SMB Noir

January 1, 1924 issue

cover art by Jules Erbit

~ Eustace Hale Ball, “The Footprints of Doom”, 7^th with ‘the Scarlet Fox, last of the series’, 11^th of 13 stories in BM

~ Carroll John Daly, “Action! Action!” 2^nd of 2 with Three-Gun Terry Mack, 1^st-person narrator, 8th of 71 appearances in BM. The Price of a Dime: The Complete Black Mask Cases of Ben Shaley (Steeger Books, 2021).

~ Henry W. Fisher, “Executioners I Have Met”, ‘5th^t of 6 ‘true’ articles with various subtitles’

~ Charles M. Green [pseud. of Erle Stanley Gardner], “The Serpent’s Coils”, ‘A Daytime Story’, 2nd of 3 stories under this name

~ Dashiell Hammett, “The Tenth Clew”, the Op [5th of 25], ‘see p. 127 for letter from DH on character in story, Creda Dexter‘, [Hammett’s first time appearing on the cover], reprinted in The Return of the Continental Op (Dell mapback, 1947), reprinted in City Sleuths and Tough Guys (Houghton Miflin, 1989), reprinted in City Sleuths and Tough Guys (Houghton Miflin, 1989), reprinted in The Big Book of the Continental Op (Vintage, 2017), reprinted in Zigzags of Treachery: The Complete Black Mask Cases of the Continental Op, Vol. 1 (Steeger, 2023), 9th of 51 stories in BM

~ Francis James, “The Sand Devil”, Prentice, Harvard-trained criminologist turned policeman with Police Chief Shannon, 3rd of 4 parts, 12th of 20 appearances in BM

~ Harold Freeman Miners, “Topango Catches a Track”, 2^nd of 4 with ‘Topanga John, ancient desert rat’, 2^nd of 5 stories in BM

~ Herman Petersen, “When a Wizard Woos”, ‘short-short; Wamaba, wizard in New Hebrides‘, 15th of 20 stories in BM

~ Charles Somerville, “The Mole”, 22nd of 47 articles in the ‘Manhunter’ series, 23^rd of 49 total articles in BM

~ Pearce Thorne, “A Jury of His Peers”, ‘brief-brief’, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Edward Parrish Ware, “’Gangway!’”, ‘1^st-person narrator; set in Arkansas, complete with dialect; mule skinner’, 2nd of 9 stories in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

clearer image but more worn

[updated 6/2/26]