Sexton Blake Homepage  ·  Bibliography Master List
1955  1956  1957

Publishing: The 4th series of the Sexton Blake Library begins. This was not an intended change but was made 'official' in retrospect by the new series editor, W. Howard Baker. The change from 3rd to 4th series is not marked by a resetting of the issue numbers (the 2nd and 3rd series both began with a new 'issue 1') but by the arrival of Paula Dane and Blake's new offices in Berkeley Square (issue 359 FRIGHTENED LADY). The Library also received a visual overhaul, adopting the 'red stripe' cover (though this began six issues earlier). From issue 355, the price rose to 10d. Due to a dispute in the printing trade, there were no issues published in May of this year.
Arthur Maclean (real name George Paul Mann) joins the legion of Sexton Blake authors and creates Eustace Craille. He would also reintroduce George Marsden Plummer in one story. Arthur Kent and James Stagg join the ranks, too; the latter becoming sub-Editor under W. Howard Baker. The inimitable Jack Trevor Story also writes his first Blake tale. Story was born in 1918. His debut novel — THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY — was filmed by Alfred Hitchcock. More successful novels followed with many being adapted for cinema. Story also wrote scripts for television series. He died in 1991.

Blake: Sexton Blake opens a new office in Berkeley Square and takes on new staff: Paula Dane; Marion Lang and Louise Pringle. Tinker starts to use his real name: Edward Carter. The Grey Panther is brought out of retirement but is destroyed by a hand grenade.

KNOCKOUT · Issue 880 · 07/01/1956 · Amalgamated Press · 3d
THE CASE OF THE CLUE IN TIME
by Anon. (See note, issue 737, 1953) · Illustrator: Anon. (Mike Western)
PDF: Click here
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: A shipment of gold bars is stolen from a Scottish airport and Inspector Coutts is informed that the thieves' plane is heading south towards London. A fighter forces the plane to land and Coutts, Sexton Blake and Tinker are there to meet it. To their surprise, they find that there is no gold aboard. Blake quickly identifies a place in the fens where he believes the gold will be found. Travelling there by helicopter, he sees what he had expected: a mark in the earth where something heavy has been dropped. Tyre-marks lead them to a lorry. Tinker catches the driver and the gold is found aboard. Blake explains how he knew where the gold was dropped from the plane to be picked up.
Rating:
KNOCKOUT · Issue 881 · 14/01/1956 · Amalgamated Press · 3d
THE CASE OF THE DEADLY BUS-TICKET
by Anon. (See note, issue 737, 1953) · Illustrator: Anon. (Frank Pashley)
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
KNOCKOUT · Issue 882 · 21/01/1956 · Amalgamated Press · 3d
THE CASE OF THE PRISONER'S ALIBI!
by Anon. (See note, issue 737, 1953) · Illustrator: Anon. (Frank Pashley)
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
KNOCKOUT · Issue 883 · 28/01/1956 · Amalgamated Press · 3d
THE CASE OF THE SEVENTEEN CHIMES
by Anon. (See note, issue 737, 1953) · Illustrator: Anon. (Frank Pashley)
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: This story was reprinted in the KNOCKOUT ANNUAL 1961.
Unrated
KNOCKOUT · Issue 884 · 04/02/1956 · Amalgamated Press · 3d
THE CASE OF THE HOUSE OF PUZZLES
by Anon. (See note, issue 737, 1953) · Illustrator: Anon. (Frank Pashley)
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
KNOCKOUT · Issue 885 · 11/02/1956 · Amalgamated Press · 3d
THE CASE OF SOLO SWANSON'S MISTAKE
by Anon. (See note, issue 737, 1953) · Illustrator: Anon. (Frank Pashley)
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
KNOCKOUT · Issue 886 · 18/02/1956 · Amalgamated Press · 3d
THE CASE OF THE THREE BROTHERS
by Anon. (See note, issue 737, 1953) · Illustrator: Anon. (Frank Pashley)
PDF: Click here
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: While Sexton Blake and Inspector Coutts are playing chess, Tinker nips out with Pedro to take a look at a new diesel locomotive at Euston Station. While there, he spots two of the three Bartley brothers — well-known cracksmen. After sending Pedro to fetch Blake, he eavesdrops on the brothers and learns that they intend to rob a bank. However, when the third brother arrives, Tinker is spotted and overpowered. He manages to leave a clue for Blake who soon traces the brothers to the bank, foils their scheme and rescues his assistant.
Rating:
KNOCKOUT · Issue 887 · 25/02/1956 · Amalgamated Press · 3d
THE CASE OF THE WHITE TABLET
by Anon. (See note, issue 737, 1953) · Illustrator: Anon. (Frank Pashley)
PDF: Click here
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: Dr. Maynard finds a drugged man on his surgery doorstep and calls Sexton Blake. The man has nothing on him to identify who he is. However, in one pocket there is found a small white tablet upon which the letter 'R' is inscribed. Blake identifies it as an air-sickness tablet. While he makes a visit to a chemist, the patient momentarily awakens and mumbles "Burgundy wine." The detective interprets this as "Bergan & Vine" — the name of a diamond merchant. Upon visiting this shop, he learns that the drugged man is an assistant there... and had been on the way to the airport with a parcel of gems. Blake and Tinker rush to the airport where they capture a man who's masquerading as the diamond merchant's assistant.
Rating:
KNOCKOUT · Issue 888/894 (jointly numbered) · 03/03/1956 · Amalgamated Press · 3d
THE CASE OF THE SCATTERED PAPERS
by Anon. (See note, issue 737, 1953) · Illustrator: Anon. (Frank Pashley)
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
KNOCKOUT · Issue 895 · 21/04/1956 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
THE CASE OF THE TRAIL OF COINS
by Anon. (See note, issue 737, 1953) · Illustrator: Anon. (Frank Pashley)
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
KNOCKOUT · Issue 896 · 28/04/1956 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
THE CASE OF THE TELEPHONE CLUE
by Anon. (See note, issue 737, 1953) · Illustrator: Anon. (Frank Pashley)
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
KNOCKOUT · Issue 897 · 05/05/1956 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
THE CASE OF THE TV TRICK
by Anon. (See note, issue 737, 1953) · Illustrator: Anon. (Frank Pashley)
PDF: Click here
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: Sexton Blake turns on the television and tells Mrs Bardell that he doesn't want to be disturbed for half an hour. He watches an interview with Professor Lionel Thrush, an explorer who recently returned from South America with a great Aztec treasure, which is guarded by his Indian servant, Azuma. As the programme starts, the microphone boom swings into the professor's head. The transmission is taken off air and Blake leaps into action. Meanwhile, at the professor's house, Azuma tries to telephone the studio but finds that the line is dead. He heads for a nearby telephone box, not noticing a figure crouched in the shadows of the garden, and is knocked out by a second man. The two crooks, Duke and Barney, burgle the house of the treasure but, as they leave, find themselves captured by Blake and Tinker. The detective explains how he saw through their scheme.
Rating:
KNOCKOUT · Issue 898 · 12/05/1956 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
THE CASE OF THE LOUTREC DIAMONDS
by Anon. (See note, issue 737, 1953) · Illustrator: Anon. (Frank Pashley)
PDF: Click here
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: In Paris, one of the cleverest thefts ever results in the loss of the Marquis de Loutrec diamonds. Inspector Coutts informs Sexton Blake that he has received word that the gems are due to be smuggled into England. Later, Blake and Tinker watch a newsreel at a cinema and see a report about a plane that made an emergency landing after being damaged by its own cargo. It had been transporting circus animals and a panicked elephant had kicked a hole in the fuselage. This grabs Blake's interest and he immediately pays a visit to Billy Smithson's circus where he asks to be allowed to stay with the elephant for a while. That night, an intruder enters the animal enclosure and is captured by Blake and Tinker. The detective finds the elephant's headdress, which the crook had been trying to recover. He explains that the normally placid animal had been made uncomfortable by the Marquis de Loutrec diamonds which were sewn into the leather.
Rating:
KNOCKOUT · Issue 899 · 19/05/1956 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
THE CASE OF THE PICKPOCKET'S FIND
by Anon. (See note, issue 737, 1953) · Illustrator: Anon. (Frank Pashley)
PDF: Click here
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: Fingers Fred, a pickpocket whom Sexton Blake had helped to go straight, visits the detective and confesses to a lapse. He had picked a youth's pocket of a small packet, hoping it would be food. It turned out to be a bar of soap, in the back of which was the impression of a key. While Fred takes Tinker to search for the youth, Blake analyses the soap and finds that it had been used for scrubbing a floor. Tinker returns after an unsuccessful mission and leaves with Blake for Cranston's, an expensive watch-maker's. Blake reveals that he had made a key from the impression... and it fits the door at Cranston's. They enter and catch thieves in the act of cracking the safe. Blake explains how he was able to identify the watch-maker's as the scene of the crime.
Rating:
KNOCKOUT · Issue 900 · 26/05/1956 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
THE CASE OF THE GLEAMING CAR
by Anon. (See note, issue 737, 1953) · Illustrator: Anon. (Frank Pashley)
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
KNOCKOUT · Issue 901 · 02/06/1956 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
THE CASE OF THE SPORTS ROBBERY
by Anon. (See note, issue 737, 1953) · Illustrator: Anon. (Frank Pashley)
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
KNOCKOUT · Issue 902 · 09/06/1956 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
THE CASE OF THE VANISHING WITNESS
by Anon. (See note, issue 737, 1953) · Illustrator: Anon. (Frank Pashley)
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
KNOCKOUT · Issue 903 · 16/06/1956 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
THE CASE OF THE BLACK THUMB'S TRAP
by Anon. (See note, issue 737, 1953) · Illustrator: Anon. (Frank Pashley)
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
KNOCKOUT · Issue 904 · 23/06/1956 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
THE CASE OF THE CLIMBING CAT
by Anon. (See note, issue 737, 1953) · Illustrator: Anon. (Frank Pashley)
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
KNOCKOUT · Issue 905 · 30/06/1956 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
THE CASE OF THE FLASHLIGHT THIEF
by Anon. (See note, issue 737, 1953) · Illustrator: Anon. (Frank Pashley)
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
KNOCKOUT · Issue 906 · 07/07/1956 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
THE CASE OF THE FIFTH FINGER
by Anon. (See note, issue 737, 1953) · Illustrator: Anon. (Frank Pashley)
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
KNOCKOUT · Issue 907 · 14/07/1956 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
THE CASE OF THE FROGMAN'S HAUL
by Anon. (See note, issue 737, 1953) · Illustrator: Anon. (Frank Pashley)
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
KNOCKOUT · Issue 908 · 21/07/1956 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
THE CASE OF THE STRIKER OF MATCHES
by Anon. (See note, issue 737, 1953) · Illustrator: Anon. (Frank Pashley)
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
KNOCKOUT · Issue 909 · 28/07/1956 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
THE CASE OF THE FIVE FORGERIES
by Anon. (See note, issue 737, 1953) · Illustrator: Anon. (Frank Pashley)
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
KNOCKOUT · Issue 910 · 04/08/1956 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
THE CASE OF THE OPEN DRAWER
by Anon. (See note, issue 737, 1953) · Illustrator: Anon. (Frank Pashley)
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
KNOCKOUT · Issue 911 · 11/08/1956 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
THE CASE OF THE EAST COAST CATCH
by Anon. (See note, issue 737, 1953) · Illustrator: Anon. (Frank Pashley)
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
KNOCKOUT · Issue 912 · 18/08/1956 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
THE CASE OF THE MYSTERY MATCH
by Anon. (See note, issue 737, 1953) · Illustrator: Anon. (Frank Pashley)
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
KNOCKOUT · Issue 913 · 25/08/1956 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
THE CASE OF THE GOLF-CLUB CLUE
by Anon. (See note, issue 737, 1953) · Illustrator: Anon. (Frank Pashley)
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
KNOCKOUT · Issue 914 · 01/09/1956 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
THE CASE OF THE LINER ESCAPE
by Anon. (See note, issue 737, 1953) · Illustrator: Anon. (Frank Pashley)
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
KNOCKOUT · Issue 915 · 08/09/1956 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
THE CASE OF THE CLUE IN PLASTER
by Anon. (See note, issue 737, 1953) · Illustrator: Anon. (Frank Pashley)
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
KNOCKOUT · Issue 916 · 15/09/1956 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
THE CASE OF THE EXPLODING ROCKETS
by Anon. (See note, issue 737, 1953) · Illustrator: Anon. (Frank Pashley)
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: This story was reprinted in the KNOCKOUT ANNUAL 1961.
Unrated
KNOCKOUT · Issue 917 · 22/09/1956 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
THE CASE OF THE BROKEN BICYCLE
by Anon. (See note, issue 737, 1953) · Illustrator: Anon. (Frank Pashley)
PDF: Click here
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: Office-boy Teddy Miller is cycling to work when his front wheel suddenly collapses. Sexton Blake and Tinker witness the accident and come to the boy's aid. While Teddy has a plaster applied to his grazed knee in a nearby chemist, Blake visits the estate agent's where the boy works. Callender, the manager, greets him with news that there's been a robbery — £5,000 has been stolen from the safe, which has been opened even though Callender is the only one with a key. Another member of staff, a methodical old-timer named Chivers, potters around the office... which gives Sexton Blake an idea. He goes out to his car, into the back of which he had put Teddy's bicycle, and examines the broken front wheel. He then re-enters the estate agent's and arrests Chivers for the robbery. he reveals how Chivers opened the safe and how this is related to the collapse of Teddy Miller's bicycle wheel.
Rating:
KNOCKOUT · Issue 918 · 29/09/1956 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
THE CASE OF THE FIVE FRIED EGGS
by Anon. (See note, issue 737, 1953) · Illustrator: Anon. (Frank Pashley)
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
KNOCKOUT · Issue 919 · 06/10/1956 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
THE CASE OF THE QUICK CHANGE
by Anon. (See note, issue 737, 1953) · Illustrator: Anon. (Frank Pashley)
PDF: Click here
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: Otto Gluckner, a safe-breaker who has just been released from prison, is concerned that his technique is so distinctive that he will require a cast-iron alibi. So he takes a taxi to Baker Street and, outside Sexton Blake's house, picks a fight with the driver, making sure Blake notices the ruckus. The detective and his assistant follow Gluckner as he walks away and moves from street to street, puffing on an unusual pipe. Eventualy he goes into an arcade and spends hours at the pinball tables. When he eventually leaves, Blake starts to follow but is stopped by a police car and told that Inspector Coutts is looking for him. He calls Coutts and learns that a bank safe has just been robbed — with all the hallmark signs of Gluckner's handiwork. Blake swears that the cracksman had never left his sight. That night, they continue to keep watch on the man as he repeats the route previously taken. Suddenly a whiff of tobacco smoke enlightens Blake — a quick change has taken place... and Blake collars the real Gluckner!
Rating:
KNOCKOUT · Issue 920 · 13/10/1956 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
THE CASE OF THE £1,000 MATCH-BOX
by Anon. (See note, issue 737, 1953) · Illustrator: Anon. (Frank Pashley)
PDF: Click here
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: Sexton Blake is passing by when an old match-seller slips into the road and is hit by a car. Later, another match-seller, Marty, is approached by a stranger who takes a box of matches and leaves as payment an old newspaper. Inside this, the Marty finds a great many bank notes. Puzzled, he visits Sexton Blake. While he's there, Blake receives a call from Inspector Coutts who informs him that a spy named Stefan Frobitsch is operating in London, whereabouts unknown. The detective immediately deduces that Frobitsch is in Charing Cross Hospital. He then tells Marty to return to his pitch. The match-seller does so and finds himself confronted by the man who had left the newspaper. Blake swoops and arrests this individual as a spy. He then goes to the hospital where Coutts has placed the first match-seller — Frobitsch — in custody. He has in his possession a match-book in which are concealed stolen plans.
Rating:
KNOCKOUT · Issue 921 · 20/10/1956 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
THE CASE OF THE ALIBI IN THE RAIN
by Anon. (See note, issue 737, 1953) · Illustrator: Anon. (Frank Pashley)
PDF: Click here
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: A miserly diamond merchant is attacked from behind and robbed. His unseen assailant actually works for him; it is his under-paid clerk, Tranter, who has planned the robbery with his colleague, Ullman. Inspector Coutts is called to investigate and takes Sexton Blake and Tinker with him to the scene. Meanwhile, Ullman promises to give Tranter an alibi, saying that they spent the evening together before Tranter left in a downpour. As it has not rained in Tranter's part of town, he fakes it by hosing down his car. However, Sexton Blake notices that the windscreen wipers have not been used and so sees through the false alibi.
Rating:
KNOCKOUT · Issue 922 · 27/10/1956 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
THE CASE OF THE SMITH STREET GANG
by Anon. (See note, issue 737, 1953) · Illustrator: Anon. (Frank Pashley)
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
KNOCKOUT · Issue 923 · 03/11/1956 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
THE CASE OF THE MAGIC SAFE
by Anon. (See note, issue 737, 1953) · Illustrator: Anon. (Unknown)
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
KNOCKOUT · Issue 924 · 10/11/1956 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
THE CASE OF THE MISSING LIGHT
by Anon. (See note, issue 737, 1953) · Illustrator: Anon. (Frank Pashley)
PDF: Click here
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: Sexton Blake and Tinker are with Inspector Coutts when a call comes through about a bank robbery. The young crook was seen racing away in a sports car. The three men jump into Blake's car and set off to track down the villain. However, unknown to them, he has changed cars, replacing the sports model with an old banger, and has removed a mask, revealing that he is considerably older than described. A little later a constable attempts to stop him for some reason. The crook knocks him out and leaves him by the roadside where he is later found by Blake & Co. The detective realises that their quarry has done a quick change and drives along the road examining the various vehicles until he spots the man. The robber attempts to escape but is caught by Tinker. Sexton Blake explains how he realised that the crook had swapped cars.
Rating:
KNOCKOUT · Issue 925 · 17/11/1956 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
THE CASE OF THE VANISHING VISITOR
by Anon. (See note, issue 737, 1953) · Illustrator: Anon. (Frank Pashley)
PDF: Click here
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: While driving to the coast, Sexton Blake and Tinker are stopped by a man named Alan Lambert who tells them that an accident has occurred near his hotel at the bottom of a cliffside road. A new guest named Dyson, whom Lambert had been expecting, has driven off the road and crashed onto the rocks below. There is no sign of the body, which suggests it may have been flung out into the rough sea. Blake and Tinker accompany Lambert back to the hotel where Blake phones the police. He tells them that it's a clear case of robbery and kidnapping and Lambert must be arrested. The hotel owner pulls a gun but Blake overpowers him. He then searches the hotel until he finds the missing guest tied up in the cellar. Dyson explains that he has visited the hotel before, always carrying a great deal of money, which Lambert has this time tried to steal by shooting at his car as he drove towards the hotel. Sexton Blake explains the clues that revealed to him the true nature of the 'accident'.
Rating:
KNOCKOUT · Issue 926 · 24/11/1956 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
THE CASE OF THE SMUGGLER'S MISTAKE
by Anon. (See note, issue 737, 1953) · Illustrator: Anon. (Unknown)
PDF: Click here
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: Blake receives a letter from Sir George Primby who lives in an isolated cliff-top house in Cornwall and who has seen mysterious prowlers around the place. However, upon arrival, Blake is told by Sir George that the whole thing was a mistake. Despite this, the detective explores the region and finds a ketch moored in a nearby cove with a cave close by. In the cave, they find the real Sir George and his butler tied up. The men, once freed, reveal that their replacements are smugglers who are using the house as a base of operations because it has a secret entrance into the cave. The detective enters the house and catches the crooks. He then reveals the mistake they made which led to his suspicions.
Rating:
KNOCKOUT · Issue 927 · 01/12/1956 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
THE CASE OF THE STRONG-ROOM PLOT
by Anon. (See note, issue 737, 1953) · Illustrator: Anon. (Unknown)
PDF: Click here
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: Former housebreaker Albert Fogmarsh is now on the 'straight and narrow' and earns an honest living as a window cleaner. One day, Tinker is witness to an accident when a car skids into the window cleaner's bicycle, destroying it. The girl passenger orders her chauffeur to buy a replacement bike. He comes back with a scooter, with which Albert is delighted. Meanwhile, Inspector Coutts arrives at Baker Street after having escorted a parcel of diamonds from Holland to a secure warehouse. When Tinker returns and recounts the tale of the broken bicycle, Sexton Blake announces that the diamonds are about to be stolen. They drive to the warehouse. Adjacent to it is the hut where Albert stores his new scooter. Blake takes it out and pushes it into the river where it explodes. The chauffeur and girl come out of hiding nearby and make a run for it but are caught. Blake reveals that the couple had destroyed Albert's bike on purpose so they could replace it with the scooter in which was planted an explosive charge that would have gained them entry into the warehouse.
Rating:
KNOCKOUT · Issue 928 · 08/12/1956 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
THE CASE OF THE SMASH-AND-GRAB RAID!
by Anon. (See note, issue 737, 1953) · Illustrator: Anon. (Frank Pashley)
PDF: Click here
Other content: Two men, disguised as water board labourers, perform a smash-and-grab raid on a jewellery shop. Sexton Blake and Tinker are walking nearby and give chase but lose their quarry when the crooks change into painters' overalls and act as if they are just ordinary workmen doing their job of painting a bridge. However, while crossing the bridge, Blake spots an empty rowing boat below. This alerts him to the trick, as the painters should have had a 'safety-man' in the boat. The detective and his assistant collar the two crooks.
Notes: None at present.
Rating:
KNOCKOUT · Issue 929 · 15/12/1956 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
THE CASE OF THE TELL-TALE MARK
by Anon. (See note, issue 737, 1953) · Illustrator: Anon. (Frank Pashley)
PDF: Click here
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: After receiving a call for help from a man named Martin Earle, Sexton Blake and Tinker rush to his country cottage. Earle tells Blake that he's worried that something is going to happen to his cousin Clifford who lives on the other side of the river. This fear is based on dreams in which Earle sees Clifford unconscious on his doorstep. The two men are not on talking terms after quarrelling years ago, so Earl has been unable to warn him. Blake telephones Clifford and is told that he's welcome to visit and check that nothing is amiss. While Blake and Tinker wait for the ferry to take them and their car across the river, Martin Earle cycles ahead on a rickety old bicycle, crossing a narrow footbridge. Some time later, the detectives drive past him and arrive at the house where they discover Clifford unconscious just as Earle's dreams had foretold. He is revived and finds that his safe has been broken into and his life savings stolen. After Earle arrives, Blake disappears down the road and returns with a racing bike; its saddlebag filled with the stolen loot. He exposes Earle's trickery — the man had swapped bikes, raced ahead, committed the crime and then doubled back to exchange bicycles again.
Rating:
KNOCKOUT · Issue 930 · 22/12/1956 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
THE CASE OF THE SULTAN'S STAR
by Anon. (See note, issue 737, 1953) · Illustrator: Anon. (Frank Pashley)
PDF: Click here
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: The Sultan's Star, one of the most valuable pieces of jewellery in the world, is being sold at auction. Sexton Blake and Tinker are watching the proceedings and look on as the bidding is won by a wealthy collector named Sir Reginald Aston. That evening, Sir Reginald arrives at Baker Street and insists that he was never at the auction. The night before he had been kidnapped and held prisoner in a room with a skylight in which three lights were reflected. One of his captors disguised himself as Sir Reginald and left, obviously to attend the auction. Later, he returned and the real Sir Reginald was blindfolded, driven some miles, then dumped out of the car. Blake calls the Port of London Authority for information before then driving, with Tinker and Sir Reginald, alongside the River Thames until he comes to a certain house. Here, they find the crooks with the Sultan's Star. The detective had recognised the house by a ship which had run aground opposite — and had the three beacons of distress shining from its mast.
Rating:
KNOCKOUT · Issue 931 · 29/12/1956 · Amalgamated Press · 4d
THE CASE OF THE CHRISTMAS PEARLS
by Anon. (See note, issue 737, 1953) · Illustrator: Anon. (Frank Pashley)
PDF: Click here
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: Scotland Yard receives an automated alarm call from Elridge's Store. The police, including Inspector Coutts, Sexton Blake and Tinker, arrive and find the store locked up. Presumably, the intruder is still inside. The manager let's them in and they nab their man only to find that it's Father Christmas! The man claims that he fell asleep after a long day playing with children and was just on his way out. At this point, the manager discovers that a two thousand pound pearl necklace has gone missing. Santa Claus is searched but the necklace is not found in his possession so he is allowed to leave. Blake finds a used tube of glue. He then suggests that they return in the morning. A puzzled Coutts agrees. The following day, Sexton Blake sees a red-faced man buying mistletoe from the floral counter. It is the store Father Christmas and, as the detective now proves, he is a thief — the mistletoe berries are glued-on pearls!
Rating:
KNOCKOUT FUN BOOK 1956 · Undated · Amalgamated Press · 7/-
SEXTON BLAKE AND TINKER AND THE LEAGUE OF CRIME
by Anon. (Leonard Matthews) · Illustrator: Anon. (Reginald Heade)
PDF: Click here
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: Ten years after evidence provided by Sexton Blake put him in prison, a criminal named John League escapes and confronts the detective in his Baker Street home. He is interrupted when a girl enters and distracts him. Blake sends League reeling down the stairs and the crook makes a quick getaway. The girl, Joyce Standish, explains that her father, Professor Standish, has vanished after being visited by League. Blake and Tinker travel with her in the Grey Panther to Moreton Manor, her home in Devon. Unknown to them, League is holed up in a nearby priory and sends a giant thug named Igor to kill Blake. The brute attacks but is shot by Blake and lumbers back to the priory with the detective on his tail. League realises that his enemy may have entered the building and orders his men to search it. Blake evades them and rescues their prisoner, Professor Standish. League's men ransack Moreton Manor and steal plans of a mine owned by the professor. Standish reveals to Blake that he's been using the mine for secret government-approved atomic experiments and that League is after the weapon he's developed. Blake heads for the mine and there comes face to face with League. In the ensuing fight, Joyce is rescued and the villain falls down a mine shaft to his death.
Trivia: This is a reprint of the 1949 serial that started with KNOCKOUT issue 529, the only difference being that John Plague's name is inexplicably changed to John League. KNOCKOUT FUN BOOK 1956 also includes a strip entitled SPLASH PAGE AND THE MISSING PRINCE, a solo adventure — and final appearance — for Blake's reporter friend, Splash Page. This same year, over in the SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY, Page's replacement, Splash Kirby made his first appearance.
Rating:
The Clue of the Pin-Up Girl THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 3rd series · Issue 351 · Jan. 1956 · Amalgamated Press · 9d
THE CLUE OF THE PIN-UP GIRL
by Walter Tyrer · Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: None
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
It Happened in Hamburg THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 3rd series · Issue 352 · Jan. 1956 · Amalgamated Press · 9d
IT HAPPENED IN HAMBURG
by W. Howard Baker · Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: None
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
Danger Ahead THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 3rd series · Issue 353 · Feb. 1956 · Amalgamated Press · 9d
DANGER AHEAD
by Peter Saxon (W. Howard Baker) · Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: None
Notes: This is the first issue to carry the red stripe cover design which would become associated with the 'New Order' Blake novels.
Unrated
The Case of the Gangster's Girl THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 3rd series · Issue 354 · Feb. 1956 · Amalgamated Press · 9d
THE CASE OF THE GANGSTER'S GIRL
by John Hunter · Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: None
Notes: This, the second 'New Order' novel, has a yellow vertical band on the cover rather than the usual red.
Unrated
Devil's Can-Can THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 3rd series · Issue 355 · Mar. 1956 · Amalgamated Press · 10d
DEVIL'S CAN-CAN
by W. Howard Baker · Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: None
Notes: From this issue, the price was raised to 10d.
Unrated
By Whose Hand? THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 3rd series · Issue 356 · Mar. 1956 · Amalgamated Press · 10d
BY WHOSE HAND?
by Rex Hardinge · Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: None
Notes: Commencing with this issue, pin-up photographs were published on the inside front covers of THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY. This proved unpopular with the readership and was soon dropped.
Unrated
Hotel Homicide THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 3rd series · Issue 357 · Apr. 1956 · Amalgamated Press · 10d
HOTEL HOMICIDE
by Anthony Parsons · Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: The Slaughter of Vera Page (article)
Notes: On the face of it this is a fairly insignificant story in the long-running Sexton Blake saga. But turn to the back page and you'll find an advertisement for the next month's two issues. It reads: 'Watch out for next month's titles FRIGHTENED LADY by W. Howard Baker and FLIGHT INTO FEAR by Peter Saxon Introducing a new attractive character to the Sexton Blake Library... MISS PAULA DANE!' That marks HOTEL HOMOCIDE (together with #358 DECOY FOR MURDER) as the last of the old-style series... because with the advent of FRIGHTENED LADY Sexton Blake got a major overhaul. He moved from Baker Street to Berkley Square, acquired a secretary and receptionist and got a lot more hard-boiled. HOTEL HOMOCIDE clearly suggests that the overhaul was desperately needed. This is by no means a bad story but when held against the Golden Age tales it feels completely flat; lacking the zest of the UNION JACK days. The story concerns an emissary from Kashmir. His secretary is murdered in a hotel and Blake quickly comes to the conclusion that this was done by mistake; the intended victim was the emissary himself. The investigation leads to India where it emerges that the man's most trusted aid is behind the crime. And, really, that's about it. There are no wild chases, no tense confrontations, no fights, not even any impressive deductions. Frankly, any second-rate detective could have handled this case... there was no point in Blake being involved. And there's something rather too comfortable about the famous detective in this novel. He feels too set in his ways. His politics, though only hinted at, give the impression that he is narrow-minded and conservative; maybe even bigoted: " ...the days have gone when a dark-skinned man was an object of curiosity in this country, unfortunately." Taking all this into consideration, it's not difficult to understand why W. Howard Baker, who became the Editor of the Sexton Blake Library during this period, decided to give the series a kick in the pants. The old formula was very obviously exhausted and the mean streets of the 1950s beckoned. At this point in his long, long history, Blake was poised to take a momentous step...
Rating:Stale, boring and diposable, this is the Sexton Blake Library's nadir.
Decoy for Murder THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 3rd series · Issue 358 · Apr. 1956 · Amalgamated Press · 10d
DECOY FOR MURDER
by Peter Saxon (W. Howard Baker) · Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: None
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
Frightened Lady THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 4th series · Issue 359 · Jun. 1956 · Amalgamated Press · 10d
FRIGHTENED LADY
by W. Howard Baker · Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: None
Notes: This may well be the most infamous novel in Sexton Blake's long history. It's the first story of the New Order era, kicking into gear wide ranging revisions and changes of attitude. In this issue, Blake meets Paula Dane who in many of the tales to follow displaces Tinker as his assistant. This didn't go down too well with a lot of fans (me included). It's not that the new partnership is necessarily bad or that the stories suffer (though they can't match the Golden Age tales of the 1920s)... it's just that Tinker is a great character and didn't deserve to be sidelined. The introduction of sexual tension between the new girl and the great detective doesn't really add any depth to his character or serve any purpose in the stories. It just makes them all feel rather disposable. For such an important issue, FRIGHTENED LADY is surprisingly meagre. Dane has been marked for death by a distant cousin, Simon de Courcy. This wastrel stands to inherit a fortune from his father but only if he is in possession of a family heirloom, a pendant. Unfortunately, de Courcy has a gambling habit and a lot of debts. He pawned the pendant and it was sold to an unknown collector. Without it, he will see the fortune go to the one remaining person in the family: Paula. The only way to prevent this and get his hands on the money is to get the pendant back... or kill his cousin. So much of the story involves his hunt for both the heirloom and the girl. Of course, Blake steps in and saves her... but we never find out what happened to the pendant which is frustrating as it's the most interesting part of the otherwise dull and formulaic tale. This story was revised for the SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY 5th series novel 16 THE FUGITIVE (1965).
Rating:Were it not for the changes it made to the Blake format, FRIGHTENED LADY would be long forgotten.
Flight Into Fear THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 4th series · Issue 360 · Jun. 1956 · Amalgamated Press · 10d
FLIGHT INTO FEAR
by Peter Saxon (W. Howard Baker) · Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: None
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
Dark Mambo THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 4th series · Issue 361 · Jul. 1956 · Amalgamated Press · 10d
DARK MAMBO
by W. Howard Baker · Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: None
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
Broken Toy THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 4th series · Issue 362 · Jul. 1956 · Amalgamated Press · 10d
BROKEN TOY
by Arthur Maclean (George Paul Mann) · Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: None
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
Front Page Woman THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 4th series · Issue 363 · Aug. 1956 · Amalgamated Press · 10d
FRONT PAGE WOMAN
by Peter Saxon (W. Howard Baker) · Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: None
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
Inclining to Crime THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 4th series · Issue 364 · Aug. 1956 · Amalgamated Press · 10d
INCLINING TO CRIME
by Arthur Kent · Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: None
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
Night Beat THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 4th series · Issue 365 · Sep. 1956 · Amalgamated Press · 10d
NIGHT BEAT
by Arthur Maclean (George Paul Mann) · Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: None
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
Requiem for Redheads THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 4th series · Issue 366 · Sep. 1956 · Amalgamated Press · 10d
REQUIEM FOR REDHEADS
by W. Howard Baker · Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: Death Calls for the General (a problem in detection posed by Peter Saxon and featuring Sexton Blake)
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
Assignment in Beirut THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 4th series · Issue 367 · Oct. 1956 · Amalgamated Press · 10d
ASSIGNMENT IN BEIRUT
by James Stagg · Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: None
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
Dark Frontier THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 4th series · Issue 368 · Oct. 1956 · Amalgamated Press · 10d
DARK FRONTIER
by Arthur Maclean (George Paul Mann) · Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: None
Notes: This story was later used by W. Howard Baker for a Danger Man paperback, issued to tie in with the TV series. .
Unrated
Woman of Saigon THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 4th series · Issue 369 · Nov. 1956 · Amalgamated Press · 10d
WOMAN OF SAIGON
by Peter Saxon (W. Howard Baker) · Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: None
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
Canvas Jungle THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 4th series · Issue 370 · Nov. 1956 · Amalgamated Press · 10d
CANVAS JUNGLE
by Arthur Maclean (George Paul Mann) · Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: He Talked Himself to Death (article)
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
Battle Song THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 4th series · Issue 371 · Dec. 1956 · Amalgamated Press · 10d
BATTLE SONG
by W. Howard Baker · Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: None
Notes: Edward "Tinker" Carter has fallen in love with a girl named Selma James but when she starts questioning him about Sexton Blake's activities he begins to wonder whether she is being adversly influenced by the political organisation she supports: The British Action Party. When her flatmate, an actress named Janet Boise, is murdered, Tinker's suspicions deepen and Blake takes up the case. He asks Marion Lang to befriend Selma and to join the B.A.P. The party is led by Quentin Ballinger; his deputy is Michael Hastings; and, as Marion quickly discovers, the organisation has sinister undertones. Having got information from a member named Dick Warwick, who belongs to the mysterious Special Service Section of the party, Miss Lang makes a desperate telephone call to Blake and informs him that something is going to happen on the following Tuesday: Operation Three Five Four. Before she can expand on that statement, she is caught and taken prisoner by a thug named Sullivan. Blake questions Selma and deduces that the Operation may involve the assassination of Marshal Vrannar, the Prime Minister of Estoslavia (see DARK FRONTIER, SBL4 issue 368), who is due to visit Britain. Acting on information from Splash Kirby, Blake traces Marion Lang to a house called Rookwood and rescues her only to be captured himself then, in turn, rescued by her. The following day, at a rally in Trafalgar Square, Ballinger uses the murder of Janet Boise as an example of Britain's decline and fanatically opposes Vrannar's forthcoming visit. Still unsure what the party is up to, Blake visits Michael Hastings, who seems to be politically moderate and unaware of any plot, then breaks into the B.A.P. HQ where he finds evidence of their plan. Caught red-handed, he flees and is picked up by Tinker in the Grey Panther. A hand grenade blows up the car and Blake and Tinker only just escape with their lives. The detective wakes up in hospital with the solution to the plot in his mind and rushes to prevent the assassination of Vrannar. He succeeds, and the man behind the scheme is exposed.
Trivia: After Marion Lang damages Blake's Bentley, the Grey Panther is brought out of retirement but is then destroyed by the villains.
Rating:
Murder - With Love! THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 4th series · Issue 372 · Dec. 1956 · Amalgamated Press · 10d
MURDER - WITH LOVE!
by Jack Trevor Story · Illustrator: Unknown
Other content: None
Notes: None at present.
Unrated

1955  1956  1957
© Mark Hodder 2005.