*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: Vivian Ernest Coltman-Allen not only wrote under the name of Ernest Dudley, it was also a fictional persona created by him for his career as a dramatist, writer and actor. An extremely popular radio series of the Armchair Detective started in 1942 and led to stage appearances, a TV series and a film with Dudley acting the titular character. The nascent Super-Detective Library took up the character for five of its earliest issues (starting with #2), by which time the Armchair Detective was famous worldwide. In later years, the term has become generic for a solver of mysteries who does not personally visit a crime scene or interview witnesses, solving the crime remotely instead. All five of the Armchair Detective issues of Super-Detective are newly available this week, as detailed and illustrated below. All very sound copies in VG/FN from an original owner collection, flat and tight with great colour covers and nice page quality, with just the merest signs of wear and an inevitable appearance by our old friend the rusty staple, although here he is not much in evidence.
PICTURED: SUPER-DETECTIVE LIBRARY
#2 VG/FN £45 The Riddle Of The Frensham Will
#8 VG/FN £27.50 The Case Of The Sinister Castle
#18 VG/FN £17.50 The Mystery Of The Hooded Man
#22 VG/FN £17.50 The Secret Of Lessinger’s Loot
#46 VG/FN £17.50 The Man Who Made Gold