Malcolm Sage
Created by Herbert Jenkins (1876-1923)

MALCOLM SAGE had been a hot shot intelligence agent for Britain's Division Z during the Great War, but when the fighting ceased, his thirst for action and adventure didn't. Fortunately, his old chief from division Z helped him set up the Malcolm Sage Detective Bureau, and much merry mayhem and more than a few ripping good yarns ensued.

This all sounds pretty much like Boy's Own-type adventures, but for his time, Sage was considered pretty high-tech, utilizing such nifty new-fangled gadgets as telephones, buzzers, and other such wonders of technology. Sage is serious, and even haughty, and has been known to chase away customers if he has too much business, or other matters on his mind. Fortunately he has a secretary (to make the tea, no doubt) and an office boy to put him in his place every now and then. The boy, a devout reader of detective fiction, in fact serves as a sort of welcome comic foil to the occasionally pompous master detective.

The Sage stories appeared in various British pulps of the time, and were also collected in several books. I'm not sure who Mr. Dene of toronto is, but the name pops up several times. So there might even be some Canadian connection here...

SHORT STORIES

• "The Gylston Slander" (July 1920, Hutchinson's Story Magazine)
• "Gladys Norman Dines with Thompson"
• "The Great Fight at the Olympia"
• "The Holding Up of Lady Glanedale"
• "Inspector Wensdale Is Surprised"
• "Lady Dene Calls on Malcolm Sage"
• "A Lesson in Deduction"
• "Malcolm Sage Plays Patience"
• "Malcolm Sage's Mysterious Moments"
• "The Marmalade Clue"
• "The McMurray Mystery "
• "The Missing Heavyweight"
• "The Outrage at the Garage"
• "Sir John Dene Receives His Orders"
• "The Stolen Admiralty Memorandum"
• "The Strange Case of Mr. Calloner"
• "The Surrey Cattle-Maiming Mystery"

NOVELS

• John Dene of Toronto (1919)

COLLECTIONS

• Malcolm Sage, Detective (1920)
• The Stiffsons and Other Stories (1928)

RELATED LINKS

• Pulp and Adventure Heroes of the Pre-War Years
  Jess Nevins' kick-ass guide to seemingly every significant pulp and adventure hero that ever existed in the pre-war years, gathered from around the world, is simply one of the most fun sites in this field I've ever come across. But perhaps even more fascinating than his insights into the heroes you all know and love are the guys you never heard of, the also-rans and never-weres -- the Swedish cowboys, the French vampires, the Indian P.I's and God knows what else. Recommended, especially for those just not getting enough cheese in their diets.