I recently obtained a nice, early chapbook from Black Dog Books: The Death-Head’s March and Others, which is called “The Geoffrey Vace Collection.”
It collects four stories Oriental Stories/Magic Carpet, the companion magazine to Weird Tales from 1931-33.
Three are by Geoffrey Cave (1906-88) and one by Hugh B. Cave (1910-2004). Thanks to the nice foreward from Hugh, we get a good background on his older brother Geoffrey and his too-brief pulp career — all of four stories. He wrote the three stories included here, all starring British Secret Service operative Chowkander King, which are set in India. He choose this because their mother had been born in India and their grandfather built the GIP railroad and was mayor of Bombay. Unlike Hugh, Geoffrey turned to a career in accounting instead.
Those three stories were written under the alias “Geoffrey Vace,” as Hugh B. Cave was already known. Hugh would also use that alias on a few of his own stories in case his brother returned to writing, which he didn’t. His last story was “Four Minutes after Midnight” in the last issue of Amazing Detective Stories in 1931, but it’s about railroads. This one appeared under the house name “Maxwell Smith.”
Of the Chowkander King tales, the first deals with a ruby that leads to the death of four men. Can King figure out what is behind it all? The second takes King to the Kyber Pass and a meeting with a dangerous bandit leader. The third is set in Delhi. Gun smugglers see King as a threat and hope to distract him, but he gets aid from an unexpected source.
Overall, this is an enjoyable series. Too bad it didn’t last.
Rounding out the volume is a story by Hugh that ran in Magic Carpet. It is also set in India and deals with the British Secret Service, this time Capt. John Brent. He deals with drug smuggler who is trying to get rid of him.
Overall, this is a nice collection. The foreward and information on Geoffrey is what makes it great. I don’t think these stories have been reprinted since. It might be hard to find it as it came out in 1999. But if you can and enjoy adventure stories set in India, this is a good one to have.
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