Edison Marshall "Rangoon Adventure."

While this serial may date to just prior to the start of the Second World War it clearly references the then-ongoing Japanese aggression in Asia which would result in Japan's entry into the war two and a half years later. Set in colonial Burma, the plot involves a British attempt to circumvent Japan's blockade of coastal China by sending desperately needed armaments and munitions up the Irrawaddy River into the far interior of Burma and then overland to Chiang Kai-shek and his nationalist army. Japanese espionage (and sabotage) initially doom several of the river boats which are carrying the munitions, but Britain's clever Chief of C.I.D. (the Criminal Investigation Dept.) in Burma, acting in concert with his own (male) private secretary unmask both the Japanese saboteurs and also an American mercenary in their pay. What is particularly interesting in this period piece is the assumption of British moral and political superiority as played out between Marshall's C.I.D. characters and their Japanese Secret Service opponents. There is no suggestion that British military forces in the region had any real reason to worry about the Japanese Imperial Army. Being a Liberty serial, "Rangoon Adventure" also includes in its plot a romance (the C.I.D. Chief's niece is wooed by his secretary) and also a case right out of "The Patty Duke Show" - "identical" cousins (in this case, one good and one bad). The resulting O. Henry-esque "twin cousin" resolution is one that any seasoned serial reader would have guessed at by installment 2, but does rather neatly tie up Marshall's action.