Boston Blackie Podcast; Master Detective · Humphrey Productions

John_Frawley_While_in_Africa_Reads_That_He_Is_Dead

January 16, 2026·26 min·4 clips

John Frawley picks up a newspaper and finds his own name listed as dead. He has been in Africa for seven years, and the line that hits him is that John Robert Frawley is dead, which turns an ordinary read into a problem with real teeth. Blackie shows up quickly. Edward Frawley insists the man claiming to be his brother is an impostor, and the case starts circling Kay Morton, the butler Charles, and a brother who will not admit the truth. The house is dark. Blackie and Edward move to the side window, because there may be nobody home and there may be trouble waiting inside. The safe matters most. Edward says it holds a paper tied to bonds, and that the man posing as John does not know Edward's fingerprints are on the envelope. The police hear about it too. Edward calls Homicide and says someone is going to kill him, while blaming the impostor for Martha Blake's murder so she could never say he was not John Frawley. Blackie catches heat. The inspector reminds everybody that the man calling himself John was with Blackie when Martha Blake was shot, so the story turns sharper and nastier in a hurry. The clues keep shifting. Questions about the brother, the dead woman, and the paper in the safe all point to a setup that wants everyone arguing before anybody gets honest. Blackie opens the door. He helps get into the safe, the paper comes out, and Edward plans to take it to a lawyer first thing in the morning. That never means peace. The argument, the suspicion, and the problem of a man declared dead keep hanging over the case like a bad smell in a closed room.

As heard by us

A dead-man notice sets off a brisk Boston Blackie mystery.

A man in Africa learns from a newspaper that he has been declared dead, and Boston Blackie is the one who starts pulling at the family knot behind it.

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Why you'd press play

The paper says you're dead, and your brother will not even admit you at the door.

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