waiting, having made two arrests at Blake's instruction. The men in his custody had robbed the States Bank in New York. The detective explains the significance of the film, how it came to be lying on the Ridge Shoal, and how he knew about the two robbers.

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

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Notes: Sexton Blake returns home to find that the safe in his consulting room has been cracked ... though nothing appears to have been removed. Thick rubber gloves left at the scene lead him to suspect that the culprit might be a crook known as The Professor, who was known to use an electrical device to open safes. Mrs Bardell finds a visiting card that had been dropped by the unwelcome visitor. Blake and Tinker visit the Professor's house, finding it to be a hi-tech affair with sliding steel doors ... and a trap! They are caught on an electrified floor — one misstep will result in instant death! The Professor tells them that now they are immobilised, he can go ahead and rob the Bank of London. He departs triumphantly. At Blake's suggestion, Tinker puts on the rubber gloves and walks on his hands across the floor to the electric switch and cuts off the current. The detectives rush to the bank and the Professor is caught in the act.

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

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Trivia: Just the one Sexton Blake text story in this issue but no Blake strips.

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Notes: Story features Lady Emily Westomholme.

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Notes: Sexton Blake and Tinker are in Africa having just completed a rather eventless assignment. They are called, by Commissioner Strickland, to Lobolo's Kraal, where Chief Lobolo's brother, Lobengu, has been found dead. Lobengu had been banished from the village because he coveted his brother's wife and had gone to work in a diamond mine. He'd smuggled a large diamond out in a cut in his thigh then limped back to Lobolo's Kraal to meet somebody. There, though, he had been killed. While Blake investigates, a white rancher named Seymour arrives with his daughter, Jean, and her stepmother, Iris. The latter disappears in mysterious circumstances and a letter is delivered to Blake demanding that he hand over the diamond in return for her life. The transaction is to take place in a nearby swamp. Jean follows a mysterious figure into the mire and is captured by a secret cult of Crocodile Men. Blake, meanwhile, is attacked by an unseen assailant who steals the diamond. While the detective recovers, Tinker and Seymour head into the swamp in pursuit of Jean and Iris. Blake, gaining an insight into the nature of the mystery, follows. They manage to rescue Seymour and his wife but can't find Jean. After they've returned to the village, Iris turns on them, revealing herself to be the brains behind a villainous plot in which Lobengu was involved. Blake realises that the diamond is of little value to her; what she wants is the silk cloth it was wrapped in. He tricks her by handing over a fake, which she then escapes with. The detective, with Tinker, Lobolo and Strickland, chase her into the swamp where they convince her that the game is up. She leads them to the Crocodile Men who are about to sacrifice Jean. Iris is killed but her stepdaughter is successfully rescued. Finally, Blake reveals the secret of the silk and the identity of Lobengu's killer.

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

Notes: Sexton Blake has been investigating a powerful financier named Jacob Padson and, after discovering a web of deceitful dealing and criminal activities, presents his case to Padson's business associates. They are shocked at the revelations and vow to work diligently to protect the investors who will suffer when Padson is exposed. To this end, they request that Blake allows them three weeks' grace in which to stabilise various business interests. He may then cause Padson's downfall. The detective agrees on the condition that they tell Padson nothing that might make him suspicious. Unfortunately, among their number is Fogwill, an unscrupulous lawyer who immediately warns Padson that a minimum of fifteen years in prison is in the offing. Together they hatch a plan — Padson will swap identities with a dying man named Ransom who resembles him. He will appear to have collapsed under the pressure but will, in fact, escape overseas under his new identity. While they begin to make arrangements, an Australian named Charles Warren moves into a lodging house and befriends Grace Harvey, one of Padson's employees. They soon become romantically entangled, a bond that even survives the revelation that Warren has come to England to kill Padson in revenge for the disgraceful way the financier had treated his mother many years ago in Australia. When he sends a threatening letter to Padson, the villain surprises Sexton Blake by hiring him to investigate. Blake quickly tracks down Warren and prevents him from carrying out the murder. Meanwhile, Tinker has been working with a film company as technical advisor (they are making a detective movie). While filming in the streets of London, the camera records Fogwill and Ransom together. This becomes crucial evidence after Padson swaps identity with Ransom and appears to be critically ill while, in fact, escaping to Paris. However, Fogwill and the real Ransom have double-crossed Padson. Realising this, he returns to England and kills his doppelganger, placing the blame on Warren. Sexton Blake sees through the deception and exposes the true villain.

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

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Notes: The cover is the same illustration as used on the cover of the third SEXTON BLAKE ANNUAL (1941).

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Notes: This is a comic strip book.

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