1952 Leisure paperback original
cover art by Reginald Heade
better image than previously posted
Month: December 2024
September 1950 issue
November 1950 issue ~ cover art by Norman Saunders
November 1950
better image than previously posted
Robert Martin, “Slayers Burn Slow” (Jim Bennett)
Donn Mullally, “A Bullet for Baby”
T.T. Flynn, “Build-Up for Murder”*
Rufus Bakalor, “Homicidal Hobby”
Raymond Drennan, Jr., “Killer’s Luck”
John D. MacDonald, “Tri-Kill Cutie”
*reprint from 1941
June 1935 issue ~ cover art by Rudolph Belarski
cover art by Rudolph Belarski
better image than previously posted
~ Dwight V. Babcock, “Hide-Out”, ‘1st G-Man Chuck Thompson story of 7; CT, Special Agent, FBI, in LA’, 6th of 21 stories in BM
~ W.T. Ballard, “Murder Makes a Difference”, 2nd of 2 Jimmy DeHaven stories, 14th of 43 stories in BM
~ Raymond Chandler, “Nevada Gas”, Johnny DeRuse, first book appearance Five Murderers (Avon digest, 2/3/44), first hardcover appearance The Simple Art of Murder (Houghton Mifflin, 1950), then Pickup on Noon Street (Pocket, 1/52), various paperback editions 5th of 11 stories in BM
~ George Harmon Coxe, “Thirty Tickets to Win”, ‘Flashgun Casey at the race-track’, 11th of 27 Casey, 11th of 31 stories in BM
~ Roger Torrey, “Dead Men Can Talk”, last of 11 Dal Prentice capers, Magna City police dick, ‘one tough guy’, 16th of 50 appearances in BM
©Seattle Mystery Bookshop
[cover updated 11/9/25]
1960 Crest paperback original ~ cover art by Barye Phillips
Killer in the Rain x 2
London: Hamish Hamilton, 1964. First UK Edition, preceding all others. The first collection of these stories.
“Killer in the Rain” (Black Mask Magazine, Jan. 1935)
“The Man Who Liked Dogs” (Black Mask Magazine, Mar. 1936)
“The Curtain” (Black Mask Magazine, Sept. 1936)
“Try the Girl” (Black Mask Magazine, Jan. 1937)
“Mandarin’s Jade” (Dime Detective Magazine, Nov. 1937)
“Bay City Blues” (Dime Detective Magazine, June 1938)
“The Lady in the Lake” (Dime Detective Magazine, Jan. 1939)
“No Crime in the Mountains”(Detective Story Magazine, Sept. 1941)
introduction by Philip Durham
1st Pocket edition, December 1965
June 1973 Bantam reissue
cover art by Tom Adams
July 1977 Ballantine mass market, 3rd print
cover art by Whistlin’ Dixie
[post reworked 7/4/25]
Pickup on Noon Street x 7
cover art by Tom Dunn
better image than previously posted
cover art by Robert Maguire
1965 Pocket reissue (7th printing, October of ’65)
better image than previously posted
June 1973 Ballantine reissue*
cover art by Tom Adams
1977 Ballantine mass market, 3rd print*
cover art by Whistlin’ Dixie
cover art credited to Richard Waldrep
“Pickup On Noon Street” (Detective Fiction Weekly, May 1936, originally titled “Noon Street Nemesis”)
“Smart-Aleck Kill” (Black Mask Magazine, July 1934)
“Guns at Cyrano’s” (Black Mask Magazine, Jan. 1936)
“Nevada Gas” (Black Mask Magazine, June 1936)
these stories were first gathered into a book in 1950, Houghton Mifflin’s The Simple Art of Murder
[*covers from owner’s own copies]
[updated 6/6/25]
The Simple Art of Murder x 2
June 1972 Ballantine reissue, 1st print
cover art by Tom Adams
1977 Ballantine mass market, 3rd print
includes:
“The Simple Art of Murder” (Atlantic Monthly, Dec. 1944)
“Spanish Blood” (Black Mask Magazine, Nov. 1935)
“I’ll Be Waiting” (Saturday Evening Post, Dec. 1939)
“The King in Yellow” (Dime Detective Magazine, Mar. 1938)
“Pearls are a Nuisance” (Dime Detective Magazine, April 1939)
cover art by Whistlin’ Dixie
[covers from owner’s own copies]
Trouble is My Business x 2
June 1973 Ballantine reissue
cover art by Tom Adams
1977 Ballantine mass market, 3rd printing
includes:
introduction by Raymond Chandler, originally from The Simple Art of Murder (Houghton Mifflin, 1950)
“Trouble is My Business” (Dime Detective Magazine, Aug. 1939)
“Finger Man” (Black Mask Magazine, Oct. 1934)
“Goldfish” (Black Mask Magazine, June 1936)
“Red Wind” (Dime Detective Magazine, Jan. 1938)
cover art by Whistlin’ Dixie
[covers from owner’s own copies]
SMB Noir 