Reeve, Arthur B
Entry updated 13 January 2025. Tagged: Author.
(1880-1936) US scriptwriter and author almost exclusively remembered for his Craig Kennedy, Scientific Detective sequence, the most significant titles being the eighty-two short stories first published 1910-1918 in monthly instalments beginning with "The Case of the Helen Bond" (December 1910 Cosmopolitan) – the subsequent stories all appearing in the same journal – and then in various magazines 1919-1935, all eventually assembled in book form; later titles in the overall sequence – mostly novels – are not usually felt to have sustained the considerable drive of the early work. Almost every volume of the series contains one or more sf device, sometimes trivial, sometimes central to the tale. Kennedy himself, a professor of chemistry headquartered in New York, is an Edisonade figure: incessantly responsible for developing new forms of weaponry and Transportation, making breakthroughs in Medicine, forging super-metals and chemicals, and so forth. Though many individual stories show only minimal displacement into an sf frame, the overall framework is clearly generic, and individual titles are variously of genuine interest; the sequence begins with The Silent Bullet: The Adventures of Craig Kennedy, Scientific Detective (coll 1910; vt The Black Hand 1912; vt Craig Kennedy, Scientific Detective, Volume 1: The Silent Bullet 2000) and ends with The Stars Scream Murder (1936).
The most remarkable novel in sf terms is perhaps Pandora (1926), in which the evil land of Centrania successfully seduces America from her former power by (as E F Bleiler remarks) "subsidizing jazz musicians" (a sharp contemporary analysis of the racist stupor fuelling this kind of cultural judgment can be found in Gilbert Seldes's The Seven Lively Arts [1924]), inventing a synthetic fuel, and causing a stock-market crash. The quick development of a tiny atomic bomb leads to the utter defeat of Centrania. Reeves was editorial consultant to Scientific Detective Monthly (1930), which printed one new Craig Kennedy story and reprinted nine old ones.
Reeve wrote several screenplays, in particular co-scripting the 14-episode Craig Kennedy Serial Film The Exploits of Elaine (1914). This was novelized by Reeve as The Exploits of Elaine: A Detective Novel (1915), versions of whose chapters had appeared in newspapers as "photo play serials" concurrently with showings of the film, accompanied by occasional stills. Also of sf interest is his work for the Serial Film The Master Mystery (1918-1919) starring Harry Houdini, featuring an apparent criminal Robot which proves to be a man in Powered Armour; the novel version is The Master Mystery (1919) with John W Grey. [JC]
see also: Crime and Punishment.
Arthur Benjamin Reeve
born Patchogue, New York: 15 October 1880
died Trenton, New Jersey: 9 August 1936
works (selected)
series
Craig Kennedy: Scientific Detective
- The Silent Bullet: The Adventures of Craig Kennedy, Scientific Detective (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1910) [coll: Craig Kennedy: Scientific Detective: hb/]
- The Black Hand: The Adventures of Craig Kennedy, Scientific Detective (London: Eveleigh Nash, 1912) [coll: vt of the above: Craig Kennedy: Scientific Detective: hb/]
- Craig Kennedy, Scientific Detective, Volume 1: The Silent Bullet (Holicong, Pennsylvania: Wildside Press, 2000) [coll: vt of the above: Craig Kennedy: Scientific Detective: hb/]
- The Poisoned Pen: The Further Adventures of Craig Kennedy (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1911) [coll: Craig Kennedy: Scientific Detective: hb/]
- The Dream Doctor: The New Adventures of Craig Kennedy, Scientific Detective (New York: Hearst's International Library, 1914) [coll: Craig Kennedy: Scientific Detective: hb/]
- The War Terror: Further Adventures with Craig Kennedy, Scientific Detective (New York: Hearst's International Library, 1915) [coll: Craig Kennedy: Scientific Detective: hb/]
- Craig Kennedy, Detective (London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent, 1915) [coll: vt of the above: Craig Kennedy: Scientific Detective: hb/]
- The Gold of the Gods: The Mystery of the Incas Solved by Craig Kennedy – Scientific Detective (New York: Hearst's International Library, 1915) [Craig Kennedy: Scientific Detective: hb/]
- Craig Kennedy: Scientific Detective: Volume 3: The War Terror and the Gold of the Gods (place not given: Leonaur, 2012) [omni of the above two: pb/]
- The Exploits of Elaine: A Detective Novel (New York: Hearst's International Library, 1915) [Craig Kennedy: Scientific Detective: hb/]
- Craig Kennedy: Scientific Detective: Volume 2: The Dream Doctor and the Exploits of Elaine (place not given: Leonaur, 2012) [omni of the above plus The Dream Doctor: Craig Kennedy: Scientific Detective: pb/]
- The Social Gangster: Adventures of Craig Kennedy, Scientific Detective (New York: Hearst's International Library, 1916) [coll: Craig Kennedy: Scientific Detective: hb/]
- The Diamond Queen (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1917) [coll: Craig Kennedy: Scientific Detective: hb/]
- The Ear in the Wall (New York: Hearst's International Library, 1916) [Craig Kennedy: Scientific Detective: hb/]
- The Romance of Elaine: Sequel to "The Exploits of Elaine" (New York: Hearst's International Library, 1916) [tie to the film: Craig Kennedy: Scientific Detective: hb/]
- Craig Kennedy: Scientific Detective: Volume 4: The Ear in the Wall and the Romance of Elaine (place not given: Leonaur, 2012) [omni of the above two: Craig Kennedy: Scientific Detective: pb/]
- The Triumph of Elaine (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1916) [coll: Craig Kennedy: Scientific Detective: hb/]
- The Treasure-Train: Adventures of Craig Kennedy, Scientific Detective, Which Ultimately Take Him Abroad (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1917) [coll: Craig Kennedy: Scientific Detective: hb/]
- Craig Kennedy: Scientific Detective: Volume 5: The Social Gangster and The Treasure-Train (place not given: Leonaur, 2012) [omni of the above plus The Social Gangster: Craig Kennedy: Scientific Detective: pb/]
- The Adventuress: A Craig Kennedy Detective Story (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1917) [Craig Kennedy: Scientific Detective: hb/]
- The Panama Plot: Pan-American Adventures of Craig Kennedy, Scientific Detective (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1918) [coll: Craig Kennedy: Scientific Detective: hb/]
- The Soul Scar: A Craig Kennedy Scientific Mystery Novel (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1919) [Craig Kennedy: Scientific Detective: hb/]
- The Film Mystery (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1921) [Craig Kennedy: Scientific Detective: hb/]
- Craig Kennedy: Scientific Detective: Volume 6: The Panama Plot and the Film Mystery (place not given: Leonaur, 2012) [omni of the above plus The Panama Plot: Craig Kennedy: Scientific Detective: pb/]
- Craig Kennedy Listens In: Adventures of Craig Kennedy, Scientific Detective (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1923) [coll: Craig Kennedy: Scientific Detective: hb/]
- Atavar, the Dream Dancer: A Craig Kennedy Novel (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1924) [Craig Kennedy: Scientific Detective: hb/]
- The Fourteen Points: Tales of Craig Kennedy, Master of Mystery (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1925) [coll: Craig Kennedy: Scientific Detective: hb/]
- The Boy Scouts' Craig Kennedy (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1925) [coll: Craig Kennedy: Scientific Detective: hb/]
- Craig Kennedy on the Farm (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1925) [coll: Craig Kennedy: Scientific Detective: hb/]
- The Radio Detective (New York: Grosset and Dunlap, 1926) [tie to the film: Craig Kennedy: Scientific Detective: hb/]
- Pandora (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1926) [Craig Kennedy: Scientific Detective: hb/Cleonike]
- The Kidnap Club (New York: Macaulay Co, 1932) [Craig Kennedy: Scientific Detective: hb/]
- The Clutching Hand: A Craig Kennedy Novel (Chicago, Illinois: Reilly and Lee, 1934) [Craig Kennedy: Scientific Detective: hb/]
- Enter Craig Kennedy (New York: Macaulay Co, 1935) with Ashley Locke [Craig Kennedy: Scientific Detective: hb/]
- The Stars Scream Murder: A Craig Kennedy Novel (New York: D Appleton and Co, 1936) [Craig Kennedy: Scientific Detective: hb/]
individual titles
- Guy Garrick: An Adventure with a Scientific Gunman (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1914) [hb/]
- Constance Dunlap, Woman Detective (New York: Hearst's International Library, 1916) [hb/]
- Craig Kennedy: Scientific Detective: Volume 7: Guy Garrick and Constance Dunlap (place not given: Leonaur, 2012) [omni of the above two: neither title is part of the designated series: pb/]
- The Master Mystery (New York: Grosset and Dunlap, 1919) with John W Grey [tie to the film The Master Mystery: illus/hb/film stills]
- The Mystery Mind (New York: Grosset and Dunlap, 1921) with John W Grey [tie to the film: hb/]
- Tarzan the Mighty (Rialto, California: ERBville Press, 2008) [first appeared as serial in newspapers in 1928: novelization of the 1928 film: hb/]
works as editor
- The Best Ghost Stories (New York: Modern Library, 1936) [anth: hb/]
links
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