November 1928 issue ~ cover art by Fred Craft

February 1928 issue

cover art by Fred Craft

~ Tom Curry, “Under Cover”, DeVrite, NYPD undercover ‘secret agent’, 1st of 7, subtitled ‘The Receiver’, 20th of 39 stories in BM

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “Yellow Shadows, 19th of 73 Ed Jenkins stories, in Chinatown with Helen Chadwick and Ngat T’oy; “headnote to story provides valuable data (background)”, 29th of 99 stories in BM

~ Dashiell Hammett, “The 19th Murder”, last of 4 Continental Op stories that will go together to make up Red Harvest (Knopf hc, 1929), reprinted in The Big Book of the Continental Op (Vintage, 2017), 35th of 51 stories in BM

~ Charles T. Hickey, “Left Helps the Cops”, ‘Lefty McRae, crook’, author’s only story in BM

~ Victor Shaw, “The Tommy-Knocker”, Dan Craig & hard rock mining, 2nd with Craig, 3rd of 5 stories in BM

~ David Thibault, “The Contract”, ‘Louisiana lumber swamps in Mississippi Delta, Irish dialect’, 1st of 2 stories in BM

~ Everett H. Tipton, “Leather Mask and Cowhide Vest”, ‘Western’, 2nd of 7 stories in BM

~ Raoul [Fauconnier] Whitfield, “Soft Goods”, ‘Little Bennie, a hood, & Charlie Harmer, detective, in Center City’, 18th of 67 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta]

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

[cover updated 1/22/26]

Hardest of the Hardboiled #2 x 7

1933 Doubleday Doran advance reading copy

1948 Avon reprint, 1st paperback edition

cover art by Ann Cantor

Fast One was Cain’s sole novel

Chandler termed it the “high point in the ultra hard-boiled manner”

1952 Avon reprint

cover art by Victor Olsen

1978 Southern Illinois University Press

an entry in their “Lost American Fiction” series

1980 Popular Library 1st print reissue

cover art by Jin Campbell

1987 Black Lizard reissue

cover art by Kirwin

February 2012 Centipede hardcover

cover art by Ron Lesser

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

[updated 6/26/25]

December 1937 issue ~ cover art by J. George Janes

December 1937 issue

cover art by J. George Janes

~ W.T. Ballard, “Only Proof Counts”, last of 7 with ‘Red Drake, undercover investigator for the State Racing Commission, 1st-person narrator’, 29th of 43 stories in BM

~ Norbert Davis, “Murder in Two Parts”, ‘Brent’, 7th of 13 stories in BM

~ Frank Gruber, “Death on Eagle’s Craig”, 3rd of 10 with ‘Oliver Quade, The Human Encyclopedia’, reprinted in The Hardboiled Dicks (1965), reprinted in The Hardboiled Dicks (1965), 4th of 14 stories in BM

~ Eric Howard, “Copper, Have a Heart”, 4th of 6 story in BM

~ John Lawrence, “Club Fighter”, 1st of 2 stories with ‘Barron Hargraft & boxing in Detroit & NYC‘, 3rd of 14 stories in BM

~ Cornell Woolrich, “Dusk to Dawn”, ‘Lew Stahl’, 8th of 24 (22 original) stories to appear in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

December 1937 UK edition

[updated 1/26/26]

1963 Belmont paperback ~ cover art by Robert Maguire

oil on board, 20 x 11 inches (50.8 x 27.9 cm)

1963 Belmont paperback original

cover art by Robert Maguire

better image than previously posted

[updated 11/19/24]

November 1935 issue ~ cover art by Tom Drew

November 1935 issue

cover art by John Drew

better image than previously posted

~ William Donald Bray, “A Keg of Muscatel”, ‘murder at a winery’, last of 12 stories in BM

~ John K. Butler, “’G” – Heat”, ‘‘Brick’ Hammond, G-man’, 1st of 11 stories in BM

~ Raymond Chandler, “Spanish Blood”, LAPD Delaguerra, first book reprint in the anthology Five Murderers (Avon digest, 1944), first hardcover appearance, The Simple Art of Murder (Houghton Mifflin, 1950), 5th of 11 stories in BM

~ Frederick L. Nebel, “Winter Kill”, 32nd of 37 with Captain Steve MacBride and local reporter Kennedy, 61 of 67 stories in BM, reprinted in The Hardboiled Dicks (1965), reprinted in Winter Kill: Complete Cases of MacBride & Kenney, v.4 (Altus, 2013)

~ Theodore A. Tinsley, “Five Spot”, ‘14th (of 25) Jerry Tracy capers, columnist on the (NYC) Planet, ‘mixer with poor and rich, the crooked and the straight, trailer of trouble and happiness’, 15th of 26 stories in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

[cover updated 11/8/25]

October 1932 issue ~ cover art by J.W. Schlaikjer

October 1932 issue

cover art by J. W. Schlaikjer

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “On Two Feet”, last Bob Larkin story, 1st since 9/1929, 64th of 99 stories in BM

~ Horace McCoy, “Wings over Texas”, 12th of 14 stories with Frost ‘Capt. Jerry Frost, Texas (Air) Ranger’ 15th of 17 stories in BM

~ James H[enry] S[eymour] Moynahan, “Blow-Off”, ‘O’Brien, private dick’, 2nd of 2 stories in BM

~ Frederick L. Nebel, “The Red Web”, 10th of 15 stories with ‘tough dick Donahue of Interstate’, ‘Donahue, a.k.a “The Hard Boiled One”’, reprinted in Tough as Nails (2012, Altus), 42 of 67 stories in BM

~ Joseph T. Shaw, “Fugitive”, 3rd of 4 parts, ‘Jack Henderson, set in Far East, eg, Rangoon’, 8th of 9 works of fiction in BM

~ Theodore A. Tinsley, “Party from Detroit”, ‘1st (of 25) Jerry Tracy capers, columnist on the (NYC) Planet, ‘mixer with poor and rich, the crooked and the straight, trailer of trouble and happiness’, 1st of 26 stories in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

October 1932 Canadian issue – same contents, clearer, sharper, more colorful image

[US image updated 10/27/25]