Craig Kennedy
Professor Craig Kennedy is a character created by Arthur B. Reeve.
Description
Kennedy is a scientist detective at Columbia University similar to Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Thorndyke. He uses his knowledge of chemistry and psychoanalysis to solve cases, and uses exotic (at the time) devices in his work such as lie detectors, gyroscopes, and portable seismographs.[1]
He first appeared in the December 1910 issue of Cosmopolitan, in "The Case of Helen Bond."[2] He ultimately made 82 appearances in Cosmopolitan, the last coming in the August 1918 issue. Twelve stories were reprinted in the first collection, and this continued, but soon the stories were fixed up into a novel, and some were adaptations of movie serials.
He returned for many short stories in magazines as various as The Popular Magazine, Detective Story Magazine, Country Gentleman, Everybody's Magazine, and Flynn's, as well as in 26 novels. Through the 1920s, he became more of a typical detective. Craig Kennedy appeared in a number of 1930s pulp magazines, Complete Detective Novel Magazine, Dime Detective, Popular Detective, Weird Tales, and World Man Hunters, but many of these appear to be ghost-written as they lack the style and flavor of the teen-era Craig Kennedy stories. A series of six Craig Kennedy stories in early issues of Popular Detective are known to have been unsold novelettes rewritten by A. T. Locke.[3]
Books
- The Silent Bullet (1910)
- The Poisoned Pen (1911)
- Constance Dunlap (1913)
- The Dream Doctor (1914)
- Guy Garrick (1914)
- The Death House (1914)
- The War Terror (1915)
- The Gold of the Gods (1915)
- The Exploits of Elaine (1915) adaption of movie serial
- The Social Gangster (1916)
- The Ear in the Wall (1916)
- The Romance of Elaine (1916) adaption of movie serial
- The Triumph of Elaine (1916)
- The Treasure Train (1917)
- The Adventuress (1917)
- The Panama Plot (1918)
- The Soul Scar (1919)
- The Film Mystery (1921) adaption of Houdini movie serial
- The Bacteriological Detective (1922)
- Craig Kennedy Listens In (1923)
- Atavar, the Dream Dancer (1924)
- The Fourteen Points (1925)
- The Boy Scouts' Craig Kennedy (1925)
- Craig Kennedy on the Farm (1925)
- The Radio Detective (1926)
- Pandora (1926)
- The Kidnap Club (1932)
- The Clutching Hand (1934)
- Enter Craig Kennedy (1935)
- The Stars Scream Murder (1936)
Stories
- The Case of Helen Bond (The Silent Cracksman) Dec 1910
- The Silent Bullet Jan 1911
- The Bacteriological Detective Feb 1911
- The Story of) The Deadly Tube Mar 1911
- The Seismograph Adventure Apr 1911
- The Diamond Maker May 1911
- The Azure Ring Jun 1911
- A Spontaneous Combustion Jul 1911
- The Terror in the Air Aug 1911
- The Black Hand Sep 1911
- The Artificial Paradise (The Man Who Was Dead) Oct 1911
- The Steel Door Nov 1911
- The Sand-Hog (The Tunnel Mystery) Dec 1911
- The Bacillus of Death Jan 1912
- The Master Counterfeiter Feb 1912
- The Firebug (The Firefiend) Mar 1912
- The Yeggman Apr 1912
- The Green-Goods King May 1912
- The Poisoned Pen May 1912
- The White Slave Jun 1912
- The Treasure Vault Jul 1912
- The Forger Jul 1912
- The Unofficial Spy Aug 1912
- The Smuggler Sep 1912
- The Invisible Ray Oct 1912
- The Campaign Grafter Nov 1912
- The Kleptomaniac Dec 1912
- The Opium Joint Jan 1913
- The Vampire Feb 1913
- The Death Thought Apr 1913
- The Green Curse Apr 1913
- The Sybarite May 1913
- The Phantom Circuit Jun 1913
- The Elixir of Life Jul 1913
- The Dream Doctor Aug 1913
- The Death House Sep 1913
- The Submarine Mystery Oct 1913
- The Bomb-Maker Nov 1913
- The Ghouls Dec 1913
- The Scientific Gunman Jan 1914
- Guy Garrick (revised book edition of The Scientific Gunman) 1914
- The Air-Pirate Jan 1914
- The Abduction Club Feb 1914
- The Billionaire Baby Feb 1914
- The Radium Robber Mar 1914
- The Eugenic Bride Apr 1914
- The Terrorists May 1914
- The Dead-Line May 1914
- The Curio Shop Jun 1914
- The Germ Letter Jul 1914
- The Wireless Wire-Tappers Aug 1914
- The Family Skeleton Sep 1914
- The Devil-Worshipers Oct 1914
- Happy Dust Nov 1914
- The Murder Syndicate Dec 1914
- The Stolen War-Secret Dec 1914
- The Diamond-Queen Jan 1915
- The X-Ray Detective Feb 1915
- The Tango Thief Mar 1915
- The Supertoxin Apr 1915
- The Sixth Sense May 1915
- The Absolute Zero Jun 1915
- The Sleep-Maker Jul 1915
- The Evil Eye Aug 1915
- The House of Death Sep 1915
- The Demon Engine Oct 1915
- The Social Gangster Nov 1915
- The Voodoo Mystery Dec 1915
- The Treasure-Train Jan 1916
- The Truth-Detector Mar 1916
- The Soul-Analysis May 1916
- The Mystic Poisoner Jun 1916
- The Phantom Destroyer Jul 1916
- The Beauty-Mask Aug 1916
- The Love-Meter Sep 1916
- The Vital Principle Oct 1916
- The Submarine Mine Nov 1916
- The Rubber Dagger Dec 1916
- The Gun-Runner Jan 1917
- The Sunken Treasure Feb 1917
- The Love-Philter (The Love Potion) Apr 1917
- The Panama Plot May 1917
- The Black Diamond Jun 1917
- The Bitter Water Jul 1917
- The Nitrate King Aug 1917
- The Coca Gang Oct 1917
- The Phantom Parasite Nov 1917
- The Door of Dread Jan 1918
- The Black Cross Feb 1918
- The Psychic Scar Apr 1918
- The Star-Shell May 1918
- The Film Murder Jun 1918
- The Film Tragedy Jul 1918
- The Treason Trust Jul 1918
- The Sinister Shadow Aug 1918
- The Love-Game Aug 1918
- The Soul Scar Sep 1918
- The Green Death 1918
- Thicker Than Water Sep 1923
- The Radio Detective Oct 1923
- Dead Men Tell Tales Oct 1923
- The Radio Wraith Nov 1923
- The Hawk Dec 1923
- Deep-Sea Treasure Jan 1924
- The Jazz Addict Jan 1924
- The Counterfeit Beauty Feb 1924
- A Son of the North Woods Feb 1924
- The Polar Flight of ZR-10 Mar 1924
- The Honour System May 1924
- The Greatest Mystery Jul 1924
- The Return of the Bon Homme Richard Jul 1924
- TheFrozen Paper Aug 1924
- The Elements: Air Sep 1924
- The Ghost Chase Sep 1924
- Synthetic Love Sep 1924
- The Elements: Fire Oct 1924
- The Elements: Earth Oct 1924
- The Hypocrites Oct 1924
- The Elements: Water Nov 1924
- The Fumes of Folly Nov 1924
- The Voice in the Dark Nov 1924
- The Barn-Burner Dec 1924
- The Compass: North Dec 1924
- The Compass: East Dec 1924
- The Compass: South Jan 1925
- The Compass: West Jan 1925
- The Six Senses: Sight Jan 1925
- The Gas Tramp Jan 1925
- The Six Senses: Smell Feb 1925
- The Six Senses: Taste Feb 1925
- The Six Senses: Touch Feb 1925
- The Six Senses: Hearing Feb 1925
- The Six Senses: The "Sixth" Sense Mar 1925
- Woman's Wiles Mar 1925
- The Long Arm Apr 1925
- Land Poor May 1925
- Revenge May 1925
- Dead Beets Aug 1925
- Harvest Home Nov 1925
- Pandora, or: the World Tomorrow Jan 1926
- Craig Kennedy Gets His Girl Jul 1928
- Craig Kennedy Gets the Dope Jul 1928
- Craig Kennedy and the Model Aug 1928
- Craig Kennedy and the Ghost Aug 1928
- Blood Will Tell Sep 1928
- Radiant Doom Oct 1928
- The Dead Line Oct 1928
- Craig Kennedy Splits Hairs Oct 1928
- The Christmas Case Dec 1928
- The Mystery Ray Feb 1929
- The Beauty Wrecker Mar 1929
- Poisoned Music Aug 1929
- The Crime Student Sep 1929
- The Gigolo Mystery Oct 1929
- The Mystery of the Phantom Voice Nov 1929
- The House of a Hundred Murders Dec 1929
- The Mystery in the Mire Jan 1930
- The Mystery of the Bulawayo Diamond Jan 1930
- The Kidnap Club Apr 1932
- Death in the Cards May 1932
- The Junior League Murder Jun 1932
- Murder Under the Southern Cross July 1932
- Murder Never Dies Aug 1932
- Murder in Green Sep 1932
- Murder on the Mike Dec 1932
- Murder in the Tourist Camp Dec 1932
- The Electric War Sep 1933
- The Golden Grave Oct 1933
- The Inca Dagger Jan 1934
- Murder at Night Aug 1934
- The Death Cry May 1935
Adaptations
The character's name was spoofed in 1916 by Douglas Fairbanks, who played "Coke Enneday" in the cocaine comedy film and Sherlock Holmes sendup The Mystery of the Leaping Fish.
Detective Craig Kennedy was also played by Arnold Daly in the 1914 film serial The Exploits of Elaine as well as its 1915 sequel, The New Exploits of Elaine.
Herbert Rawlinson portrayed Craig Kennedy in the silent serial film The Carter Case (1919). Robert Warwick took the role in the early sound film Unmasked (1929). Jack Mulhall played Kennedy in the serial The Clutching Hand (1936) for the Weiss Brothers, who also produced the 1951 television series called Craig Kennedy, Criminologist, which was based on the same character. Donald Woods portrayed Craig Kennedy in the television series.
See also
References
- Peter Haining, The Classic Era of Crime Fiction. Prion Books, 2002. pp 73-74
- Lech, Emrys (August 29, 2023). "Weird Tales and The American Sherlock Holmes: Craig Kennedy". Peek in the Stacks. California State University, Northridge. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
- "The Career of Arthur B. Reeve," by John Locke, introduction to From Ghouls to Gangsters: The Career of Arthur B. Reeve: Volume 2 (2007).
External links
- Craig Kennedy, Criminologist at IMDb
- The Silent Bullet
- Gutenberg contains a selection of his works.