Category: action fiction

December 1926 issue ~ cover art by H.C. Murphy

December 1926 issue

better image than previously posted

cover art by Henry C. Murphy

~ Tom Curry, “The Dick-Killer”, 5th of 23 with Macnamara (Mac), NYPD 1st grade dick, ‘on the NY docks’, 9th of 39 stories in BM

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “Dead Men’s Letters”, 12th of 73 Ed Jenkins stories, this one with ‘Lois Lambert, a young and rich flapper’, reprinted in Dead Men’s Letters (1990, Carroll & Graf anthology of Jenkins stories), 20th of 99 stories in BM

~ (Charles John) Cutcliffe Hyne, “The War-Steamer of Donna Clotilde”, 2nd of 8 yarns with Captain Kettle

~ Nels Leroy Jorgensen, “I.O.U. – One Life”, 3rd of 32 with Stuart “Black” Burton, ‘square-shooting gambler from the Southwest, often entangled with the law’, 3rd of 39 stories in BM

~ Lt. Col. J.H. [John Henry] Patterson, D.S.O., “The Man-Eaters of Tsavo”, 3rd of 7 serialized parts of this ex-British Army officer’s account of building a railway in Kenya, 1898-1899; book published in 1927

~ Joseph T. Shaw, “Makings”, “Western; Alexis Gregory, nom de querre of Prince Dimitri Gregorejovich Alexandrov’, first fiction by the future editor, 1st of 7 fiction appearances

~ Raoul [Fauconnier] Whitfield, “Ten Hours”, 1st of 7 ‘Chuck Reddington & Jake Bailey; aviation stories’, 8th of 67 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta]

© Seattle Mystery Bookshop

May 1929 issue ~ cover art by Fred Craft

May 1929 issue

cover art by Fred Craft

better image than previously posted

~ Tom Curry, “The Terror”, 18th of 23 with Macnamara (Mac), NYPD 1st grade dick, 32nd of 39 stories in BM

~ Carroll John Daly, “Get Race Williams”, 30th of 53 with RW, ‘The Flame’ aka Florence Drummond, ‘The Girl with the Criminal Mind’, 3rd of a loosely organized 4-pt. serial; pub. as The Tag Murders (1930)’, reprinted in The Snarl of the Beast: The Collected Hard-boiled Stories of Race Williams, v.2 (Altus, 2016), 42nd of 71 appearances in BM

~ Nels Leroy Jorgensen, “Gambling in Yellow”, 10th of 32 with Stuart “Black” Burton, ‘square-shooting gambler from the Southwest, often entangled with the law’, 14th of 39 stories in BM

~ Frederick L. Nebel, “Graft”, 5th of 37 with Captain Steve MacBride and local reporter Kennedy, 5th and last of the ‘Crimes of Richmond City’ sub-series, reprinted in The Black Lizard Big Book of Pulps (Vintage, 2007), reprinted in Raw Law: Complete Cases of MacBride & Kennedy, v.1 (Altus, 2013), 17 of 67 stories in BM

~ Earl and Marion Scott, “Gat Grabs the Shadows”, ‘Gat Wilson, gangster’, 5th of 17 stories in BM as a couple

~ Victor Shaw, “Pack Rats”, mining, 4th of 5 stories in BM

~ Raoul [Fauconnier] Whitfield, “High Odds”, Gary Greer, 4th (of 9) in the Laughing Dead series, ‘presented as separate stories rather than conventional serial; pub. As Five (1931) under the pseudonym of Temple Field’, 29th of 67 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta]. Reprinted in Laughing Death (Steeger Books, 2021).

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

September 25, 1938 issue ~ cover art by William F. Soare

September 25, 1938

cover art by William F. Soare

February 1, 1924 issue ~ cover art by Onestus Uzzell

February 1, 1924 issue

better image than previously posted

cover art by Onestus Uzzell

~ Carl Asher, “And This Is How It Is”, ‘short story; “a satire”’, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ John Ayotte, “Rifles”, ‘Capt. Ayotte has departed Hawaii in fact & fiction’, 8th of 10 stories in BM

~ Ray(mond King) Cummings, “T. McGuirk, Movie Actor”, ‘8th of 14 McGuirk stories, billed as “the quaintest character in the Underworld” & honest, more of less’, 8th of 15 stories in BM

~ Charles M. Green [pseud. of Erle Stanley Gardner], “The Verdict”, last of 3 stories in BM under this name

~ Dashiell Hammett, “Night Shots”, ‘the Op [3rd of 22] or as BM bills him ‘Mr. Hammett’s nameless detective’, 6th of 45 stories in BM

~ C.S. Montanye (Carleton Stevens), “The Sandalwood Box”, 5th of 10 with ‘Captain Valentine, that ‘attractive European scalawag’, adventurer and rascal’, 21th of 29 stories in BM

~Jennings Perry, “The Master of the Maisie”, 1st of 2 stories in BM

~ Herman Petersen, “That Yellow Devil”, 1st of 2 parts, ‘Madame Pinar, Eurasian’, 16th of 20 stories in BM

~ Henry Serrano, “The Ghost of the Hesperides”, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Don Cameron Shafer, “The Hunters”, ‘tiger-hunting in India’, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Charles Somerville, “The ‘Cat’ Detective’, 24th of 47 articles in the ‘Manhunter’ series

~ Edward Parrish Ware, “The Kid’s Hole Card”, ‘Western’, 3rd of 9 stories in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

[cover updated 11/8/25]