Rex Dolphin (1915–1990)
Author of Trouble Is My Name!
Works by Rex Dolphin
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Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1915-03-15
- Date of death
- 1990-02
- Birthplace
- Pershore, Worcestershire, England
- Place of death
- Amersham, Buckinghamshire, England
- Short biography
- Reginald Charles `Rex` Dolphin is chiefly remembered for a number of titles he wrote for Fleetway and Howard Baker Books in the Sexton Blake Library series. His titles included Trouble is my Name, Guilty Party, Murder Goes Nap, The Trail of the Golden Girl and Driven to Kill. One of his titles for that series, The World Shakers, was credited to the house pseudonym `Desmond Reid`. A horror story of his, The Vampires of Finisterre was credited by HBB to the equally fictitious `Peter Saxon`.###His Speak Ill of the Dead was credited to `Richard Williams` - again, a house pseudonym ###
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- Works
- 3
- Also by
- 2
- Members
- 3
- Popularity
- #1,791,150
- Rating
- 3.7
- Reviews
- 1
We know that he tried in his writing to combine the best elements of both the `New Order` and `Golden Age` SBLs ( W Howard Baker took up editorship of the SBL in the mid-`50s, with a mandate to reverse the declining fortunes of the ailing periodical. He was reviled by lovers of the so-called `Golden Age` of (pre-war) SBLs. His period in office is sometimes referred to as the `New Order`. Soince the phrase has Nazi overtones, I would think it was originally meant as a derogatory term.)
Dolphin found writing SBLs more difficult than his other writing, since he was presented with a cast of largely ready-made characters and had no idea who the readers actually were. "No-one knows. Even Howard Baker doesn`t know !" he commented plaintively. We also know that on at least one occasion, Baker returned a story of Dolphins for amendment, saying it was "too slick".
`Slick` is not a term I wuld use for this story. I would say that the writing is craftsman like, and that Dolphin has a distinctive `voice`, making the story very much his own. The plot is well-thought, involving a (relatively) sizeable section harking back to a previous court case, the outcome of which has a bearing on the case in hand.
There are two passages which seem quite uncharacteristic - one quite pulpy and one almost Victorian in tone. I suspect heavy-handed editing or last-minute revisions here.
Purists may well deride the adventures of Sexton Blake as being `not real literature`. I would argue that the best Blakes are rather better than many `proper` crime stories and deserve at least as much respect.
I will certainly be seeking out more of Mr Dolphin`s efforts, both Blake and non-Blake.
(Please excuse this rather hurried review, but hope it proves helpful.)… (more)