In his excellent “Introduction,” Michael Moorcock provides a grand overview of the Sexton Blake series that has been popular with British readers from 1893 to 1978, comprising more than 4,000 stories by some 200 different authors. This Big Fat volume, 757 pages, provides a rich sampling of Sexton Blake series over its long history. Several of the best Sexton Blake writers are represented here.
Editor George Mann mixes short stories with longer Sexton Blake adventures to capture a good sense of the best of the series. If you’re interested in a classic British detective, this is the book you should start with. GRADE: A
Acknowledgements
Publisher’s Note
Introduction by Michael Moorcock — 12
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
A Duel to the Death/Anthony Scene — 18
Well Matched/Ernest Sempill — 58
Waldo the Wonder-Man/Edwy Searles Brooks — 65
The Bar Diamond/Ernest Stempill — 103
The Sacred Sphere/GH Teed — 110
Parried!/Ernest Sempill — 204
The Great Bank Fraud/Lewis Cartron — 211
Quits!/Ernest Stempill — 265
The Boundary Raiders/Andrew Murray — 271
The Removal of Mr. Soames/Ernest Sempill — 316
The Inari Treasure/Cecil Hayter — 323
The Case of the Louis Quinze Snuff-Box/Ernest Sempill — 368
Tinker’s Terrible Test/Andrew Murray — 374
Abducted!/Ernest Sempill — 424
The Gnomid/Gilbert Chester — 431
Blake Scores!/Ernest Sempill — 471
Lord of the Ape-Men/Robert Murray — 478
A Mysterious Disappearance/Cecil Hayter — 516
A Mystery in Motley/Anthony Skene — 523
Trapped!/Ernest Sempill — 561
Suspended From Duty/Gwyn Evans — 568
The Great Bridge Tunnel Mystery/Ernest Sempill — 604
They Shall Repay!/GH Teed — 612
Found Guilty!/Ernest Sempell — 618
The Next Move/GH Teed, Gwyn Evans, Robert Murray, Anthony Skene — 655
The Christmas Cavilier/Gwyn Evans — 747
Bibliography — 755
I used to pick up a lot of those skinny digest-sized Blakes in England, which you could generally find pretty cheap and often in pretty good shape. There were a bunch of different people who wrote them, some of them writing dozens. I think I did read one, maybe a collection of three stories (?), but don’t remember which. They are short and fast reads.
Jeff, Michael Moorcock is a huge Sexton Blake fan and his enthusiasm for the series is contagious!
George, Moorcock was also a contributor to the Sexton Blake saga. Some others were John Creasy, Jack Trevor Story (who wrote THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY and for whom the Jack Trevor Story Memorail cup is named — the winner must spend all the prize money in a week to a fortnight, with having nothing to show for it), and, reportedly, Brian O’Nolan (who, as “Flann O’Brien” wrote THE THIRD POLICEMAN and AT SWIM-TWO-BIRDS).
Jerry, I did not know that John Creasey wrote some Sexton Blake stories! You are a fount of Knowledge!
Geroge, Creasey wrote three or four of them; one is available to read on ComicBookPlus.
Jerry, thanks for the heads up! I’ll give that Creasey a try!
The Bills certainly beat up on the Saints last night.
Jeff, I can’t figure the Bills out. They get creamed by the Colts 41-15 and four days later the Bills cream the Saints 31-6. Go figure…
I may have read a Blake story in another anthology, but don’t have a collection of them. Obviously not Holmes, the Baker Street mention in the cover blurb is an obvious misnomer.
Sexton Blake is a fictional detective with similarities to Sherlock Holmes. They appeared on the scene within a few years of each other, the first Holmes story being published in 1887 and the first Sexton Blake story in 1893.
Both are portrayed as private consulting detectives operating from London’s Baker Street.
I guess that was deliberate, then.
Baker St brings back memories – was there but somehow missed the Sherlock Holmes Museum, went to Madame Tussaud’s instead.
Wolf, some of my friends found Sexton Blake books in Canada, but I never did.
Yes, that I knew, I meant that it was a tease to tempt the buyer.
Rick, Baker Street is a dog whistle for some readers.
Rick, Sexton Blake is very popular in the UK.
I never read a Blake! No particular reason; likely I just never came across one! I much enjoyed the spanking the Bills gave the hated Saints yesterday!
Bob, the Bills face a gauntlet of tough games in the weeks ahead: two games against the suddenly potent Patriots and Tampa Bay.
Have read one Sexton Blake novella: The Mystery of the Green Bottle and that was pretty good. This collection seems interesting.
Neeru, you get a lot for your money with SEXTON BLAKE, DETECTIVE. Nearly 800 pages of exciting mystery and suspense!