Richard Verrill, the professional thief known as "Blackshirt" turned mystery writer and crime fighter, was created by Graham Montague Jeffries (1900-1982) under the pseudonym "Bruce Graeme." Jeffries wrote over 100 books over a period of 60 years, ten of which feature the popular hero; twenty additional novels were written by Jeffries' son Roderic under the name "Roderic Graeme." "Bruce Graeme" had also written three historical crime novels about the character's 16th century French ancestor Monsieur Blackshirt, "a gallant scallywag"; these novels appeared under the name "David Graeme," who was purported to be Bruce Graeme's cousin, but was actually Jeffries himself. It doesn't end there -- "Bruce Graeme also published three novels about Blackshirt's son, Lord Blackshirt.
Britain's Super Detective Library (All in Pictures) featured Blackshirt in at least thirteen issues for 1956 to 1959. "Blackshirt and the Secret of Corey's Castle" is credited to Roderic Graeme.
"This is a story of a damsel in distress -- Caroline Simpson. Because of her father's job she was kidnapped by a big-time underworld racketeer. Her father was Assistant Commissioner of Police -- but her couldn't help her..
"There was only one man who could help Caroline -- a man who loved adventure, a knight errant in modern dress -- a man who carried on a war against crime with weapons with weapons the police dared not use -- BLACKSHIRT!
"Blackshirt fought the scum of the underworld with their own cunning methods -- and there was no more worthy adversary for him than Brady Stevens -- a racketeer who would stiop at nothing to gain his own ends!
"It was Blackshirt's job to trace the kidnapped Caroline to grim, forbidding Corey's Castle -- -- and to fight Brady Stevens on his own ground -- -- --"
Let's go along for the ride, shall we?
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=95776&comicpage=&b=i
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