Keith, Rex and Steve

Earlier this month I was lucky enough to be contacted for the second time by Keith Chapman, a past editor of the Edgar Wallace Mystery Magazine who now writes for Hale`s Black Horse Westerns series.

Keith, who in his youth was lucky enough to work for Amalgamated/Fleetway on the Sexton Blake Library series,  is a reliable source of fascinating information on so-called `pulp` writers of the past, including Rex Hardinge and Walter Tyrer.

For more information, please see my articles The Cowboy and the Detective (14 January 2011)  and The Friends of Walter the Writer (15 January 2012), both of which appear at http://bookshelvesandbrownale.blogspot.com .

The Hoonaloon Books Big Book Sale 2011

The Hoonaloon Books pre-Xmas sale for 2011 has just begun.

During the period 1 Nov 2011 - 27 Nov 2011, all the books we sell via ABE books will be discounted by 20% !

Please note that this offer applies only to books sold via ABE sites (www.abebooks.com, www.abebooks.co.uk etc ) during the period in question, and that prices shown on those sites have already been discounted. All you need to do is select a book and place your order.

As always, if you have any questions, just ask.

W Howard Baker - Espresso Jungle - Sexton Blake Library

W Howard Baker - Espresso Jungle - Series 4, Number 435 -  Sept 1959

Cover art by Marc Stone and `Symeoni`, internal text decorations by Margaret Higgins

While I do enjoy some of W Howard Baker`s work, I have to admit that I bought this one purely because I like the cover. Sadly, as the Rolling Stones once sang, "you can`t judge a book by looking at the cover."

The story begins as a gangster drives through the streets of the West End, seeking out the group of low-level hoodlums he uses to enforce a lucrative protection racket.

He finds them in a coffe bar, very trendy at the time and appropriately peopled by bright young things (and not-so-bright young things) out enjoying London`s night life. It`s here that alarm bells start to ring, as the description of the scene is both unconvincing and badly-written, not to mention borderline racist at one point. I gather that Mr B was a man of rather extreme views, apparently in the habit of accusing his assistant Michael Moorcock of being a Communist simply because he was a member of an anti-racist group !

The gangster in question is known only as The Big Man. Not too unlikely perhaps ( a real-life gangster active in Nottingham`s Chinese community  in the `80s really was known by that nickname ), but his henchman go by an array of nicknames, some quite ludicrous - Fatso, Smiler, The Monster, Chi-Ann and (spot the odd one out) Marty. Later, for good measure, they are re-inforced by Spider and Pig-Brother. Collectively, they are known as The Mob.

The sense that the author knows nothing about the world he is describing is re-inforced throughout the story. We are repeatedly told that these lads are the product of the `Beat Generation`, but their taste in music runs to, among other things, Louis Armstrong and a version of Stupid Cupid, a song written by Neil Sedaka, for God`s sake ! I like a bit of Louis myself, and Stupid Cupid`s a good song, but I`m pretty sure neither was typical Beat Generation fare. Later in the book, the author appears not to know the difference between Beatniks (a rather studious strand of youth culture, keen on modern jazz and poetry) and the young louts in The Mob, who are described as largely sharp dressers, fond of leather jackets, and who show no interest in tenor saxophones or blank verse at any point.

The Mob are instructed by The Big Man to attack a woman and her escort as they leave the night club she owns in the early hours. Ostensibly, the reason is that she has refused to pay protection money, but we later learn that she has also rejected his amorous advances (quite emphatically, by hitting him over the head with a bottle !). In fact, the attackers pick on her daughter, who is in the company of none other than Sexton Blake, seeing her home safely at her mother`s request. Acid is thrown in the girl`s face, leaving her scarred and in danger of blindness, and leaving Blake with the feeling that he has let them both down.

After a few American-style heroics as Blake rebuffs Police advice that he should not "go it alone" on this one, the story actually begins to take shape quite well. For once we see Blake uneasy and agitated, driven by a sense of failure. A scene where he talks to the girl`s mother is quite affecting within the admittedly narrow limitations of the genre, and certainly new territory for Blake. At last, literally half-way through, the author seems to take the matter in hand, and we get something a bit more like a Blake story. Certainly the closing scenes are among the best to appear in any SBL story, and we have the return of the tough-but-intelligent-and-compassionate Blake we all know, as in this exchange when his motives are questioned by his  old friend Superintendent Grimwald ;

"You still want to be in for the kill - isn`t that it ?"

"There`s not going to be any kill - that`s how I want it."

Does he get his wish ? You`ll have to read it to find out.

One great bonus here is that the story did not quite reach the required 64 pages, so they are supplemented by a short story from the aptly-named Jack Trevor Story, The Penny Murder, which is excellent.

As a quick footnate, a quick glance at the Blakiana web site tells me that this was the first SBL to give the publisher`s name as  Fleetway rather than Amalgamated, and also that story was later recycled by Baker to form one of his Jonathan Quintain books.  

Walter Tyrer - The Crime at Fenton Towers - Sexton Blake Library

Walter Tyrer - The Crime at Fenton Towers - Sexton Blake Library - 3rd Series, Number 243  - July 1951

Artwork by Eric Parker.

One additional feature, an unsigned  single-page true crime article `The Black Coupe`.

As I`ve explained before, Walter Tyrer was a successful freelance writer and occasional novelist in the years before World War Two and spent much of the  post-war period writing for Fleetway / Amalgamated (amongst others - see my article The Cowboy and the Detective at http://bookshelvesandbrownale.blogspot.com ). He contributed cowboy stories to the Western Library series, romances to the Miracle Library and, best of all, crime and detection to the Sexton Blake Library.

This tale of felonious thespians, star-crossed lovers and murderous manouverings is a very worthy effort, combining elements of the locked-room mystery, traditional whodunnit and country house murder.

The house in question is peopled largely by theatrical types, giving Walter plenty of scope to introduce an array of characters he can gently poke fun at. It also gives him scope for scattering red herrings throughout the plot, something he does copiously. I have to admit I thought I`d guessed the ending correctly but no, Sexton would never want me as an assistant, I was completely wrong.

Blake is portrayed as unflappable with a dry sense of humour and a bit of a romantic at heart. His assistant Tinker is portrayed (as usual) as somewhat susceptible to female charms, but is not portrayed as a lightweight, in contrast to his treatment at the hands of other writers.

The more polished turns of phrase that sometimes characterise Walter`s work are less in evidence here, but then it does not suffer from the occasional lapses that his high work-rate brought about.

Thankfully, the proof-reading and editing have been done to a reasonable standard, which is not always the case with `40s and `50s SBLs.

A pedant might find one or two incongruities in the plot, but who wants to be a pedant ? Buy, read and enjoy, that`s my advice.

Walter Tyrer - The Strange Affair of the Shot-Gun Sniper - Sexton Blake Library

Walter Tyrer - The Strange Affair of the Shot-Gun Sniper - Sexton Blake Library - 3rd Series - Number 339 - July 1955

Once again, I`ve neglected posting a review of this title until some weeks have passed since reading it !

While that inevitably compromises this review a tad, I do have some general observations that may be of interest. 

I have to say that this story demonstrates the late Walter`s versatility. Having cut his teeth writing schoolboy stories during the `30s, he pursued a lucrative career as a freelance writer of short stories, embracing a number of different genres as he did so. While it`s true he penned a number of novels, it was actually his work for short story magazines that financed our lad`s move from humble origins in a tough part of Liverpool to a decidedly swish home in Kingston Upon Thames.

Many of his post-war Blakes do show the influence of his earlier styles, their humour a little dated for the time, and the plots often rather quirky.

As I`ve commented before, there were occasional departures from the standard Tyreresque territory and this `50s thriller is a case in point. While the two principal villains are rather Machiavellian and one is arguably larger than life, this is quite different in many ways from  previous Tyrer tales and the plot is free from sinister hypnotists, cantankerous recluses, Dickensian lawyers and missing anglers.

In their place we get an intelligently-plotted 1950s thriller that would have seemed pretty much bang up to date to SBL readers of the time, with interesting characters and an ingenious story. There are points that could have been made a touch more convincing  with only a little more attention to detail, but in general it is not carelessly written.

I`ve looked at the review of this story on Blakiana and see that your man Mark gives it only 2 out of  5. There we must differ as I thought rather highly of it. My only real reservation

would be that if your taste runs to `Tyrer doing what Tyrer did` then you might be disappointed. I myself am no purist in these matters and would describe this as a pretty classy `50s detective story with a touch of romance thrown in for good measure.

The cover design , you may be interested to know, is my favourite piece  of  SBL artwork but at present I gather the artist remains unknown. A pity. If anyone does know, I`d be glad to hear from you.

Hugh Clevely - The House of Evil - Sexton Blake Library

HUGH CLEVELY - THE HOUSE OF EVIL -  SBL -  3RD SERIES, ISSUE 331 - MARCH 1955 (ILLUSTRATOR UNKNOWN)

Wing Commander Hugh Clevely (1898 - 1964) was a prolific writer of detective stories for periodicals like The Thriller in the `30s. He had considerable success with his own characters John Martinson, Tod Claymore* and Inspector Williams and on his return from the World War Two wrote a number of Sexton Blake Library titles. 

The use of prominent short story writers of previous eras to write SBLs during the `40s and `50s has led some to regard them as simple hackwork, penned by writers now past their prime for the benefit of a dwindling Blake fan base.

An intelligent thriller like House of Evil completely contradicts this image. Well-told and well-plotted, this is one of the better SBLs of it`s time. The  murderous machinations contained therein bring together characters from the worlds of fashion, business and organised crime, and the story also incorporates elements of a country house mystery.  I did wonder if it was wise to have the reader made aware of the identities of the principal villains and their relationship to each other from the start, but in light of some plot developments later on, I think it was the best approach to take in this instance.  Clevely`s experience as a writer stands him in good stead and he introduces some strong characters, particularly two with wartime SOE experience who stand out as particularly interesting.

This is the only Clevely story I`ve read so far, but I would happily try some of his other work.

*Clevely`s work was normally issued under his own name, with the exception of the Tod Claymore stories. These were written in the first person as if told by the character himself and were credited to the fictitious Claymore.

.

Hoonaloon Books

Hoonaloon Books will be offline for a few days more and then things will be back to normal again.

Any messages can be sent to us via our Antiqbook shop.

Cheers,

Nick & Ann-Marie