Sexton Blake: Final Curtain

Synopsis:
From the frozen wastelands of the arctic north Blake and his companions begin a chase across three continents determined to put an end to Professor Reece and the Criminals’ Confederation. The final tales in the Greatest Sexton Blake Epic of all time…

Robert Murray Graydon (1890-1937) was an American author who wrote under the pennames Robert Murray and Murray Roberts. His father was prolific author William Murray Graydon, who wrote numerous adventure novels and over 260 Blake tales.

Robert Murray Graydon became a professional writer at the age of 16, when his first story was published in Chums. His first Blake adventure The Detective’s Ordeal was published in Union Jack #675 in September 1916. In all he wrote more than a hundred Blake tales, many featuring The Criminals’ Confederation, a web of criminals that enveloped the entire globe.

The full Confederation saga spans close to 70 tales which ran in the Union Jack and Sexton Blake Library from 1916 to 1926. It begins with The Hidden Hand, a tale that marked the debut of the master criminal “The Bat”. Gentleman cracksman, forger, confidence trickster, and master of disguise, the Bat immediately became one of the most popular characters in the Blake canon. No less popular, though far more sinister, was Mr. Reece, a criminal mastermind who made his debut in The Mysterious Mr. Reece. It was his mind that helped craft the Criminals’ Confederation and his guiding hand that—in the words of Blakeologist Mark Hodder—shaped it into “the most widespread and insidious criminal organisation ever created.”

Unfortunately Graydon began to suffer from health issues in the mid-1920s. H. H. Clifford Gibbons, who wrote many Blake tales under the name Gilbert Chester, was asked to step in and complete saga. The last ten tales in the series sprang from his pen.

This is the fourteenth of 14 volumes that collects the Criminals’ Confederation saga in its entirety. It includes: North of 70, Reece’s Revenge, The Marriage of Jason Reece, Dirk Dolland’s Crime, and The Great Round-Up!. All of the tales have been republished for the very first time. Enjoy!