Casebook of Sexton Blake

by David Stuart Davies (Editor), Mark Hodder (Introduction), Cecil Hayter

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' In the dangerous depths of Africa, Blake races to the rescue of an old school friend!'A Football Mystery' Blake and Tinker join the England team to beat the cheating opposition!'The Man From Scotland Yard' Blake has his first encounter with the greatest super-villain he would ever meet!'The Law of the Sea' Blake goes down with the ship in his own version of the sinking of the Titanic!'The Brotherhood of the Yellow Beetle' Blake grapples with oriental cunning in the form of Prince Wu Ling!'A Case of Arson' A master crook is at work but Blake is on his trail!'The Black Eagle' A wronged man is out for revenge. Can Blake stop him before it's too late.

Genres: Mystery Thriller, Fiction, Mystery, Short Stories, Detective, Crime

560 pages, Paperback

First published March 5, 2009

About the author

David Stuart Davies was a British writer. He worked as a teacher of English before becoming a full-time editor, writer, and playwright. Davies wrote extensively about Sherlock Holmes, both fiction and non-fiction. He was the editor of Red Herrings, the monthly in-house publication of the Crime Writers' Association, and a member of The Baker Street Irregulars and the Detection Club.

Reviews

[Dom Hargreaves · Rating 5 out of 5]

*I only read Sexton Blake and the Time Killer*

THAT WAS SO GOOD! At first I was wary about the books length, but WOW that was good! I really enjoyed it! I dunno what it was about it, it was like scooby doo mixed with the show Hawkeye at times i just thought it was so good AND TINKER OMG WE LOVE TINKER 😭 really good book, really good plot actually, really intriguing and entertaining writing style - very pleasantly surprised

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting collection of stories about a classic detective.

[Jack Heath]

Synopsis: Sexton Blake first appeared in 1893 and he's been in more than 4,000 comics, novels and plays. Here are seven exploits.

[Ralph · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are several novels in this volume, written by different authors (though one author is represented twice), and although they may be some of the best of the Sexton Blake tales, they still represent only the smallest fraction of the total stories written about this venerable British fictional and cultural hero. He's a crime fighter, but while it's tempting to compare him to Sherlock Holmes when he exhibits great dexterity of mind and observation, he is actually a much more versatile character; since his stories usually involve exotic locales, non-stop action and titanic struggles of man vs man, Blake is much closer to Allan Quartermain than Sherlock Holmes. In these stories we get a fairly wide range of activity, from anti-slavery fights in Africa to nefarious action on the soccer field to examples of pure detection to encounters with sinister villains as would give Moriarty a run for his money. Beginning in the early part of the last century, the exploits of Sexton Blake thrilled British schoolboys (and schoolgirls, one supposes) for more than seventy years. Though he changed with the times, both in character and outlook, the reading audience eventually outgrew him, or perhaps the essence of what was Sexton Blake ultimately could not survive the tepid and highly critical culture which came to dominate the world in the later quarter of the Twentieth Century. Certainly you get a sense of that in reading these several novels...though the stories have been slightly Bowdlerized by the editor, there is still more than enough to make a modern reader experience a modicum of cultural guilt...unless, of course, you let yourself be drawn fully into the adventurous world of Sexton Blake.

[Wolf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sexton Blake, hero of thousands of short stories, novels and Penny Dreadful tales, returns.

Despite the tag of `poor man's Sherlock Holmes', Blake is a rather different creation. The emphasis is much more on action. The tales generally lack the element of concealment and of literary puzzle that mystery stories rely on. They do not rely on a closed group of suspects, one of whom must have committed the crime, for instance. All the stories here are written more as thrilling tales. Very often the reader is all too well aware of the villain's identity, even whilst Blake has to use his ingenuity to puzzle it out.

In this collection, there are tales of stirring adventure: the Great Detective battles slavers in Africa (with more than a touch of King Solomon's Mines about it), uncovers dastardly underhand business on board a not-quite Titanic and tangles with his very own Yellow Peril foe (published at the same time as Sax Rohmer's more famous first Fu Manchu novel). There are also more straight forward detective stories: uncovering the what lies behind a case of fraud and arson, protecting a client from an escaped criminal or stopping the murder of the heirs of a noble family. They appear well chosen, giving a good variety of different stories and styles, although in fact all come from the beginning of the twentieth century - mostly just before the First World War and just before Sexton Blake's heyday.


These are great, undemanding fun. At the price, they are unbeatable value.

[Keiran Thegreat · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of original Sexton Blake stories from the early 20th century. There is also an introduction essay on the history and development of the characters. The stories are essentially action adventures with only a very generalised detective theme to some of them. There is a lot of fighting and dramatic escapades abound. each story has a very different theme and setting to the others.
Although there is a great element of nostalgia to these stories the downside to being a product of this period are the outdated negative stereotypes attributed to foreign characters in these stories. (Note the editors have altered some of the most racist words to less offensive terms such as "black" and "Arab") The stories showcase the attitudes of the times and were not originally intended to be offensive.
I did enjoy this book, many of the stories are fantastic examples of their type. The racism and sexism did make some sections slightly uncomfortable to read but, given the context of the work, can be overlooked as being typical of the time the stories were written. Sexon Blake and Tinker prove to be interesting characters with more depth than I assumed they would be given.

[Mike Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fast-paced Novella.
As an aspiring author (latest: Deadly Intrigue) I'm always looking for interesting ideas. This was my first look at the Sexton Blake novellas, and I was impressed. Each story is fast paced, with mystery and hooks everywhere to get you to read on.
The authors break many 'rules' about writing: switching viewpoints, including an all-seeing commentary, as in 'He had not the slightest notion...'. And the adverbs are spread thickly.
But it works for the reader, and as thousands of stories were published, it worked well commercially.
Makes me think about what I'm writing next!

[Jesse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Its a two-star read, but Im granting it an extra star for sheer zaniness, as well as for being a rich repository of now-used-up ideas for detective fiction. Terrible, silly, and fun. All the people out there sucking up Divergent and Hungergames and Beautiful Creatures, take note: if you're gonna rot your brain with mindless trash fiction, there are decades of it out there. You don't have to read the same crap as everyone else, go find some great old crap!

[CQM · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very much of it's era, nothing wrong with that of course, and clearly bashed out to feed the demand of a hungry audience. He's a cut rate Sherlock Holmes but there is plenty to amuse in these books even if not always intentionally.

[Mir]

I've always wanted to try Sexton Blake but never was able to find any copies. I'm excited to see this reissue.

[Ian Pattinson]

I think my Irwin stories may develop into a modern twist on old English heroes like Sexton Blake and The Saint.

[Lawrence · Rating 3 out of 5]

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