Sexton Blake Library (6th series)

For nearly a century, Sexton Blake was the most written about character in British fiction. He starred in approximately four thousand stories by nearly two hundred authors. A cross between Sherlock Holmes and Indiana Jones, he was a publishing phenomenon, read by young and old alike.

SEXTON BLAKE AND THE GREAT WAR
Rebellion ISBN 978-1781-08782-4, 16 April 2020, 430pp, £8.99. Available via Amazon.

This collection is comprised of three stories from Union Jack magazine dating from World War 1 and the lead up to it:

THE CASE OF THE NAVAL MANOEUVRES by Norman Goddard (1908).
Sexton Blake catches the Kaiser spying on British naval manoeuvres, dangles from a Zeppelin, impersonates a German soldier, fights the Kaiser on top of a train, is thrown into the Thames by Anarchists, and forces the German Emperor into a confrontation with the British Prime Minister.

ON WAR SERVICE by Cecil Hayter (1916).
Sexton Blake ventures into occupied Holland to deliver a vital despatch to a secret agent, fights enemy spies, escapes from a burning house, is pursued by the German cavalry, disguises himself as a simple labourer, captures and impersonates enemy agents, faces a firing squad, and makes a daring escape through a secret tunnel.

PRIVATE TINKER — A.S.C. by William Murray Graydon (1915).
Tinker makes a mistake, joins up under an assumed name, is sent to the front line, evades enemy troops, and is blown up. Blake enters a battle zone and gets shot. Tinker flies a reconnaissance mission, crash-lands behind enemy lines, causes an enemy supply train to crash into a German troop carrier, liberates French prisoners, rescues a colonel, foils attempted sabotage, and is declared a hero.

SEXTON BLAKE VERSUS THE MASTER CROOKS
Rebellion ISBN 978-1781-08789-3, 1 October 2020 [originally due 25 June 2020], 430pp, £8.99. Available via Amazon.

This second collection is comprised of three stories from Union Jack featuring characters from the first wave of master crooks.

THE CASE OF THE MAN IN MOTLEY by Anthony Skene (George N. Philips) (1919).
Sexton Blake literally crosses swords with the most stylish of his enemies; engages in a car chase; discovers a murdered clown; fights on the brink of an incinerator; and recovers a stolen diamond.

PRINCE PRETENCE by Lewis Jackson (Jack Lewis) (1921)
A labour leader is abducted and impersonated by Leon Kestrel; the French lottery is won; Sexton Blake's efforts are sabotaged and he is arrested; an imposter is exposed; a master crook is caught; a grotesque dwarf is visited; Tinker is kidnapped for ransom and threatened with being walled up in the Paris catacombs; Blake comes to the rescue; and the villains, though defeated, escape.

THE WONDER MAN'S CHALLENGE by Edwy Searles Brooks (1921)
Waldo the Wonder-Man robs a bank, climbs a sheer wall, walks a tightrope, steals a biplane and a necklace, and challenges Sexton Blake to catch him. Blake puts Pedro on the trail, spots a deception, and has a confrontation in a pub. Tinker picks a pocket. Waldo climbs up a chimney, swings onto a train, and flees defeated.

SEXTON BLAKE ALLIES
Rebellion ISBN 978-0781-08795-4, 8 December 2020 [originally due 6 August 2020], 280pp, £8.99. Available via Amazon.

Comprised of three more "Golden Age" stories from Union Jack, in which Sexton Blake discusses the various reporters, adventurers, Scotland Yard men and private detectives with whom he worked.

THE CASE OF THE SEVENTH KEY by W. W. Sayer (1925)
A pocket is picked, Blake is deceived, a murder is committed, the Orient Express is boarded, Secret Service agent Granit Grant enters the fray, crown jewels are at risk, Blake is poisoned and left tied up on a railway track, horses are commandeered, and a chase ends in Prague.

THE PROBLEM OF THE DOUBLE FOUR by Gwyn Evans (1927)
An assassination fails, precious emerald's are stolen, Derek "Splash" Page gets a lead, a revolution brews, the Double Four starts plotting, a female impersonator takes Tinker to a haunted house, Blake falls through a trap door, and a king crook is revealed to be a real king.

TREE OF EVIL by Rex Hardinge (1932)
Sir Richard Losely is taunted by a disembodied voice and succumbs to poison, Lobangu has a prophetic dream, Blake acquires an additional assistant, a native uprising occurs, hungry crocodiles are evaded, battle is engaged, and a malicious spirit is exposed.

SEXTON BLAKE ON THE HOME FRONT
Rebellion ISBN 978-1781-08802-0, 18 February 2021 [originally due 1 October 2020], 250pp, £8.99. Available via Amazon.

The fourth thrilling collection of classic stories welcoming back the adventuring detective as brilliant as Sherlock Holmes and as daring as James Bond.
    This collection is comprised of two Sexton Blake Library stories from the 1940s, focusing on the Second World War and the changing nature of his investigations in its aftermath.

THE MAN FROM OCCUPIED FRANCE by Anthony Parsons (1941)
A woman is wrongly condemned as a spy, her fiancé takes desperate measures, Sexton Blake detects a frame up, a nest of espionage agents is routed, a mission to occupied France is undertaken, Nazis are evaded, a dying man gives up his secrets, and a spymaster is exposed.

THE HOUSE ON THE HILL by John Drummond (John Newton Chance) (1945)
An unwelcome marriage proposal is made, a man doesn't know whether he's committed a murder, a mysterious house gives up its secrets, suspects are gathered and a theory expounded, Tinker is bound to an infernal mechanism, and shots are fired.

SEXTON BLAKE: NEW ORDER
Rebellion ISBN 978-178108807-4, 29 April 2021, 432pp, £8.99. Available via Amazon.

FLYING SAUCERS, MAD SCIENTISTS AND DOUBLE-CROSSING VILLAINS
The intrepid Sexton Blake enters the roaring '60s and it's all happening. Psychics and aliens clash on a secret volcanic base as the fate of the world lies in peril; the hunters become the hunted as a series of horrific murders strike a peaceful village; a scientist uses new techniques to bring ancient creatures to life; and a brilliantly planned heist gets double-crossed and triple-crossed!
    The New Age brings in a new era for the famous detective and things are getting interesting.

Sexton Blake Annual 1938

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Sexton Blake, Detective (1908)

The play Sexton Blake, Detective commenced at the Crown Theatre, Peckham, on Monday, February 24, 1908 for six nights and one matinee. Later moved to the Star Theatre, Liverpool (six nights from Monday April 6, 1908), then to Shakespeare Theatre, Clapham Junction, London (six nights from April 13, 1908), then to Grand Theatre, Brighton (six nights from April 20, 1908), Woolwich (six nights from April 27, 1908). Later shows include the Rotunda Theatre, Liverpool (from July 27), the County Theatre, Reading (from August 10) and the Princess’s Theatre, Glasgow (from August 31). The play continued to be performed around the country until September 20, 1909.

John M(arlborough) East (1860-1924), a Shakespearean actor and theatre manager realised the potential of Sexton Blake and interested Percy Nash (1869-1958) in a dramatic project to bring Blake to the stage. Nash negotiated a deal with Amalgamated Press and Brian Daly commenced work on a freely adapted version of W. Murray Graydon’s ‘Five Years After’ which had appeared in a double-length Christmas number (6 December) of Union Jack in 1906. He cut out the second villain and substituted—all with Graydon’s approval—an unprincipalled adventuress by the name of Philadelphia Kate who had appeared in another Blake story.

A company called Melodramatic Productions Syndicate Ltd. was floated on February 20, 1908, a month after a special performance at the King’s Theatre, Hammersmith, and a revised version of the play opened at the Crown Theatre, Peckham, on Monday, February 24, 1908. East, still busy with a pantomime at the same theatre, was still unhappy with the production and, once free of his commitments, took control, casting himself as a Bill Sykes character by the name of Simon Faggus.

The basic plot involved the the wicked Philadelphia Kate (Miss East Robertson) whose influence over the weakwilled ne’er do well Randolph Lovell (Charles Est) was contrasted with the virtuousness of  his cousin, Marjory Lovell (Lily Hammond) and her pure and philanthropic John Blackburn (Brian Daly), a local farmer.

Randolph will inherit Cossington Hall upon the death of the squire, Marmaduke Lovell, and hires Simon Faggus (East) to kill him and place the blame on Blackburn’s son, Roger (William Felton). The mystery was enhanced by Roger’s disappearance and the mystery of Squire Lovell’s death had confounded the investigations of Sergeant Widgeon of the Yard for five years until Sexton Blake came upon the scene.

The play was very popular as it toured around the North of England and apparently seven touring companies were put on the road and the original play was still being performed ten years later.

East produced a number of other plays during this period based on various popular crime stories, amongst them Tracked by Wireless by William Le Queux and Convict 99 by Marie Connor Leighton and her husband Robert Leighton (which was reprinted in Union Jack in 1909) and a second Sexton Blake play, Hush Money; or, The Disappearance of Sexton Blake, Detective (produced c.1909).

East and Daly later collaborated on the movie The Romany Rye (1915); Daly acted in quite a few films during the early years of the Great War.

SEXTON BLAKE, DETECTIVE


Synopsis of scenery:
Act 1. (Scene 1) Farmer Blackburn’s Garden – Summer-time. (Scene 2) A Lane at Cossington – Winter. (Scene 3) The Library at Cossington Hall.
Act 2. (Scene 1) In the London Slums. Five years later. (Scene 2) The Mission Hall in the slums.
Act 3. (Scene 1) The Old Wharf at Rotherhithe. (Scene 2) Sexton Blake’s Rooms in Baker Street. (Scene 3) The Library at Cossington Hall.
Act 4. (Scene 1) Birdcage Walk, St. James’s Park, by Night. (Scene 2) Interior of a Church in the West End of London.

Characters
Sexton Blake_____________ The Celebrated Detective
Tinker__________________  Sexton Blake’s Young Assistant
Pedro__________________  The Famous Bloodhound
Inspector Widgeon________  A Scotland Yard Detective
Squire Marmaduke Lovell___ Owner of Cossington Hall
John Blackburn___________ Farmer. The Squire’s Tenant
Roger Blackburn__________ His Son
Reverend Edward Grey_____ A Clergyman
Simon Faggus____________ A Professional Burglar
Mrs. Blackburn___________ John Blackburn’s Wife
Euphemia_______________ Maid-of-all-Work. Afterwards a Music-hall Artiste
Marjorie Lovell___________ Roger Blackburn’s Fiancee
Philadelphia Kate_________ An Adventuress
Loafers, Villagers, Policemen, etc., etc.

The return of Sexton Blake

There's good news for fans of old-style detective yarns with the announcement that Sexton Blake will be back on our shelves and in our ears in the spring of 2009.

The Casebook of Sexton Blake, edited by David Stuart-Davies, is to be published by Wordsworth Editions on 7 March as part of their cheap line of paperbacks—the retail price is £2.99 and it's already being offered cheaper by Amazon. Here's the publisher's blurb, to which I've added a couple of notes:

Welcome to the breathtaking adventures of Sexton Blake! For the greater part of the 20th century, the countless escapades of super sleuth Sexton Blake kept millions of readers on the edge of their seats. Together with his faithful sidekick, the youthful Tinker, and his intelligent bloodhound, Pedro, he stood firm against an onslaught of crime and villainy, defeating his enemies with his extraordinary powers of deduction, iron fists and unyielding determination. This thrilling collection presents seven exploits from his 'golden age'.

"The Slave Market" by Cecil Hayter (1907)—In the dangerous depths of Africa, Blake races to the rescue of an old school friend!
"A Football Mystery" by W. J. Lomax (1907)—Blake and Tinker join the England team to beat the cheating opposition!
"The Man From Scotland Yard" by Ernest Sempill (1908)—Blake has his first encounter with the greatest super-villain he would ever meet!
"The Law of the Sea" by W. Murray Graydon (1912)—Blake goes down with the ship in his own version of the sinking of the Titanic!
"The Brotherhood of the Yellow Beetle" by G. H. Teed (1913)—Blake grapples with oriental cunning in the form of Prince Wu Ling!
"A Case of Arson" by Robert Murray Graydon (1917)—A master crook is at work but Blake is on his trail!
"The Black Eagle" by G. H. Teed (1923)—A wronged man is out for vengeance. Can Blake stop him before it's too late?

The book will have additional notes by Mark Hodder who runs the excellent Blakiana website. It's a good line-up, with some fine choices: (Teed is one of my favourite Blake writers and Sempill's "The Man From Scotland Yard" is acknowledged as one of the best Blake tales ever penned.

Add that to the announcement that Radio 2 are to broadcast a Sexton Blake radio drama at Easter and it's a bit of a revival for the detective who entertained millions with his stories from the 1890s to the 1960s. Maggs' involvement in a Blake project was announced back in 2006 when it was described as "a tongue-in-cheek series" featuring Simon Jones (star of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) as Blake, Wayne Forester as Tinker and other characters played by Andrea Sadler and Graham Hoadly.

The show is being produced by Perfectly Normal Productions and BBC Audiobooks and an audiobook version (ISBN 978-1408410547) has already been announced by BBC Audiobooks for release on 7 May. Here's the blurb from Perfectly Normal Productions:

SEXTON BLAKE! A name that spells thrilling adventure for fans across the world,many of whom are still alive.

SEXTON BLAKE! A name that spells certain doom for villainy, no matter how fiendish or dandied.

SEXTON BLAKE! A name that spells mild, lingering confusion for country vicars advertising for a general officer.

A baffling crime — a hapless victim — the cry goes up, “Call SEXTON BLAKE! also some kind of medical representative.”

Now, exactly thirty-eight years, four months and eleven days after his final broadcast,the world’s mightiest and most popular detective returns to the air in the all-new THE ADVENTURES OF SEXTON BLAKE. Accompanied in his breakneck hurtle to justice by doughty (not doughy) assistant Tinker, Sexton Blake battles diabolical masterminds — beautiful jewel thieves — mechanical Stalins — in locations as exotic as a portable Congo — a second, secret London Underground — an uphill avalanche. Encountering peril at every turn, only Blake can save the day and solve the case by outwitting his enemies in the head and outpunching them in the jaw.

(* Sexton Blake © IPC Media.)