ADVENTURES OF THE JUNIOR DETECTION CLUB
First Published in 1960 - 158 pages
Francis
Antony Marlow (known as Frank) decides he wants to be a detective on leaving school.
Two friends, Alexander Forsyth (nicknamed "Sandy") and David Morgan
(nicknamed "Stoker") team up and join him and together they put up
some money and set up in business as "The Junior Detection Club". The
plan is to make money by solving crimes and collecting the reward money where
offered. Frank is friendly with an ex-Detective Inspector by the name of Jack
Gripper and Frank has been collecting pictures of known criminals from various
sources in an effort to memorise their faces. The three lads spend some time
getting to know the West End of London and the various side streets of Soho
where criminals hang out. One day, Frank recognises a man as Larry Larkin and
realises that he has escaped from Dartmoor prison. Frank tips off the police
who arrest Larkin. Following up a lead, the boys go to watch a youth called
Charlie Morton who is being released from Borstal. The boys suspect that old
cronies may try to drag Charlie back into crime. Two men meet Charlie on his
release and Frank and Stoker follow them on Stoker's motor bike. Charlie is
taken to a cafe and when he is finally left alone, Frank goes to talk to him.
Charlie is willing to tip them off about a job he is being roped into involving
a burglary in Knightsbridge. Returning to their base, our heroes are visited by
Detective Superintendent Vowden from Scotland Yard
who wants to find out what the boys are doing. Staking out the scene of the
proposed burglary, our heroes see two villains, called Blacky and Zamboni carry
out the burglary. They follow them to a junk shop and tip off the police. The
villains are caught red-handed and a hoard of valuable jewels is recovered. For
this, the boys received £200 from the Insurance Company. Charlie is paid a
share of the reward money and Frank asks him to refer other boys who are trying
to keep out of trouble to them. Shortly afterwards Charlie contacts them with a
friend called Bert Chandler. Bert drives a lorry for a living and is being
forced to take part in a hi-jacking of his own lorry when it is laden with
whiskey. Bert is able to tell Frank, Stoker and Sandy where the hi-jacked lorry
will be hidden and when the crime takes place, Frank, after making sure the
lorry is there, is able to take Superintendent Vowden
straight to it. The lorry hi-jackers are caught and the boys get £100 reward.
One day, when filling up with petrol at a garage, Frank recognises a villain
driving a red Jaguar, known as Johnny the Gent. Our heroes follow him and
discover that he is taking an Italian girl out for lunch. She works for Sir
Otto Gronheim, a multi-millionaire who lives at
Mapleton House. Johnny the Gent is a jewel thief and our heroes suspect he is
going to pull a job when Sir Otto has a party by using his girlfriend to let
him into the house. On the day of the party, the boys lay in wait and see
Johnny go into the house. Johnny is seen by the butler, a man called Judkins (a
name that Johns is very fond of using for butlers!) who chases him. Judkins is
hit and Frank is shot at when he goes to the butler's assistance. However,
knowing where Johnny lives, our heroes are able to advise the police and they
soon catch him and various items of stolen jewellery are returned to their
rightful owners. A grateful Sir Otto, and his guests, give the boys £200 for
their trouble. When Charlie has a birthday, the boys take him out to the Chez
Picot club and here they meet a friend of Charlie's called Nibs Shaw. A
well-known criminal called Paddy Mulvaney is taking a more than willing Nibs on
a job. Working out what the job is going to be by good detective work, the
police are tipped off. Paddy Mulvaney has a habit of carrying with him
Nitro-glycerine for blowing safes and when he jumps off a roof to escape the
police, the notoriously unstable liquid explodes and kills him. Nibs is badly injured
in the explosion as well. Continuing their regular survey of London, Frank
recognises a con man called Maurice De Vere Brooke. He sees him sell an item to
a rich business man and Frank gets a quick glance at the item. Making
enquiries, the boys are able to find out who the business man is and are also
able to identity the stolen piece of jewellery. It is known as the Empress Ikon
from the Wallace Collection. When the business man, who goes by the name of
Count Stablinsky, tries to leave the country with the
stolen Ikon, customs are able to find it, having been tipped off by the police.
For the boys' next assignment, Frank suggests they try to find three old
masterpieces painted by famous painters and stolen from Babton
Abbey three years before. By advertising in various newspapers to buy old
paintings, they find the wife of the person who stole them and also discover
that the original thief was killed in a traffic accident the day after the
theft. This time, the reward money for the return of the paintings is £2000.
The business has been so successful, it is now time for the three boys to have
a holiday and take a well-earned break.
There are no story illustrations in this book
Adventures of the Junior Detection Club
Subtitle - none
Publication Details - originally published by Max Parrish
First Edition (and ONLY edition) Dust Jacket (click on it to see
it in full)