Sexton Blake Bibliography: 1947

Notes: After capturing a pirate fighter, Sexton Blake lands it on the flying island. Black Eagle's men surround his machine as it comes to rest. Leaving Tinker hidden inside, the detective clambers out and is taken to the chief villain. The Black Eagle shows him his gravity-repelling generator before then confining him to quarters. Tinker sneaks out of the plane and overpowers a guard.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: Tinker dresses in the uniform taken from the guard and prowls around the flying island in search of his guv'nor. He finds him in a jail cell and sets him free. Together, they confront the Black Eagle in his control room. Quickly, he pulls a lever, turning off the anti-gravity generator. The sky island starts to fall.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: None at present.

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Notes: Sexton Blake knew that an old catseye ring had been stolen from Sir Roderick Maul but the one he has found is not Sir Roderick's but its twin. Even as he discovers this, a gas bomb is thrown into the room, knocking him unconscious. A big bearded man snatches up the two rings and makes off with them. After the detectives recover, Sir Roderick informs them that there's some secret about the rings; possibly they are the key to the whereabouts of a treasure hiodden by his pirate ancestor. A glove dropped by the thief sets the detective on the trail of the thief. He and Tinker trace him to a house near the docks. They spy on him through a window and are surprised when a seaman crashes into the room and holds the thief at gunpoint.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: The chase after the catseye rings leads Sexton Blake to the shop of Jasper Mawle, ship chandler, who has stolen them. However, even as he and Tinker peer in at his window another crook is demanding the catseye rings. The detectives leap in. Blake tackles Mawle while Tinker wrestles with the other crook. The man flees with one of the rings and the detectives chase him across the rooftops. Mawle, though, recovers consciousness, emerges onto the roof, and holds them all at gunpoint.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: One Eye Pete, the sailor, has one catseye ring, Sexton Blake and Tinker have the other, but Jasper Mawle has them all covered with his gun! He means to get both rings, and so learn the secret hidden in them. He steps forward to take the ring from Tinker but Blake surprises him with an uppercut, knocking him clean out. One Eye Pete takes advantage of the distraction and dives off the roof into the river below. Blake jumps after him.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: Blake discovers and underwater tunnel that One Eye Pete appears to have escaped through. He swims in and emerges into a huge underground vault in which a submarine is moored. Seeing the crook descending into the conning tower, Blake follows and watches as other sailors crowd around the man. Pete tells them to go and catch Tinker, who has the other ring. They hurry out while Blake hurriedly conceals himself. The gang ascends to the roof. Outnumbered, Tinker flees, then dives off, only realising too late that he's jumped out over the street rather than the river.

Trivia: A triple-numbered issue.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: Tinker makes a wild grab for a crane cable. As he dangles helplessly, the crooks reel him back up to the roof. On the submarine, Blake finds the wireless room and radios to the river police for help. Tinker is brought aboard and the submarine moves out into the river. The police arrive but the sub rams their boat, capsizing it.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: One-Eye Pete and his gang now have both rings. They also have Tinker as a prisoner aboard the submarine. However, Sexton Blake is hidden on the vessel and sets his faithful assistant free. Together they try to take over the ship but fail and are forced out on to the conning tower. The submarine dives, leaving them floating alone in the mid-Atlantic. They climb onto a stray torpedo, fearing that it might explode at any moment.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: None at present.

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Notes: Aboard a motor torpedo boat, Sexton Blake has trailed the submarine carrying the crooks who have the catseye rings out to the caribbean. Now he and Tinker prepare to go on alone. In diving suits, they walk along the seabed until, ahead, they see their quarry. The submarine, though, is being attacked by a whale. When they try to intercede, they whale angrily turns on the detectives.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: Tinker takes shelter in an undersea cave. When the whale attempts to follow, Blake levers a boulder from overhead, causing it to drop onto the monster, trapping it. He and his assistant hurry away and climb onto the deck of the submarine.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Notes: One Eye Pete and his gang discover that the rings, when looked into both at once, reveal a map that discloses the location of pirate treasure. The island on which it is buried has since sunk to the bottom of the sea but with his submarine the crook can, at last, retrieve the loot. However, Sexton Blake overhears One Eye Pete's plan and hurries ahead to the sunken island where he finds the wreck of the pirate ship. He and Tinker discover the treasure but suddenly the ghostly figure of a pirate materialises before them!

Rating: ★★★★☆

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Notes: Blake and Tinker are on the trail of a mysterious girl. Near the docks at Stepney, they meet a crook who has stolen the girl's handbag. Blake knocks out the crook as a car draws up. The girl holds them at gunpoint while her chauffeur recovers the bag. She speeds away but another car runs hers off the road. She is kidnapped. The chauffeur tells Blake that she's been taken to Marvin's Wharf. They race to that location where they witness the men snatching a letter from the girl before throwing her into the river.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: Blake dives into the water to rescue the girl but a boat appears, men haul her aboard, then they knock the detective senseless with an oar. Tinker jumps to his assistance and pulls him ashore. When he's sufficiently recovered, they interview the girl's chauffeur. He tells them that the girl's father, Mr. Frost, discovered gold in Kano, Africa, and wrote down the location. He sent half the letter to his daughter but the other half was stolen by two men, Hank Martin and Simon Turll. Blake discovers that these two men have now left the country with Miss Frost. He and Tinker set out after them in a fast aeroplane.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: Sexton Blake and Tinker pursue the crooks to Nigeria. They catch up with the enemy plane just as a storm hits. With their instruments damaged, they crash into the tree tops. When they follow a trail to a village, they see that the crooks have been captured by the natives.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: The treasure trail leads to Africa. There, deep in the tropical jungle, Blake and Tinker discover that the crooks have been taken prisoner by the savage natives. The detectives rescue the villains and take the witch doctor captive as security. When they come to a rope bridge over a river, Blake knocks the native out. The crooks cross the bridge then slice it with a knife. Blake vows to follow their trail to the gold.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: None at present.

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Notes: Sexton Blake and Tinker see a strange black warrior carrying an unconscious white man, but when they try to discover the identity of the injured man, the savage threatens them. Blake drops his gun and declares his peaceful intentions. The warrior is Bano and he's protecting Mr. Frost, who's taken a blow to his head and has lost hs memory. Tinker spots Martin and Turll approaching with a crowd of natives. They surround the hut and set fire to it, shooting arrows. One missile hits the ground inside the hut and Blake notes that it sounds like it has struck iron.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: Blake finds that the arrow has struck a concealed trap door. He opens it to reveal a shaft, which they all escape down. Above them, the burning hut collapses. Martin and Turll believe them killed. Carrying Frost, Blake, Tinker and Bano follow a tunnel into a snake-infested cave. A snake charmer appears and demands to know why they have entered the sacred caverns of the Baruba people.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

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Notes: Hundreds of years ago, in the little known kingdom of Kauli, beyond the Chinese desert, four golden idols stood above the throne of the prince of Kauli, and on each of the idols was inscribed: WHO OWNS THE FOUR BUDDHAS SHALL BE THE RICHEST MAN ON EARTH — THE SECRET LIES WITHIN ONE OF THEM. But, one day, a bandit army swooped on Kauli, slaying and looting, and the four buddhas were never seen again. In 1947, an American named Elmer Gant steals one of the idols from, Silas Quinn, a wealthy antique dealer. Quinn calls Sexton Blake who, with Tinker, rushes to the scene of the crime. Suddenly, a great ape smashes through the window and an armed man steps in and demands the golden buddha.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: None at present.

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Notes: Silas Quinn has been taken away in a helicopter by a Chinese villain named Ah Sing. Blake and Tinker find the aircraft abandoned and, as thet approach it, narrowly avoid a booby trap. They find Quinn bound hand and foot. He tells them that Ah Sing forced him to reveal who has the other buddhas. Quinn only knows the whereabouts of one; at a place called Brindon Castle. He told Ah Sing this before being interrupted by a gunshot from Elmer Grant. The Chinaman and his pet ape had set off after the American. Blake and Tinker travel to the castle. They spot Gant and Blake chases after him. The giant ape pounces on Tinker.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: Tinker is captured by Ah Sing and his ape but makes a break for it and runs up a spiral staircase. Unfortunately, the stairs end in space and the lad finds himself falling. Meanwhile, Sexton Blake follows Gant's trail and leaps on the American. Tinker, who has fallen into a chimney, emerges from a nearby fireplace and joins the fray. The buddhas are on a desk in the room ... but it suddenly starts to sink into the floor!

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: Elmer Gant, an American has already stolen one of the buddhas and goes to Blindon Castle to get the second. Ah Sing, a Chinese, who has a pet ape, aiso wants the buddhas, and is hot on his track. Sexton Blake and Tinker surprise Gant in the castle but while they struggle, the desk on which stand the two buddhas sinks down through the floor. Gant dives after them, grabs them, and jumps out of a window. Sir Hubert Blindon reveals to Blake that the third buddha is owned by Hoo Sung at Crayleigh. The detectives race there in a speedboat but, as they arrive, Ah Sing throws a bomb at them.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: None at present.

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Notes: Sexton Blake and Hoo Sung tell Ah Sing that they've already secured three of the fourth buddhas. Ah Sing cliams to know where the fourth is and, throwing a smoke bomb for cover, he and his ape flee in Hoo Sung's car. The Chinese scientist reveals that he also knows where to find the buddha — it's in the keeping of Sheik Abdul Djan at El-Barim on the Persian Gulf. He also reveals that the four buddhas once stood behind the throne of Kauli; and there can never again be a kingdom of Kauli unless they are restored. Furthermore, Hoo Sung is the Prince of that lost country! After handing Elmer Gant to the police, Blake, Tinker and Hoo Sung set off to El-Barim in the Flying Disc. They find that Ah Sing has got there first; and Sheik Abdul's house is burning!

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: Sexton Blake, Tinker and Hoo Sung have got three of the buddhas. The fourth is in the care of the Sheik of El-Barim, on the Persian Gulf. They head there in the Flying Disc only to find the place in flames. Ah Sing, the Chinese traitor, has got there first. Blake and his friends rescue the Sheik and his people from the fire. They then take off in the disc only to find themselves shot at by Ah Sing's plane. To evade the attacker, Hoo Sung flies the disc into the sea.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: After Ah Sing attacks, Hoo Sung plunges the Flying Disc into the sea and submerges. He steers the craft to nearby land, then takes off and flies over the enemy plane. Sexton Blake shoots the tip of its wing off and Hoo Sung lowers a grapple that fastens onto the plane.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: Ah Sing and the ape, Gibo, bail out of their plane and parachute to safety. Crossing the border into China, they meet with a gang of bandits and join forces with them. Meanwhile, Sexton Blake and Hoo Sung follow their enemy's trail, steering the Flying Disk over a land mine.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: The Flying Disc is crippled by the land mine and Sexton Blake and his allies are knocked unconscious. Ah Sing claims the fourth buddha and flees. Blake, Tinker and Hoo Sung set off in pursuit, driving overland while Hoo Sung, atop the vehicle, repairs a broken rotor. The bandits cross a ravine via a rope bridge. As the Flying Disc follows, Hoo Sung slips and falls.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: Blake and Tinker steer the repaired Flying Disc into the ravine to rescue Hoo Sung from the river. Once he is aboard, they follow Ah Sing to a bandit town, the lair of a villain named Chee Klin. Ah Sing heads to the residence of the bandit chief. Hoo Sung lands the disc on the building's roof. Bandits and the great ape come running to attack.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: None at present.

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Notes: Ah Sing, the traitor Chinese, escapes from Shanchoo with the four buddhas, which hold the secret of untold wealth. The gates are closed to Sexton Blake and Tinker, preventing them from pursuing him. Hoo Sung, in the Flying Disc, lifts the big gates from their hinges. The detectives mount horses and chase after the Chinaman but he reaches a narrow pass and rides into it, knowing that, once he gets through, he'll easily elude them. Hoo Sung, however, drops the gates in his path, blocking the route. He ducks into a cave but Blake and Tinker go after him and shoot the gun from his hand. Suddenly, though, Chee Klin's bandits arrive on the scene.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: Hoo Sung uses the Flying Disc to rescue Blake and Tinker from the ravine and they make off, taking the four buddhas with them, and leaving Ah Sing behind with the bandits. Hoo Sung sets course for Kauli, to which he is now heir to the throne. In that secret country, he finds the current prince to be ruling with an iron hand.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: None at present.

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Notes: Alone and unarmed Hoo Sung enters the palace of the man who falsely claims to be the ruler of Kauli. Hoo Sung is attacked, but Sexton Blake comes to the rescue with a gas-gun. Taking the throne, Hoo Sung bans his predecessor and his henchmen from the country. Tinker fetches the four buddhas. A note inside one of them shows how a man can be wealthy: THE GREATEST RICHES ARE HEALTH AND HAPPINESS AND ARE ONLY GAINED BY WISE LIVING IN THE SERVICE OF OTHERS. He makes a gift of the Flying Disc to Blake and Tinker, who then depart after thanking him for all the adventures they've had together.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: After their adventures in China, Sexton Blake and Tinker, in the Flying Disc, head for home across the Pacific and Canada. Over northern Quebec, they meet bad weather and run out of fuel. They land near a town named Pine City but find it abandoned, as if in a hurry. A dog jumps out at them, then a plane flies over and drops a bomb.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: Blake and Tinker survive the explosion. Finding the dog trapped under a beam, they release it, and when it runs away, they follow. It leads them to an Indian who'se being attacked by wolves. The animals kill the dog. Blake and Tinker shoot the wolves. The Indian introduces himself as Little Crow. When he departs, the detectives suddenly find themselves surrounded by Indians.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: Sexton Blake and Tinker are captured by hostile Indians and will be executed. However, Little Crow repays his debt by freeing them. They flee northwards and float downriver on a log. Little Crow reveals that there is oil in Pine City that they can use to refuel the flying disc.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Notes: Blake, Tinker and Little Crow head back to Pine City. Blake finds oil and takes it to the Flying Disc while Tinker attends to Little Crow's wound. However, while Blake is gone, the Indians attack the town. Hearing the shooting, Blake flies the disc over the town, drops a smoke bomb, then uses the grappler to lift the shack containing hi friends.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Notes: None at present.

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Notes: This one very unnecessarily gives Tinker a family relation in the form of a second cousin named Millie Jones, from the “Walworth branch of the family.” She is married to Bill Jones, and they have a son, Ronnie, who has vanished while on a cycling holiday with his friend Joe Birch. With assistance from Detective-Inspector Harker, Tinker traces the boys as far as the village of Wivelscombe on the south coast. With Blake, he pays a visit to the place, and there they discover the boys’ tandem abandoned in a quarry. A scrap of bloodstained shirt is also recovered. Not long after, however, messages are received from the boys in which they state that they’ll be home soon. Blake, sensing that something isn’t right, begins to uncover clues that suggest a violent confrontation of some sort. When the boys fail to show up, and the corpse of a woman is discovered buried beneath the cliffs on the Wivelscombe beach, the elements of the case begin to link together. Clue by clue, Blake exposes a smuggling ring and identifies the crooks involved. The operation is smashed, and the boys located and rescued.

Trivia: Detective-Inspector Harker is middle-aged and has four children, three boys and a girl.

Mrs. Bardell asks a visitor to wait in an ante room upon which, from his consulting room two floors above, Blake can spy by means of a periscope device. This completely confounds the usual descriptions of the Baker Street house, in which the consulting room is on the first floor, not the second.

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆ The late 'forties and early 'fifties are generally regarded as the nadir of the Blake stories. This one shows why. The notion that Blake would engage with a case of absconding kids is so ridiculous that the author has to invent relations for Tinker to justify it.

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Notes: Story features Lady Emily Westomholme.

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Notes: This is Anthony Skene's final Sexton Blake novel.

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