Category: mystery

1950 Avon paperback original

1950 Avon paperback original. six stories that first appeared in Black Mask Magazine

“The Red Hots” (December 1930)

“Get a Load of This” (February 1931)

“Spare the Rod” (August 1931)

“Pearls are Tears” (September 1931)

“Death’s Not Enough” (October 1931)

“Save Your Tears” (June 1933)

May 1946 issue ~ cover art by Rafael DeSoto

May 1946 issue

cover art by Rafael DeSoto

better image than previously posted

~ Dale Clark, “The Early Corpse Gets the Worm”, 25th of 28 with house dick Mike O’Hanna story, at San Alpa Resort hotel, 28th of 32 stories in BM

~ Harry Epstein, “The Case of the Mind-Reading Seal”, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Julius Long, “Murder By the Carton”, 12th of 17 stories with ’Ben Corbett, D.A.’s chief investigator, 1st -person narrator’, 17th of 23 stories in BM

~ James R. McKenna, “Caliente”, short-short, horse racing, 1st person narrator, author’s only appearance in BM

~ Robert Martin, “Rat Race in Foxtown”, ‘Foxtown is 45 miles SW of Cleveland’, 1st of 8 stories in BM

~ Jim T. Pearce, “Always Leave ‘Em Dying”, author’s sold appearance in BM

~ William Rough, “My Gun Hires Legitimate”, ‘Ben Slabbe, p.i., who has his own agency; 3rd of 5 capers’ in BM

~ H.H. Stinson, “Unholy Matrimony”, 23rd of 27 stories in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

December 1946 UK issue

[US cover updated 1/29/26]

March 1949 issue ~ cover art by Gloria Stoll

March 1949 issue

cover art by Gloria Stoll

~ Frederick C. Davis, “Flaming Angel”, ‘1st-person narrator; psychopathic murderer’, 13th of 16 stories in BM

~ Dean Evans, “Frame for a Dame”, 1st of 3 stories in BM

~ G.T. Fleming-Roberts, “Something Dead Has Been Added”, ‘John Anthony Gwinn, Indianapolis reporter’, 7th of 8 stories in BM

~ Marvin J. Jones, “Sing a Song of Murder”, ‘Jimmy Bell, cop’, author’s only appearance in BM

~ John D. MacDonald, “Killing All Men”, 3rd of 6 stories in BM

~ Robert Martin, “Let’s All Swing Together”, 1st of 6 with ’debut of Dr. Clint Colby, medical detective’, 3rd of 8 stories in BM

~ Scott O’Hara, “Kiss the Corpse Good-By”, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Edward van der Rhoer, “The High Cost of Dying”, 1st of 2 stories in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

[cover updated 1/29/26, original art added 3/1/26]

July 1949 issue ~ cover art by Norman Saunders

July 1949 issue

cover art by Norman Saunders

~ Richard Deming, “Big Shots Die Young”, Manville “Manny” Moon, 1st-person narrator, 4th of 6 stories in BM

~ Frank Gordon, “Last Kill and Testament”, ‘Alphonse Bertillon’, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ W. Lee Herrington, [also published in BM as Alan Farley], “Die, Die Again”, last of 4 stories under this name in BM

~ Edward A. Herron, “Death’s 43 Days”, ‘Yukon short-short’, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ John D. MacDonald, “Heritage of Hate”, 5th of 6 stories in BM

~ Larry J. Marcus, “Through the Murder Glass”, 1st of 2 stories in BM

~ Robert Martin, “Richest Man in Graveyard”, 3rd of 6 stories with ‘Dr. Clint Colby, medical detective‘, 5th of 8 stories in BM

~ Talmage Powell, “Her Dagger Before Me”, ‘Tampa (Florida) p.i. Lloyd’, reprinted in The Black Lizard Big Book of Black Mask Stories (Vintage, 2010), author’s only appearance in BM

~ Harold Preece, “Boulevard Buzzards”, ‘short-short; Paris in 1880’, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Robert P. Toombs, “These Dead Hands Reaching”, 1st of 3 stories in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

[original art added 1/30/26]