WAR! “My chums, at the moment of writing this I learn that the great blow has fallen. England is to war against Germany! By the time these words greet your eye, all manner of awful, indescribable things may have happened!” ~The Skipper, The Union Jack #568, 1914 The long predicted European war had come, and Blake and Tinker were naturally quick to volunteer and serve their King and Country. This anthology collects some of their earliest exploits behind enemy lines and finds them allied with good friends and pitted against old foes. The anthology begins with The Crimson Pearl , a pre-war tale that finds Blake in the South Pacific on an international manhunt determined to bring Black McCabe, a British criminal, to justice. However, as he closes in on his quarry his task is complicated somewhat by the unexpected appearance of Dr. Huxton Rymer and San of the Brotherhood of the Yellow Beetle, the late Wu Ling’s right hand man. The pair, it seems, are contesting the possession of the precious stone that gives the story its title. Fortunately the scales become somewhat balanced thanks to the arrival of Yvonne Cartier and her yacht the Fleur-de-Lys . In the second tale, The Sweater’s Punishment, Mademoiselle Yvonne turns social justice crusader as she confronts a harsh, demanding employer (a sweater, in the slang of the era) over the deplorable working conditions imposed on his workers. Yvonne and her team are in fine form and the tale is reminiscent of her exploits in the Yvonne’s Vengeance series. In the third tale, The Refugee, Blake is sent behind German lines to search for a missing British spy and a top secret package stolen from German High Command. Baron Robert de Beauremon and The Council of Eleven are also on the trail and it will take all the detective’s cunning and skill to outwit them. In the fourth tale Yvonne teams up with Blake to thwart a plot against the British Tommies on the front lines. The last tale features San and the Brotherhood of the Yellow Beetle in a search for a treasure from a lost and forgotten civilization. This is the sixth of fourteen anthologies that collects George Hamilton Teed’s most popular works from 1913 to 1917. Each edition includes all of the original illustrations! Enjoy! Reviews The Crimson Pearl ★★★★★ "A long and absolutely superb story; well-written, well-plotted and offering a thrill on every page. One of the best." ~ Mark Hodder, Sexton Blake Bibliography, Blakiana. The Refugee ★★★★★ "Pedro gets a whole chapter to himself — and what a chapter it is! Possibly the bloodhound's finest moment in the whole Blake saga." ~ Mark Hodder, Sexton Blake Bibliography, Blakiana. A Voice from the Dead ★★★★ Mark Hodder, Sexton Blake Bibliography, Blakiana Looking for more Sexton Blake? Check out our other titles: The Victorian and Edwardian Era Sexton Blake: The Early Years Sexton Blake: The Clique of Death 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 Kew Files Sexton Blake: The Claire Delisle Files 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 Sexton Blake: Beware the Shadow Sexton Blake: Plots and Intrigues Sexton Blake: Reversals of Fortune Sexton Blake: The Rival Presidents Sexton Blake: Reece’s Republic Sexton Blake: Twists in the Trail Sexton Blake: Final Curtain