Continuing to read my way through the anthology SEXTON BLAKE WINS, the next story is the novella “The Man I Killed” by Rex Hardinge. That’s a familiar name to Blake fans, but it’s the first thing I’ve read by Hardinge and I really liked it.
Originally published in the July 8, 1933 issue of DETECTIVE WEEKLY, “The Man I
Killed” is the first Blake story I’ve encountered that’s written in first
person. It’s certainly the first one I’ve read from the point of view of the
killer! So this is, of necessity, an inverted mystery where the reader knows
the identity of the murderer all along, and the appeal lies in watching how
Sexton Blake figures it out.
But after Hardinge shows us how sports journalist Matt King murders a wealthy
toymaker named Brandt and then sets up an alibi using his old friend Sexton
Blake himself, the story takes some unexpected twists. In fact, considerably
more is going on than Hardinge reveals to us at first. As the story races on
with several excellent action scenes and plenty of suspense, more and more
layers of the plot are peeled away until the final outcome was satisfyingly
different from what I thought it might be.
A couple of minor quibbles: At one point, a character impersonates Sexton Blake
with a degree of success that’s much too great to be believed. And some of the
late twists, while effective, come from pretty far out in left field. However,
without them the story’s impact would be lessened, and hey, miraculous
disguises are accepted plot devices in popular fiction, right?
Neither of those things keep “The Man I Killed” from being the best story I’ve
read so far in this anthology, as well as one of the best Sexton Blake stories
I’ve read, period. I’ll definitely read more by Hardinge.
Note: The scan above is from Mark Hodder's invaluable website Blakiana. If you're a Sexton Blake fan and haven't checked it out, you need to immediately. But be prepared to be immersed there for hours because it's compulsive reading.
