Rebellion's final collection of Sexton Blake stories presents a trio of adventures from the tail end of the detective's original career, in the 1960s. They're not great mysteries in the manner of Agatha Christie or Dorothy L. Sayers; for all his obvious debts to Sherlock Holmes, Blake's much more a detective in the mould of Batman – with all the ludicrous pulp fun to match.

His adventures are fascinating cultural artefacts, soaking up as they did the popular culture and paranoias of the time in an effort to keep sales up. To the usual Blake blend of adventure and mystery, you can add the post-war ingredients of Cold War paranoia, spy-fi, Catherine Cookson, Ealing crime capers, Buddhist transcendentalism, and the horror of Dennis Wheatley.

It's Sexton Blake for a new age, and terrific fun – and hopefully we'll get to see him brought back for the 21st century very soon.