HUGH CLEVELY – The Case of the Criminal’s Daughter

Sexton Blake Library #323; The Amalgamated Press. Paperback. No date given.

   As it says, this slim (if not flimsy) 64-page digest-sized paperback comes with no bibliographic information, but luckily for those with Internet access, help is just a few keystrokes away. There is a website devoted to all things Sexton Blakian, and where the link will take you, you will discover that this is #323 of the Third Series of the Sexton Blake Library. The stories appeared monthly; this is the one that came out in November, 1954. And the illustrator responsible for the cover art was none other than Reginald (Heade) Webb.

   This being only the first Sexton Blake novel I’ve read in some 20 years, and the second overall, there’s no way I will talk in any general way about the character, nor should I, except to say that he, Sexton Blake, appeared as a character in over 3000 stories written by some 200 authors over a period of well over a century.

   As for Hugh Clevely, well, first of all, he was one of the 200 authors who wrote stories about Sexton Blake, but of course you knew that, or you should have. According to Hubin’s Crime Fiction IV, however, he only wrote 10 other Sexton Blakes, at least in novel form. His overall writing career spanned the years from 1928 to 1955 and includes a list of 35 novels under his own name, one co-written with Edgar Jepson. Only four of these novels have been published in the US.

   As Tod Claymore, he wrote another eight mysteries, all with a series character named Tod Claymore. According to W. O. G. Lofts and Derek Adley’s website The Crime Fighters, “He [Claymore] had been a Wimbledon tennis player and a wing commander during the war, then switched to writing, with detection as a hobby.” Some of these books were imported or published in this country as Penguin paperbacks, the green ones.

   Returning to the books Clevely wrote under his own name, the series characters that appeared in them were Chief Inspector Williams, Maxwell Archer, J. D. Peters, and John Martinson. According to a New York Times review of a film based on one of the Maxwell Archer books, the latter was a “famed fictional private detective whose greatest pleasure in life is to second guess Scotland Yard…” The occupations of the other series characters remain either unknown or quite guessable.

   So Clevely was an experienced mystery writer when he started doing the Sexton Blake books, which were all written toward the end of his career. All eleven of them appeared in the four-year period from1952 to 1955. Does the experience show? It does and as the saying goes, it doesn’t.

   The plot of the case in point, that is to say the book in hand, is a complicated one, and the pace is a lively one, but there’s a considerable amount of what is generically called sloppiness in the details, making you wonder if it were written too fast for a market that didn’t offer very much in compensation.

   The criminal in the title is a circus performer (billed as The Great Costello) who once spent some time in jail, but who now is worth a considerable amount of legitimate money. His brother is a ne’er-do-well who is currently in a jam with some British style hoodlums. Add in the fact that Pat Costello, the acrobat, does not know he has an American daughter, but after his death by misadventure – deliberate – the fact of her existence – and that she is on a schoolgirls’ trip in Europe – means a lot to everyone who’s involved. There is also a not-so-small matter of some missing diamonds, and there (without going into further details) you have the basis for a decent if not overly rousing mystery for private enquiry agent Sexton Blake, his assistant Tinker, and Inspector Fosdyke to solve.

   The details that the author works into the story, a rather pulp-like yarn, help to make the story more of a something than it is, along with a few twists in the tale that I frankly didn’t see coming. It was more than enough for me to start searching out more of the entries in Sexton Blake’s long history, but –

   – some of the details don’t fit, or they clash with other ones. The conversation that Blake has with newspaper journalist Peter Grayson on page 26, for example, makes it seem that he had never heard of the girl Josie Benson before, whereas on page 23 the same two gentleman had a long conversation about the very same girl, and what Grayson should do to contrive to meet her. On page 53 Grayson and the girl are being held captive in a Martello Tower, he in a handcuff that severely restricts his range of motion – yes, that’s the kind of thriller this is – but the handcuff is never mentioned again, nor is there any restriction on his range of motion, when it comes time to attempt an escape.

   And yes, of course, such a point in time does come, and not too soon at that.

GILBERT CHESTER – The Man Who Wouldn’t Quit.

Sexton Blake Library #74; Amalgamated Press. Paperback. No date stated.

   Once again the Sexton Blake website comes galloping to the rescue. This is #74 of the Third Series, published in June, 1944. The date being in the midst of World War II, and by some reckoning among the darkest days of the war, I wondered how scarce this book (thin, digest-sized, but 100 pages long) might be. I was right. There are no other copies to be found anywhere on the Internet, and while I do apologize, mine’s not for sale.

   Gilbert Chester was the pseudonym of one H. H. Clifford Gibbons (1888-1958), whose total criminous output totaled approximately 100 novels, all but a handful of them Sexton Blakes, either anonymously or under his pen name, beginning in 1923 and continuing on through 1949.

   And if I knew more, I’d tell you, but I don’t, so I’ll get right to the story this time. And what a great first chapter this story has! It’s one that’s designed to grab the reader right in from the start, or maybe I’m just a sucker for stories taking place on trains, beginning with a frightened girl who enters Fenton’s compartment just as the train is leaving the station. She hurriedly tells him that she’s going to bale out before the next stop and furthermore requests that if he’s ever asked, he should say that never saw her.

   From page 4:

       “Forget you’ve ever seen me.”

       “I’m not the type to quit, I assure you.”

       “Then you’re asking for trouble, sure enough. Well, are you going to play up?”

   She jumps, and so (without much hesitation) does he. And of course he has no idea where they are or into what kind of trouble he’s leapt into.

   Chapter Two can hardly compete with this, but it nearly does. Dropped off by the mysterious girl at Professor Barton’s home (where he had been heading) after a short hike and a longish drive in the dark, Fenton (a research scientist) is surprised to find himself in the morning a prisoner, with another young girl holding the key to his cell-like room.

   Chapter Three. We have nearly forgotten about Sexton Blake by this time, speaking collectively for myself alone, but the author hadn’t. Another young lady calls on Blake to solve a problem for her – her bungalow is being tampered with. Someone has been entering and prowling about while she is away. By an invisible man, she claims. No one has seen anyone enter or leave.

   It seems like a minor problem, but Blake takes the case, thinking her recitation too theatrical and wondering what could be behind such a fanciful tale. And of course, there is a surprise in store, and not only to Sexton Blake. On page 22 they discover a body in her locked and sealed home, riddled with lead – the body, that is.

   If some care had been taken, this could have been quite a mystery to unravel, but Blake makes it look easy. With only a cursory examination, Blake suggests a solution – and a rather ingenious one – to Inspector Briggan after he shows up, and of course Blake’s right and I have no idea how he did it. But it certainly is ingenious.

   In any case, no more details from me. You will have a find a copy of this book for yourself, if you’d like to know more. Suffice it to say that the opening three chapters are the best, but Chester certainly makes a more than competent story out of the rest of it.

   Some additional comments, though: Chapter Six is a long, ten-page conversation between two of the characters (already alluded to) which manages to both be informative and entertaining and moves the plot along while at the same time not being a mere recitation of topics and events that each of the two participants already know. It’s a neat trick, if you (as an author) can do it. Try it sometime and see.

   The weakest links in the chain of the narrative are (I sadly acknowledge) Sexton Blake’s own deductions, which consist almost entirely of whole cloth and gauze and mirrors, which is (I also admit) one heck of a way to run a railroad, um, detective novel. The gaps could have been fixed, but it is entirely to Mr. Chester’s credit that the story is still is as enjoyable as it is, even if they weren’t, and they never will be.

   Apparently it’s been common knowledge to Sexton Blake fans and collectors for some time now, but I didn’t know it until yesterday, and I don’t think that most Gold Medal collectors in this country do either.

   What seems to have happened back in 1956 or 1957 is that three Gold Medal books were published by Amalgamated Press, the folks who published the Sexton Blake books at the time, and had them rewritten to become, you guessed it, adventures of Sexton Blake instead.

   For the full story, you can go here, but here’s a brief recap. The three Gold Medal books were the following:

The Crimson Frame, by Aylwin Lee Martin, Gold Medal 253, pbo, August 1952.

Fear Comes Calling, by Aylwin Lee Martin, Gold Medal 214, pbo, 1952.

Little Sister, by Lee Roberts (Robert Martin), Gold Medal 229, pbo, March 1952. (The cover shown is that of the Canadian printing.)

   A fellow named Arthur Maclean was the chap who was asked to do the conversion, which was not a very easy job, as he describes it. (“Maclean” was actually a writer named George Paul Mann, which is another tale altogether, one told in the comments in this earlier post. But I digress.) Changing the hero’s name was the least of it. Locales had to changed, Blake’s assistant Tinker had to be written in, and if Amalgamated thought they were saving either time or money, they were sadly mistaken, and they never tried such a short cut again.

   For the record, also included in Part 18 of the online Addenda for the Revised Crime Fiction IV, here are the adventures of Sexton Blake that each of the above were transformed into:

The Crimson Frame ==> Deadline for Danger, by Arthur Maclean (George Paul Mann), 4th series #380, April 1957.

Fear Comes Calling ==> Roadhouse Girl, by Desmond Reid (George Paul Mann), 4th series #386, July 1957.

Little Sister ==> Victim Unknown, by Desmond Reid (George Paul Mann), 4th series, #384, June 1957.

   Collectors of hard-boiled Gold Medal paperbacks who think they have them all may have another think coming. For them and everyone else, for that matter, tracking down copies of each of two versions and comparing them might provide a thesis for someone – or who knows? – a doctoral dissertation. (Probably not, but I’ll leave the suggestion on the table for anyone who wants it.)

   Late August was a disaster for mystery writers and lovers. First we lost Magdalen Nabb, then John Gardner, then one who was a dear friend of mine. Joe L. Hensley � private attorney, member of the Indiana legislature, prosecutor, judge, dealer in rare coins and paper money, writer of science fiction since the early 1950s and more recently of 20-odd mystery novels � died on August 27 at age 81.

   For the past several decades his home was Madison, Indiana, a charming town on the Ohio River just across from Kentucky and about 300 miles from St. Louis. Whenever I was driving east he’d invite me to stay over for drinks, dinner, dialogue and the use of his guest bedroom. How he could tell stories! Hoosier politics, the judiciary, colleagues in the SF and mystery fields ranging from Harlan Ellison to Avram Davidson to John D. MacDonald, encounters over the years with everyone from Robert Frost to Bob Hope — the anecdotes poured out of him like the water over Niagara Falls, especially when we’d drive together from Madison to the annual Pulpcon in Dayton, Ohio, where he was guest of honor one year and I the next.

   I reviewed several of his novels for St. Louis newspapers and wrote the entry on him for the reference book that used to be called 20th Century Crime and Mystery Writers and is now for obvious reasons known as the St. James Guide to Crime and Mystery Writers. His final novel, Snowbird’s Walk, will be published early next year. Driving east will never again be so pleasant for me.

   The Indiana towns I know best are Madison, thanks to Joe, and Bloomington, thanks to Indiana University’s Lilly Library where Anthony Boucher’s papers are archived. On a visit to the Lilly several years ago I came upon Boucher’s correspondence with Cornell Woolrich and his comments on various Woolrich stories. Someday I hope to include this material in an updated edition of First You Dream, Then You Die, but this column offers a fine venue for a sneak preview.

   In Tony’s first letter to the master of suspense, dating from the late spring of 1944, he asked permission to reprint a Woolrich tale in his anthology Great American Detective Stories (World, 1945). Replying on June 5, Woolrich recommended that Boucher use “Endicott’s Girl” (Detective Fiction Weekly, February 19, 1938), which he called “my favorite among all the stories I’ve ever written.”

   Boucher didn�t care for that one, as he explained in a July 19 letter to World editor William Targ: �It has in extreme measure the frequent Woolrich flaw � a fine emotional story which ends with loose ends all over the place and nothing really explained.� Instead Boucher opted for �Finger of Doom� (Detective Fiction Weekly, June 22, 1940), which he retitled �I Won�t Take a Minute.� �Endicott�s Girl� remained uncollected until I put it in Night and Fear (2004).

   More gems from the Boucher-Woolrich correspondence are likely to pop up in future columns.

   The first murder in Rex Stout�s Over My Dead Body (1940) takes place in a fencing academy. The weapon is a col de mort, a doohickey that when slipped over the usually blunt end of an epee turns it into a lethal weapon. Whether Stout made up this device out of whole cloth (if I may coin an Avalloneism) or whether it exists in the real world I have no idea and couldn�t care less. What intrigues me is whether among the readers of this Nero Wolfe adventure might have been one J.K. Rowling. Is it coincidence that the king toad of the Harry Potter books is named Lord Voldemort?

   Vincent Cornier (1898-1976) was an English author of French descent who inherited a neat pile of money as a young man and thereafter devoted himself to writing short stories of fantasy and mystery. Very few of them were published in the U.S. until, after World War II, Fred Dannay discovered his work in old British periodicals and began reprinting occasional Cornier stories in Ellery Queen�s Mystery Magazine.

   Eventually Cornier began to send Fred a few originals. Earlier this year I had occasion to re-read most of his stories from EQMM. The one I found most intriguing was the first of those originals, �O Time, In Your Flight� (September 1951).

   Why? Because it contains a uniquely beautiful clue to the solution: one that is available only to readers who recognize the title�s poetic source and remember the three words in the poem that come just before the five in the title! The question all but asks itself: Was it Cornier or Fred who put that brilliant title on the story? Their correspondence, which is archived at Columbia University, doesn�t indicate what title was on the tale when Cornier submitted it, but we know that Fred had a penchant for changing the titles of many of the stories he published. Also I find no evidence in Cornier�s other stories that he had any particular interest in poetry, while Fred not only collected rare first editions of poetry but also wrote some of his own. It seems to me far more likely than not that the stroke of genius was Fred�s.

   If further proof is needed, there�s indisputable evidence that Fred knew the poem in question: he used the first three words of the line, the words that provide the clue to Cornier�s story, as the title for another tale by another author that appeared in EQMM a few years later! The author was Dorothy Salisbury Davis, the issue June 1954. After you�ve read �O Time, In Your Flight� in Duels in Shadows, the forthcoming Crippen & Landru collection of Cornier�s best mysteries, Google the title and you�ll quickly find what I�ve been hinting at without, I hope, having given it away. But don�t do it before or you may spoil the story!

  Dear Steve,

   I perused my father’s e-mail detailing my grandpa’s history concerning his pulp fiction writing. However, if you want a portrait of his personality, I can relate some interesting stories. Regrettably, Grandpa Mort believed that his pulp fiction writing wasn’t to be taken seriously, and as my father has already said, he was working on some other novels, which he deemed more important. How ironic that the writing he took for granted has now become his legacy!

   Concerning his interests, grandpa was a “fellow traveler” in the Spanish Civil War, but would always quiz both my father and I repeatedly on the correct definition of Marxism. In fact, the debates that my father and Mort would get into concerning Marxist ideology, while Mort was driving, would almost plow my Grandma Gaye, Mort, my father and I into several of New York’s finest telephone poles. My grandmother would clutch me around the waist and scream, “Stop debating, oh my God, you’re going to kill us all!”

   Of course, I found these predicaments highly amusing. In fact, during the McCarthy era, Mort was investigated by the FBI for having fought in Spain. He retrieved the 150 page report on himself after the Freedom of Information Act was passed, and read it aloud to all of us. Ironically, most of the report was crossed out, so we couldn’t adequately read anything. Also, prior to fighting in the Spanish Civil War, Grandpa Mort was proud to be the first individual to attempt to organize a union at Macy’s department store. Unfortunately, he was subsequently fired.

   Grandpa Mort was also a staunch vegetarian. He never ate a piece of meat in his entire life! This was due to his own father’s vegetarian “phase.” However, when Mort was old enough to choose whether or not he would eat meat, my great grandfather took him through a slaughter house in order to strengthen his resolve against it. Grandpa never imposed vegetarianism on my own father, and rather encouraged him to eat meat. Grandpa’s meat substitutes were half jars of peanut butter, sandwiches piled high with cheese and lettuce, and vegi-steaks.

   One of my favorite vignettes concerning Mort’s various escapades is the story of how he was a Buddhist at 20 years old. He decided to find out for himself what he was exactly dealing with. So, he hopped a freighter and questioned the chief Buddhist in Calcutta. He asked, so what is the answer to all of this? The monk replied, “I don’t know,” and grandpa, infuriated that he had traveled all the way from New York, exclaimed, “you have rocks in your head!” Later on in life, grandpa confessed to me that the monk was right and he was wrong. Mort claimed his infamous response was simply that of a brash youth. He believed the monk was actually very wise upon reflection.

   When I knew Mort, he was an Atheist. He would also tout Solipsism, the theory that we are all merely products of our own five senses and that nothing which seems to exist actually does. Moreover, when I questioned him regarding his religious inclinations, he answered, “Honey, the only thing I can truly believe in is the law of nature. If you walk off of a cliff, gravity ensures that you will fall off of it, and dash out your brains.” Although this reply seems somewhat severe, I always regarded Mort’s worldly views positively, and deeply admired him. His personality was very much like a character in one of his Peter Paige detective stories.

   These are some colorful pictures of different ways in which I remember Grandpa Mort. Moreover, he always encouraged me to write, write, write. As things presently stand, I am entering graduate school in order to acquire my doctorate in English Literature. Hence, I end up writing quite a bit. I hope the aforementioned descriptions aptly represent both the awe-inspiring, tough and sometimes funny character of my beloved grandpa.

   Quick note after reading the latest entries on your blog. Very sorry to hear about Joe Hensley’s death; he was a gentleman and a very good writer.

   On the positive news side, I was pleased to see The Compleat T. Arthur Plummer. Obscure he certainly was, but obscure is my meat, as you know, and I have and have enjoyed several of his novels. Thought you might like to add the enclosed FE jacket scan of one of his earliest and scarcest titles, Haunting Lights (1932), which has typically wonderful U.K. period artwork.

  Bill:

   Thanks for the Plummer cover. It’s a nice piece of work, all right. For a long time, when I was younger, I didn’t bother with British detective fiction like this. Whatever I came across, I quickly turned over and passed along to someone else. Foolish me.

   I met Joe Hensley once at a Pulpcon, not as I recall when he was a guest of honor, but I believe last year, when he came as an ordinary attendee. He was a very nice, outwardly gentle man, but I got the strong impression that as an attorney, he knew what he was doing and could be tough when it counted. I’d certainly have liked to have him on my side, if ever I needed a good lawyer.

   This profile came as the result of an inquiry from Donna Frey, who asked —

   Some questions are more easily answered than others. Not only does Contemporary Authors (CA) have an entry on her, but their essay quotes liberally from yet another source. It’s highly unlikely that I should not do the same.

   According to CA, Janet Louise Roberts was born January 20, 1925, in New Britain CT, the town next to the one where I live, and died June 11, 1982, in Dayton Ohio, where she was a reference librarian for the Dayton and Montgomery County Public Library between 1966 and 1978.

   Quoting CA here and there, not only did she write contemporary, historical,and gothic romances, but “she even ventured into occult territory with The Devil’s Own, Isle of the Dolphins, Lord Satan, and Her Demon Lover — stories in which the devil or other demon fills in for the traditional romantic hero.”

   In an interview with Publishers Weekly, again according to CA, she explained “that she began using pseudonyms to avoid embarrassing her father, a missionary in a rather conservative church.”

   In Twentieth-Century Romance and Historical Writers, essayist Barbara E. Kemp is quoted as saying: “One of the most prominent features of her novels is the portrayal of women as ineffectual beings, subject to much degradation. Men, on the other hand, are “rough and overbearing. […] It is not uncommon for the heroine to be raped by the hero at least once in the story. Sexual details are not very explicit, but the lack of tenderness and the idea of sex as punishment are apparent.”

   In spite of Roberts’ failings, Kemp goes on to conclude that she “remains one of the most popular of the romance novelists. Her view of women as pretty dolls to be used and manipulated by men certainly must cause feminists to gnash their teeth, but she obviously strikes a responsive chord among her readers.”

   The following list of her crime-related fiction is taken from Crime Fiction IV, by Allen J. Hubin. It may not include all of her romance fiction that may qualify, and some of the books listed perhaps should not be there. We’ll save these two obviously related problems and solve them another day.

ROBERTS, JANET LOUISE (1925-1984). See pseudonyms Louisa Bronte, Rebecca Danton & Janette Radcliffe. Some of the listed titles are more straight romance than romantic suspense. ** = reprints not previously known to Al.

* The Jewels of Terror (n.) Lancer 1970
* Dark Rose (n.) Lancer 1971 [U.S. South; 1860s]
* Love Song (n.) Pinnacle 1971
* Ravenswood (n.) Avon 1971 [England; 1800s]

* The Weeping Lady (n.) Lancer 1971
* The Curse of Kenton (n.) Avon 1972 [England]
* The Devil’s Own (n.) Avon 1972
* A Marriage of Inconvenience (n.) Dell 1972 [England; 1800s]
* Rivertown (n.) Avon 1972
* La Casa Dorada (n.) Dell 1973

* The Dancing Doll (n.) Dell 1973 [England; 1800s]
* The Dornstein Ikon (n.) Avon 1973 [Austria]
* The Golden Thistle (n.) Dell 1973 [Rome; 1800s]

* Isle of the Dolphins (n.) Avon 1973 [Greece]
* My Lady Mischief (n.) Dell 1973 [England; 1800s]
* The Cardross Luck (n.) Dell 1974 [England; 1800s]
* The First Waltz (n.) Dell 1974 [Vienna; 1814]
* Castlereagh (n.) Pocket Books 1975 [England; 1819]
* Jade Vendetta (n.) Pocket Books 1976 [England; 1894]

* Wilderness Inn (n.) Pocket Books 1976 [U.S. West; 1795]
* Island of Desire (n.) Ballantine 1977
* Her Demon Lover (n.) Pocket Books 1978; See: Avon 1973, as by Louisa Bronte.
* Black Pearls (n.) Ballantine 1979 [Hawaii; 1880s]
* Golden Lotus (n.) Warner 1979
** Lord Satan (n.) Pocket Books, 1979. See: Avon 1972, as by Louisa Bronte.
** Black Horse Tavern (n.) Pocket Books, 1980. See: Popular Library 1972, as by Rebecca Danton.
* The Sign of the Golden Goose (n.) Pocket Books 1980; See: Popular Library 1972, as by Rebecca Danton.

BRONTE, LOUISA; pseudonym of Janet Louise Roberts

* Lord Satan (n.) Avon 1972 [England; 1815] [Reprinted as by JLR, Pocket, 1979]

* Her Demon Lover (n.) Avon 1973 [Balkans] [Reprinted as by JLR, Pocket, 1978]
* Greystone Tavern (n.) Ballantine 1975 [Connecticut; 1776]
* Casino Greystone (n.) Ballantine 1976 [Connecticut; 1896]
* Freedom Trail to Greystone (n.) Ballantine 1976 [Connecticut; 1860]
* Gathering at Greystone (n.) Ballantine 1976 [Connecticut; 1812]
* Greystone Heritage (n.) Ballantine 1976 [Connecticut; 1948]
* Moonlight at Greystone (n.) Ballantine 1976 [Connecticut; 1924]

* The Vallette Heritage (n.) Jove 1978
* The Van Rhyne Heritage (n.) Jove 1979
* -The Gunther Heritage (n.) Jove 1981

DANTON, REBECCA; pseudonym of Janet Louise Roberts

RADCLIFFE, JANETTE; pseudonym of Janet Louise Roberts

Steve: About a year or so ago you were kind enough to post an article on O’Bryan House Publishers’ first title, Detour, by Martin M. Goldsmith. By agreement with the estate of W.R. Burnett, we are now issuing our second crime novel, Burnett’s Dr. Socrates. The details are listed below.

   Best wishes and please let me know if you have any questions.

      FIRST BOOK APPEARANCE OF W.R. BURNETT’S DR. SOCRATES

   O’Bryan House Publishers, LLC is pleased to announce the first book appearance of W. R. Burnett’s hard boiled Depression Era novel, Dr. Socrates. Originally serialized in Collier’s Magazine in the spring of 1935, this is the story of young Dr. Cardwell who, after being forced at gun point to treat a wounded gangster, finds himself caught between the threat posed by gang leader Red Bastian and the suspicion of Federal Agents investigating a wave of bank robberies. Portions of the story line suggested by the saga of Public Enemy John Dillinger. First edition, first printing. The novel which served as the basis for the 1935 film Dr. Socrates starring Paul Muni, and Ann Dvorak and later the 1939 Humphrey Bogart film King of the Underworld.

   W. R. Burnett is the author of Little Caesar, High Sierra and The Asphalt Jungle. He was nominated for two Academy Awards for best screenplay for Wake Island (1942) and The Great Escape (1963). In 1980 Burnett received the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America. Book includes a brief afterword by the publisher entitled “Dr. Socrates and Hollywood.” Dr. Socrates is available at Amazon.com or may be ordered directly from O’Bryan House Publishers LLC at rdoody@ix.netcom.com

   I’m not sure if the text on the back cover will show up, but since there’s more information there, including a photo of Burnett, I’ll give it a try. Here it is:

   The dates the story was serialized in Collier’s Magazine, which I’ve discovered from Google, are from 16 March through 20 April, 1935. It’s about time it came out as one complete novel. Good luck on the book, Richard!

   As part of Al Hubin’s ongoing Addenda to the Revised Crime Fiction IV, I uploaded Part 18 just a few minutes ago this morning. I’ve not had a chance to add any of my usual enhancements, links, covers and other annotations, but this latest installment is online and ready for you to take a look at now.

   There are no major corrections, discoveries or revisions this time around. Just a steady stream of newly learned data: birth and death dates, settings, movies based on books, and so on.

   This is what Al does. For an ongoing example of what I do, check out the main page, which consists of the data in Part 3. As of last night, I’ve worked my way down to:

WHITHAM, G(RACE) I(SABELLE?). 1874?- . Add tentative middle name & year of birth. Author of three titles included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV, one marginal.

   A few entries before her are the following:

WEBB, C. PACKHAM. Probably also wrote as T(homas) C(harles) Packham Webb, 1908-1973, q.v. Under this name, the author of one thriller novel included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV. See below.
       Special Assignment. Fiction House, UK, pb, 1947.

WEBB, T(HOMAS) C(HARLES) P(ACKHAM). 1908-1973. Add probable other byline: C. Packham Webb, q.v. Under his own name, the author of one thriller novel included in the (Revised) Crime Fiction IV, plus one Sexton Blake novel ghostwritten under author George Paul Mann’s “Arthur Maclean” byline. Other pseudonym: Tony Angelo.
       _The Man Who Killed Me. See Redhead for Danger.
       Midnight Intruder. Hamilton, UK, pb, 1950.
       Redhead for Danger [as by Arthur Maclean]. Amalgamated Press, UK, pb, 1958. SC: Sexton Blake. Revised by G. P. Mann and published as The Man Who Killed Me (Amalgamated Press, 1962).

   Making the rounds on various blogs and websites this evening is the news that mystery & SF writer Joe L. Hensley died on Monday, August 27, 2007, of complications from leukemia.

   Excerpted from the Private Eye Writers of America (PWA) blog:

   Harlan Ellison describes the loss of his lifelong friend on Ed Gorman’s blog, followed by Ed’s own reactions.

   With a small overlap with his science fiction, here below is a list of his crime-related fiction, expanded from Crime Fiction IV, by Allen J. Hubin.

   His most frequently used series character is Donald Robak, a crusading defense attorney and state legislator who lives in Bington, Indiana.

  HENSLEY, JOE L.; [i.e., Joseph Louis Hensley] (1926-2007); Attorney, judge and legislator in Indiana.

* The Color of Hate (Ace, 1960, pb) [Indiana] Revised version published as: Color Him Guilty. Walker, 1987.

* Deliver Us to Evil (Doubleday, 1971, hc) [Donald Robak; Indiana]
* Legislative Body (Doubleday, 1972, hc) [Donald Robak; Indiana]
* The Poison Summer (Doubleday, 1974, hc) [Indiana]
* Song of Corpus Juris (Doubleday, 1974, hc) [Donald Robak; Indiana]
* -The Black Roads (Laser, 1976, pb) [Future]
* Rivertown Risk (Doubleday, 1977, hc) [Indiana]
* A Killing in Gold (Doubleday, 1978, hc) [Donald Robak; Indiana] Gollancz, 1979.

* Minor Murders (Doubleday, 1979, hc) [Donald Robak; Indiana]
* Final Doors (Doubleday, 1981, hc) [Indiana] Story collection.
* Outcasts (Doubleday, 1981, hc) [Donald Robak; Indiana]

* Robak’s Cross (Doubleday, 1985, hc) [Donald Robak; Indiana]
* Robak’s Fire (Doubleday, 1986, hc) [Donald Robak; Indiana]

* _Color Him Guilty (Walker, 1987, hc) [Georgia] Revised version of The Color of Hate (Ace, 1960).
* Fort’s Law (Doubleday, 1987, hc) [Indiana] Hale, 1991.
* Robak’s Firm (Doubleday, 1987, hc) [Indiana] Story collection: Donald Robak in several.
* Robak’s Run (Doubleday, 1990, hc) [Donald Robak; Indiana]
* Grim City (St. Martin’s, 1994, hc) [Kentucky]
* Robak’s Witch (St. Martin’s, 1997, hc) [Donald Robak; Indiana]
* Loose Coins (with Guy M. Townsend) (St. Martin’s, 1998, hc) [Memphis, TN]
* Deadly Hunger and Other Tales (Five Star, 2001, hc) Story collection: Donald Robak in several.
* Robak in Black (St. Martin’s, 2001, hc) [Donald Robak; Indiana]

* Snowbird’s Walk (St. Martin’s, 2008, hc)

   This post has been prompted by an entry on another blog by Jess Nevins, author of the soon-to-be forthcoming The Encyclopedia of Pulp Heroes (MonkeyBrain Books, November 2008).

   The subject of Jess’s posting is the fleeting and inevitable passing of literary fame, although we don’t have to like it, and his prime example is mystery writer T. Arthur Plummer. You should probably go read it. If you’re like me, you will read and agree with everything he has to say.

   You may be saying, who’s T. Arthur Plummer? And that’s precisely the point. Let me quote Jess:

   Me again. I was thinking about this very same thing this afternoon while browsing through the mystery section of Borders. John Gardner, author of a long list of spy and espionage thrillers, including more James Bond novels than Ian Fleming wrote, died earlier this month. Not a single book of his was there to be found.

   Ed McBain died last year. The famous, extremely popular author of the 87th Precinct books? If you’re reading this, you have to know who he is. He’s represented by six books at Borders. Not six different titles. Six books. By this time next year, there probably won’t be any.

   The number of Plummer’s books on ABE has gone up since Jess looked. I found 130. It’s still a mere handful for an author who wrote seventy of them.

   I also found more covers than Jess did, though, and assuming that you’d like to see them, here they are, mixed in with a list of all of Plummer’s detective and mystery fiction, adapted from Crime Fiction IV, by Allen J. Hubin:

  PLUMMER, T(homas) ARTHUR. 1883-1961.

* The Broken Trust (n.) Thomson 1929 [England]
* The Ace of Death (n.) Paul 1930 [England]
* The Murder House (n.) Paul 1930 [England]
* Death on Danger Hill (n.) Paul 1931 [England]
* The House in Sinister Lane (n.) Paul 1931 [England]
* -The Girl in a Hurry (n.) Thomson 1932 [England]
* Haunting Lights (n.) Paul 1932 [England]
* Shadowed by the C.I.D. (n.) Paul 1932 [Det. Insp. Andrew Frampton; England]
* Alias-The Crimson Snake (n.) Paul 1933 [England]
* Lonely Hollow Mystery (n.) Paul 1933 [England]
* Creaking Gallows (n.) Paul 1934 [England]
* Death Takes a Hand (n.) Paul 1934 [England]
* -Margaret Benson’s View (n.) Leng 1934 [England]
* Shot at Night (n.) Paul 1934 [Det. Insp. Andrew Frampton; England]
* Frampton—of the “Yard”! (n.) Paul 1935 [Det. Insp. Andrew Frampton; England]

* Staring Eyes! (n.) Paul 1935 [England]
* The Dumb Witness (n.) Paul 1936 [Det. Insp. Andrew Frampton; England]

* Was the Mayor Murdered? (n.) Paul 1936 [Det. Insp. Andrew Frampton; England]
* The Bonfire Murder (n.) Macaulay 1937; See: Was the Mayor Murdered? (Paul, 1936).

* The Death Symbol (n.) Paul 1937 [Det. Insp. Andrew Frampton; England]
* The Man They Feared (n.) Paul 1937 [Det. Insp. Andrew Frampton; England]
* Cornered (n.) Leng 1938 [England]
* Five Were Murdered (n.) Paul 1938 [Det. Insp. Andrew Frampton; England]
* -Lying Lips (n.) Leng 1938 [England]
* The Man They Put Away (n.) Paul 1938 [Det. Insp. Andrew Frampton; England]
* -Her Own Affair (n.) Leng 1939 [England]
* The Muse Theatre Murder (n.) Paul 1939 [Det. Insp. Andrew Frampton; England; Theatre]
* Two Men from the East (n.) Paul 1939 [Det. Insp. Andrew Frampton; England]
* The Black Ribbon Murders (n.) Paul 1940 [Det. Insp. Andrew Frampton; England]
* Melody of Death (n.) Paul 1940 [Det. Insp. Andrew Frampton; England]
* Crime at Crooked Gables (n.) Paul 1941 [Det. Insp. Andrew Frampton; England]
* The Devil’s Tea-Party (n.) Paul 1942 [Det. Insp. Andrew Frampton; England]
* The Fool of the “Yard” (n.) Paul 1942 [Det. Insp. Andrew Frampton; England]
* The Man Who Changed His Face (n.) Paul 1943 [Det. Insp. Andrew Frampton; England]
* Murder Limps By (n.) Paul 1943 [Det. Insp. Andrew Frampton; England]
* Murder-by an Idiot (n.) Paul 1944 [Det. Insp. Andrew Frampton; England]
* Simon Takes “the Rap” (n.) Paul 1944 [Det. Insp. Andrew Frampton; England]
* The “J for Jennie” Murders (n.) Paul 1945 [Det. Insp. Andrew Frampton; England]
* The Man with the Crooked Arm (n.) Paul 1945 [Det. Insp. Andrew Frampton; England]
* Murder in the Village (n.) Paul 1945 [Det. Insp. Andrew Frampton; England]
* The Strangler (n.) Paul 1945 [Det. Insp. Andrew Frampton; England]
* The Barush Mystery (n.) Paul 1946 [Det. Insp. Andrew Frampton; England]

* The Pierced Ear Murders (n.) Paul 1947 [Det. Insp. Andrew Frampton; England]

* The Silent Four (n.) Paul 1947 [Det. Insp. Andrew Frampton; England]
* Who Fired the Factory? (n.) Paul 1947 [Det. Insp. Andrew Frampton; England]
* “Brent”-of Bleak House (n.) Paul 1948 [England]
* Hunted! (n.) Paul 1948 [Det. Insp. Andrew Frampton; England]
* Strychnine for One (n.) Paul 1949 [Det. Insp. Andrew Frampton; England]
* Death Haunts the Repertory (n.) Paul 1950 [Det. Insp. Andrew Frampton; Theatre; England]

* The Murder of Doctor Grey (n.) Paul 1950 [Det. Insp. Andrew Frampton; England]
* The Yellow Disc Murders (n.) Paul 1950 [Det. Insp. Andrew Frampton; England]
* The Death Letter (n.) Paul 1951 [England]
* Murder at Marlington (n.) Paul 1951 [Det. Insp. Andrew Frampton; England]
* Murder Through Room 45 (n.) Paul 1952 [Det. Insp. Andrew Frampton; England]
* The Starry Eyed Murder (n.) Paul 1952 [England]
* Frampton Sees Red (n.) Paul 1953 [Det. Insp. Andrew Frampton; England]
* The Westlade Murders (n.) Paul 1953 [Det. Insp. Andrew Frampton; England]
* Murder in Windy Coppice (n.) Paul 1954 [Det. Insp. Andrew Frampton; England]
* A Scream at Midnight (n.) Paul 1954 [Det. Insp. Andrew Frampton; England]

* The Black Rat (n.) Paul 1955 [Det. Insp. Andrew Frampton; England]
* Murder in the Surgery (n.) Paul 1955 [Det. Insp. Andrew Frampton; England]
* Pagan Joe (n.) Paul 1956 [Det. Insp. Andrew Frampton; England]
* Where Was Trail Murdered? (n.) Paul 1956 [Det. Insp. Andrew Frampton; England]
* Condemned to Live (n.) Paul 1957 [Det. Insp. Andrew Frampton; England]
* Murder at Lantern Corner (n.) Long 1957 [Det. Insp. Andrew Frampton; England]
* The Elusive Killer (n.) Long 1958 [Det. Insp. Andrew Frampton; England]
* The Hospital Thief (n.) Long 1959 [Det. Insp. Andrew Frampton; England]
* The Vestry Murder (n.) Long 1959 [Det. Insp. Andrew Frampton; England]

* The Spider Man (n.) Long 1961 [Det. Insp. Andrew Frampton; England]
* Murder at Brownhill (n.) Long 1962 [Det. Insp. Andrew Frampton; England]
* -The Judas Girl (n.) Leng n.d.
* -A Woman’s Weapon (n.) Newnes n.d.

[UPDATE] 08-30-07. Thanks to Jamie Sturgeon, who supplied it, one additional cover image is now included. He also pointed out one important typographical error, which was immediately repaired. Some other minor formatting changes have taken place, but more than that, you need not know.

[UPDATE] 09-06-07. Jamie is continuing to investigate the life of T. Arthur Plummer, and one interesting piece of information has already turned up. Its turns out that both Plummer’s wife and daughter were also writers. Steve Holland has the details over on his research-intensive Bear Alley blog.

   Both women wrote British romantic fiction, a subject matter which has not come up before on this blog, except for gothic suspense novels, with dozens of books between them. His wife, Coralie Marie Plummer, wrote under the name of Cora Linda; his daughter, Clare Emsley Plummer, used as bylines both Clare Plummer and Clare Emsley. For a remarkably complete list of titles, follow the link above.