Krátké kriminální příběhy z praxe Scotland Yardu v 50. letech.

While this is different to the other Biggles book that I have read it is still based around a pilot and his plane. In this book Biggles is a member of the air police operating out of Scotland Yard and the book contains a collection of detective stories that have some form of aviation involved. It is clear that this department is still in its infancy and it appears that the staff consist of only three people: Biggles, Algy, and Ginger. Also, it is quite clear that Biggles is a lot older and wiser in these stories than he was in his World War I stories, however they are also nowhere near as comical.
Basically after World War I Biggles went on to work for the British Secret Service, and then returned to flying planes in World War II, and it appears that these particular adventures took him all over the world. After Hitler's war was concluded Biggles was then taken on by Scotland Yard to head up their aviation division. I have noted that Biggles does not actually seem to age as fast as the rest of us, and some studies have indicated that he seems to age 1 year for every four years that pass. However, I suspect most of the readers consider this to be a moot point.
As mentioned, these stories are nowhere near as comical as the other book I read, and what is most disappointing is that he does not crash a single plane. However he is also a lot older and wiser than when he was flying for the 266. It is suggested that Biggles, along with a lot of other English teenagers, lied about their age so that they could go to war, and to war they went. As such it is understandable that during World War I Biggles would have had that illusion of immortality that all teenagers seem to have, but having survived the Great War would also have added years of wisdom too him. I suspect that many of the later Biggles books have a much more mature Biggles who isn't forever smashing up planes (especially since that would become a very expensive exercise, and he probably wouldn't hold onto his job).
I note with some amusement though that there was one story about smuggling marijuana. It was amusing because it is very clear that this story is government propoganda telling us of the evils of this seductive drug. I am not surprised that such as story appeared because I have a hunch that Captain Johns was a regular visitor to Scotland Yard, if only because of the popularity of his stories. He also seems to be very insightful about the nature of some of the crimes that Biggles investigates, especially his comment about how drugs tend to be light and as such can easily be carried by air which in turn increases the profits of the peddler tenfold. The thing that I found unconvincing is the suggestion that marijuana makes people violent. I am inclined to say no. Yes, it makes them lazy and paranoid, but not violent, even if they can't get any. It is a different story for other drugs, though as I have said elsewhere, the main danger that drugs create is not so much the euphoria that you experience when you are under the influence, but the crash that you experience when the euphoria goes away, and then the anxiety that comes about when you cannot get any more to enable you to return to that euphoric state.
I enjoyed these stories, but the more that I read the more that I came to realise that they were very similar to the Sherlock Holmes short stories. Most of the story is developed through discussions between the characters (though one of them does have them go on an adventure). The stories begins with the outline of the mystery, and then we have Biggles contemplating the solution, and then going out to discover that he was correct. These stories are also much more serious that the World War I stories where one plot involved him stealing a turkey, and another was simply a joke that was being played between two airfields. ( )