AustLit

A Jeffrey Blackburn adventure.

A thriller set in an isolated boardinghouse in a remote area of Queensland: the boardinghouse is run by a woman who used to manage a circus 'freakshow', and who now employs her former 'freaks' as the boardinghouse staff. The main plot apparently concerned a jewel thief.

'In the new adventure, Jeffery and Elizabeth Blackburn are contentedly retired to a cottage in Kent, raising tulips. Jeffery awakes on the morning of his 45th birthday to find himself and Elizabeth involved in a fantastic crime sequence.'

Source:

'Women's Interests on the Air', Sydney Morning Herald, 13 August 1953, p.7 [Women's Section].

'Against a background of sinister mires and tors on Dartmoor, the author has woven a curious and intriguing story. The rambling old house contains a huge iron door which according to legend has hot been opened for centuries. A Cistercian brother accused of trafficking with Satan, was supposedly walled up behind this door. With the coming of the Clinton family, flickering scarlet lights are seen under the door and the shadow of the monk in dark garb haunts the corridors after dark. Into this brooding atmosphere comes Jeffrey Blackburn with his wife of twelve months, Elizabeth. They have been invited to the abbey by the Clintons. One of the guests is found murdered, amid clues point to the killer as 'Mr. Lynch'. Blackburn starts out on a trail that brings danger and thrills in its wake. What secret lies behind the strange barred door? Why does a mysterious figure in plus fours haunt the moors each night? And who is Mr. Lynch. [sic]'

Source:

'Broadcast Features', Cloncurry Advocate, 6 October 1939, p.7.

A detective serial involving a masked murderer, mysterious lights, and whispered conversations.

'Elizabeth Blackburn took husband Jeffery—much against his will—down to Kettering Old House, recently rented by those inveterate practical jokers, Sally and Jim Rutland. Here they met Rutland's Aunt Florence; Lambert, the detective novelist; and Wishart, the financier. Here, too, they learned of the mysterious room—a room in which people vanished in the twinkling of an eye. Of course, it was all fantastic—until, one by one, the household began to disappear!'

Source:

'Highlights of the A.B.C.', Dubbo Liberal and Macquarie Advocate, 26 September 1940, p.2.

'Edward Blaire, a young experimental chemist who discovers a remarkably cheap and powerful substitute for petrol; his patron, Sir Anthony Atherton-Wayne, a wealthy armaments manufacturer; Elizabeth Blaire, his sister engaged to Robert Ashton, secretary to Sir Anthony — and a mysterious criminal known as "The Owl" because of his habit of moving out after nightfall and giving a melancholy cry reminiscent of the hoot of an owl — these are but a few of the Intriguing characters of the new serial.'

Source:

'National Programme: "Fly by Night",' Katoomba Daily, 18 March 1937, p.4.

For a list of episodes, see Notes.

The proprietor of an expensive night club is holding auditions for an eight-piece band and singer: in the middle of the auditions, the proprietor dies, murdered by anturin poison from the upas tree, administered through a small dart and blowpipe: both poison and blowpipe are said to be of Malaysian origin.

The radio play allowed the audience to guess the identity of the murderer:

'Here is a novelty in radio—a mystery drama that is a game. Max Afford has written a rather light-hearted play about a murder. There is the victim, the usual group of suspects and a rather unusual crowd of investigators, for this time the listeners are given a chance to beat the author's detective—and incidentally the author—to his conclusion. Before the actual unmasking of the villain a pause of 30 seconds will be made. During this interval, an announcer will enumerate all the clues and will invite listeners to work out their own solution. The play will then continue. The author guarantees that he has played perfectly fair. The audience will, at the break, know just as much as the detective. Will the listener be the one to guess who committed the murders at the Angel's Face Night Club; or must Jeffery Blackburn tell?'

Source:

'Highlights of the A.B.C. Programme', Dubbo Liberal, 7 November 1940, p.2.

'Mystery Play by Max Afford', Wireless Weekly, 18 November 1939, p.13.

Jeffery and Elizabeth Blackburn find themselves at isolated Wolford Hall, occupied by a group–each strangers to the other–who have been invited to the property by a 'Mr Rea'. As the mysteries of the house thicken–including the appearance of unsigned typewritten notes–the couple begin to suspect a connection with a five-year-old unsolved murder and realise that one of the house's inhabitants is that murderer, Edward Anson, in disguise.

For a (partial) list of episode titles and episode-by-episode synopses (drawn from contemporary radio guides), see Notes below.