Sexton Blake's Allies

Mark Hodder

Dec 2020 · Sexton Blake Book 3 · Rebellion Publishing Ltd

About this ebook

SPIES, PRIVATE EYES AND DANGEROUS WOMEN

Every hero has allies; men and women of great ability and character, drawn into their orbit by circumstance and adventure. This was never truer than for Sexton Blake, Britain’s greatest detective

From the splendour of the Orient Express to the quite countryside of the Chilterns and the vast Australian outback, Sexton’s allies battled the worst criminals of their age.

James ‘Granite’ Grant, The King’s Spy, steps in to save the Crown Jewels. Ruff Hanson, the dynamic American Gunsmith teams up with Splash Page, ace reporter, to investigate a mysterious Ghostmobile in Buckinghamshire, while the formidable Mademoiselle Yvonne Cartier seeks vengeance Down Under, in a fight not just for justice, but her own future.

“Makes Jack Reacher look like a bungling amateur...definitely not be missed.” — The Crime Review

Ratings and reviews

I recognised the name Sexton Blake, although I had not read any of the books or seen the 1960s tv series, and so I took a chance and requested an ARC as I am a fan of late 19th/early 2oth century detective novels. What I hadn't appreciated was that the Sexton Blake 'franchise' (for want of a better word) spanned 85 years, 4,000 stories and around 200 different authors (thank you Wikipedia). This book is a collection of three short stories featuring three of Sexton Blake's allies. The first story, featuring James 'Granite' Grant involves a trip on the Orient Express, a cockney criminal, stolen jewels and a secret society. I quite enjoyed it, but I actually thought it would have been better as a full-length novel because it relied quite heavily on two different people having the same 'thing' in order to unravel the mystery. It also felt as though the story was over before it was begun, too much 'cor blimey guv' dialogue and desperate chases across Europe and not enough detection. I also found it telling that the editor felt it necessary to tell the reader that he had excised numerous repetitions of 'Sonny' from Granite Grant's dialogue. I'm afraid I gave up on the second story as it featured a mysterious murder by what appears to be death driving a truck, and then inexplicably cut to a criminal being released from Sing-Sing after spending 7 years in jail for robbery. The difference between the two writing styles was too jarring and as an entry into Sexton Blake's world I found it all a bit bewildering. Overall, this felt a bit like fan fiction, featuring minor characters, set the story in any place at any time, change up the writing style and just tag it 'Allies of Sexton Blake'. I would say this is aimed more at fans of Sexton Blake who want something more. I certainly didn't get any indication that Sexton Blake was as brilliant as Sherlock Holmes or as daring as James Bond in what I read, in fact he seemed incidental to the plots. Lovely cover though. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

About the author

Mark Hodder is the author of the Philip K. Dick Award-winning novel THE STRANGE AFFAIR OF SPRING HEELED JACK and its seven sequels, and of the first officially sanctioned Sexton Blake novel to have been published in nearly half a century (he created and maintains BLAKIANA: The Sexton Blake Resource). He also writes short stories, flash fiction and vignettes. Find out more on his Patreon page. Mark was born in the UK. He has worked as a commercial radio scriptwriter, a freelance copywriter, and as a web content producer for the BBC. Since 2009, he has lived in Valencia, Spain, where he writes full-time. He and his partner have twins, Luca and Iris.