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"Her fascination was extraordinary; her powers over even the strongest of masculine personalities almost uncanny, while her unquestioned beauty had been the cause of driving more than one poor fool of a man to headlong ruin." The Raven's Prey, 1921
Mademoiselle Claire Delisle, the beautiful adventuress and criminal mastermind debuted in The Golden Casket in 1921. She was an immediate hit and appeared in several issues of the Union Jack throughout the spring and summer. In all she appeared in six tales, the last of which, The Valley of Fear, is a milestone of sorts in the Blake saga for it is the last adventure in which Sexton Blake teams up with friend and rival detective Nelson Lee.
Francis Addington Symonds began writing Blake tales in 1921. He wrote 15 tales in all, his last tale, The Man from Australia, was published in 1927. His most memorable characters include Claire Delisle, The Raven, Dr. Queed, and Vedax the Dwarf. In 1922 he became the founding editor of The Champion, a weekly boys' story paper published by the Amalgamated Press. He would later also edit Rocket, Pluck, and Young Britain. Aside from his Blake tales, Symonds is most remembered for the Panther Grayle detective stories he co-wrote with Alfred Edgar, and his award-winning Murder of Me (1946) an account of a murder told from the victim's perspective.
This anthology collects all six tales in the Claire Delisle saga: The Golden Casket, The Raven's Prey, The Case of the Chinese Hypnotist, The Affair of the Exiled Princess, The Raven and the Ruby and The Valley of Fear. Enjoy!
Reviews
The Golden Casket
"An excellent debut as a Blake author for F. A. Symonds!" Mark Hodder, Sexton Blake Bibliography, Blakiana
The Raven's Prey
Mark Hodder, Sexton Blake Bibliography, Blakiana
"I hope the Saint is as full of life as Sexton Blake when he has reached the same staggering total of successful crimes cases." ~ Leslie Charteris
"It was Sexton Blake, this intrepid hero, who first fired my imagination to become a detective." Chief Superintendent Cherrill, C.I.D.
Looking for more Sexton Blake? Check out our other titles:
The Victorian and Edwardian Era
Sexton Blake: The Early Years
Sexton Blake: Friends and Allies
Sexton Blake: The Storm Files
Sexton Blake: The Answers Casebook
The Golden Age of Master Criminals
Sexton Blake: The First Super Villains
Sexton Blake: The Plummer Files
Sexton Blake: The Master Criminals
Sexton Blake: The Yvonne Cartier Files, Volume 1
Sexton Blake: The Yvonne Cartier Files, Volume 2
Sexton Blake: The Teed Files, Volume 1
Sexton Blake: The Teed Files, Volume 2
Sexton Blake: The Teed Files, Volume 3
Sexton Blake: The Kew Files
Sexton Blake & Nelson Lee
Sexton Blake: The Claire Delisle Files
Sexton Blake: The Criminals' Confederation Series
Sexton Blake: The Bat Files
Sexton Blake: The Bat Files #2
Sexton Blake: The Bat Files #3
Sexton Blake: The Bat Files #4
Sexton Blake: Confederation Rising
Sexton Blake: The Sinister Island Saga
Sexton Blake: Yvonne Joins the Fight
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