Jeffrey Blackburn
Jeffrey Blackburn was a fictional private investigator who was the hero of a series of stories by Australian writer Max Afford.
Afford used him as the hero of various novels as well as the radio series Danger Unlimited.
According to one writer "His Jeffrey Blackburn features were probably the most popular of their type to originate in Australia; they were usually fast moving, suspenseful, intricately but clearly worked out and invariably well written."[1]
Most of the stories were set in England which Afford felt was a more glamorous setting. "Purely personal feeling,” he said, “a n d partly influenced, I suppose, by writing for London publishers; they _ seem to think that Australian settings would have little glamour, even for Australian audiences.”[2]
Background[edit]
Afford created the character of Jeffrey Blackburn "on the rebound from" an "obnoxious" detective character he had earlier created, Rupert Garland. Afford had been commissioned to write a series of 12 short stories about a gentleman detective and he came up with Garland. Afford said "“No school could have produced a more perfect example of courtliness than my Rupert Garland. He was forever quoting Latin phrases, smoking expensive Russian cigarettes, and flicking the ash nonchalantly about him. He was always faultlessly dressed, and made all the airy deductions while other people did the dirty work of catching the criminals and hanging them."[3]
Afford says that he then heard of a competition held by London publishers John Long for the best first detective novel. Afford decided to enter. "I had a good plot, but I wanted a character —not a gentleman detective, but a normal human individual who would make mistakes and persevere. He had to be as different from Rupert Garland as chalk from cheese."[3]
Afford originally called him Anthony Burnhill ("too theatrical") then Jeffery Massingham ("too much of a mouthful) then Jeffery Black ("too abrupt and hard") before settling on Jeffery Blackburn.[3]
Max Adford wrote "in his first adventure, titled Blood On His Hands, there were suggestions of Ellery Queen’s mentality; and his drawl was rather patterned on that of Philo Vance. Under certain lights his profile blatantly implicated Lord Peter Wimsey, while his passion for neatness was inherited from Hercule Poiret. Sherlock Holmes, being dead, was above suspicion. Then Blackburn grew up and took on an individuality of his own. But it took radio to make a really new man of Jeffrey. Since the day when Blackburn was plucked from the pages of “The Dead are Blind,” to make his bow before the listening audience, the change has been for the better. "[4]
Novels[edit]
- Blood on His Hands (1936)
- Death's Mannikins aka Dolls of Death (1937)[5]
- The Dead are Blind (1937)
- Owl of Darkness aka Fly by Night (1942)
- The Sheep and the Wolves (1942)[6]
Short stories[edit]
- "The Vanishing Trick"
- "Poison Can Be Puzzling" (1944)[7]
Radio serials[edit]
- Fly By Night (1936) - starring James Raglan and Hilda Scurr[8]
- The Mysterious Mr. Lynch (1939) - with Peter Finch and Neva Carr Glynn[9] - repeated in 1946
- Grey Face (1940) - with Peter Finch and Neva Carr Glynn - repeated in 1950
- It Walks by Night (1941) - Douglas Kelly and Margaret Magreor[10]
- The Blackburns Take Over (start 4 Jan 1942) - with Grant Taylor and Patricia Kennedy in the lead - "Jeffery and Elizabeth visit a waxworks... Jeffery feels that one of the wax models is a real body. He is right. The body turns out to be that of Stephen Ashley, scient- ist, who had been at work on a secret weapon tor the British Government. "[11]
- Double Demon (1951)[12]
- Murder's Not for Middle Age (1953)[13]
Radio series[edit]
- Danger Unlimited (1945–49)
Radio plays[edit]
- The Queer Affair at Kettering (1940)
- It Could Be Natural Death (1942)[14]
References[edit]
- ^ "RADIO FILM". Advocate. Vol. LXXXVII, no. 5183. Victoria, Australia. 25 November 1954. p. 18. Retrieved 26 August 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "AUSTRALIA ON THE AIR", ABC Weekly, 2 (38), 21 September 1940, nla.obj-1314883137, retrieved 4 January 2024 – via Trove
- ^ a b c "MAKING OF DETECTIVE OF FICTION", The Wireless Weekly: The Hundred per Cent Australian Radio Journal, 36 (4), January 25, 1941, nla.obj-713188665, retrieved 28 December 2023
- ^ "Listeners Demand Action Not Talk", ABC Weekly, 2 (19), 11 May 1940, nla.obj-1370251044, retrieved 4 January 2024 – via Trove
- ^ "ABOUT OUR AUTHORS". Wellington Times. No. 4438. New South Wales, Australia. 18 February 1937. p. 9. Retrieved 26 August 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ Complete text at Project Gutenberg
- ^ Complete text at Project Gutenberg
- ^ "Coming on the Air", ABC Weekly, 4 (1), 3 January 1942, retrieved 24 December 2023 – via Trove
- ^ "OVER THE AIR". Daily Examiner. Vol. 30, no. 7056. New South Wales, Australia. 9 October 1939. p. 2. Retrieved 26 August 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "G-r-r-. A Thriller". Sunday Mail. No. 560. Queensland, Australia. 12 January 1941. p. 13. Retrieved 26 August 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Girl 'Tec On Job Again", The Wireless Weekly: The Hundred per Cent Australian Radio Journal, 36 (52), December 27, 1941, retrieved 23 December 2023 – via Trove
- ^ "Latest Max Afford Thriller on AR". The Age. No. 29, 957. Victoria, Australia. 4 May 1951. p. 1 (THE AGE RADIO SUPPLEMENT). Retrieved 26 August 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Women's Interests On The Air She Wrote A Winning Book". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 36, 082. New South Wales, Australia. 13 August 1953. p. 7 (Women's Section). Retrieved 27 December 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Coming on the Air", ABC Weekly, 4 (30), Sydney: ABC, 25 July 1942, retrieved 17 October 2023 – via Trove
External links[edit]
- The Jeffrey Blackburn Stories at Austlit
- Blood on His Hands complete text at Project Gutenberg
- Death's Mannikins complete text at Project Gutenberg
- Owl of Darkness complete text at Project Gutenberg
- The Sheep and the Wolves complete text at Project Gutenberg
- Poison Can Be Puzzling complete text at Project Gutenberg
- The Dead Are Blind complete text at Project Gutenberg
- The Vanishing Trick complete text at Project Gutenberg