Category: western fiction

January 1928 issue ~ cover art by Fred Craft

January 1928 issue

cover art by Fred Craft

~ Louis Victor Eytinge, “When Fingerprints Lied”, ‘Paul Prentiss, former pete-man (safe blower)’, 2nd of 2 stories in BM

~ Westmoreland Gray, “Guns of Silence”, ‘Vic Cammack, reporter, & Jerry the Yegg, crook, vs. bandits’, last of 3 stories in BM

~ Dashiell Hammett, “Dynamite”, 3rd 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), 34th of 51 stories in BM

~ Nels Leroy Jorgensen, “The Faith o’ MacGown”, 1st of 3 with Rio Kennedy of the Customs Service in Santo Domingo, 11th of 39 stories in BM

~ Carl L. Martin, “Pore Pickin’s”, Deputy Lon Havens, Drew County, Bayou country, ‘bank robbery & Mississippi River flood, dialect used’, 2nd of 6 in BM

~ Frederick L. Nebel, “The Penalty of the Code”, ‘the code of silence’, reprinted in Street Wolf (Altus Press, 2014), 10 of 67 stories in BM

~ William S. Newell, “A Man Reforms”, ‘Louse’ Eller, a punk criminal, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Stephen Payne, “The Fifth Loop”, ‘Western‘, 1st of 2 stories in BM

~ L.R. Sherman, “The Man Who Would Not Quit”, ‘Far North’, 2nd of 3 stories in BM

~ Raoul [Fauconnier] Whitfield, “The Sky’s the Limit”, last of 7 Chuck Reddington story; ‘airplanes & machineguns’, 17th of 68 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta]

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

April 1, 1924 issue ~ cover art by H.C. Murphy

April 1, 1924 issue

cover art by H.C. Murphy

better image than previously posted

~ Charles G. Booth, “The Malevolent Bequest”, 3rd of 7 stories in BM

~ Marjory Stoneman Douglas, “White Midnight”, 3rd of 4 parts, ‘South Seas setting’, author’s only story in BM

~ Dashiell Hammett, “One Hour”, the Op [8th of 25], reprinted in The Return of the Continental Op (Dell mapback, 1947), reprinted in Nightmare Town (Knopf, 1999), 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), 14th of 45 stories in BM

~ Harold Freeman Miners, “Twisted Trails”, ‘Western’, 3rd of 5 stories in BM

~ Frederick Moore, “Jerauld of Beranda Island”, “called ‘A detective story of the sea’”, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ William Rollins, Jr., “The Ring of the Hand of the Dead”, see “Footsteps of the Dead” (May 1934), for sequel, 6th of 23 stories in BM

~ Charles Somerville, “Numbers and Threads”, ‘Detective James McCoy, NYPD’, 27th of 47 articles in the ‘Manhunter’ series, 28th of 49 total articles in BM

~ Merlin Moore Taylor, “Ivywild”, part 2 of 2, ‘family secret in ancient English castle’, 7th of 8 appearances in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

August 1929 issue ~ cover art by Fred Craft

August 1929 issue

cover art by Fred Craft

~ Peter Ames Cressey, “Do Your Stuff, Ranger”, ‘Western with Carnes’, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “Spawn of the Night”, 8th of 10 Bob Larkin stories, listed incorrectly in the Table of Contents as ‘Hanging Friday’, 43rd of 99 stories in BM

~ Dashiell Hammett, “Fly Paper”, ‘the Op [23rd of 25] & arsenical fly paper, reprinted The Hard-Boiled Omnibus (1946)’, reprinted in The Big Book of the Continental Op (Vintage, 2017), 40th of 51 stories of BM

~ Earl and Marion Scott, “The Other Cameo”, 3rd of 6 stories with ‘Cameo Kirby, reformed jewel thief’, 8th of 17 stories in BM as a couple

~ Victor Shaw, “Birds of Prey”, ‘getaway from a road gang’, last of 5 stories in BM

~ Raoul [Fauconnier] Whitfield, “River Street Death”, Gary Greer, 7th (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’, 33rd of 68 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta]. Reprinted in Laughing Death (Steeger Books, 2021).

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

December 1930 issue ~ cover art by J.W. Schlaikjer

December 1930 issue

cover art by J.W. Schlaikjer

~ Ramon Decolta (Raoul Whitfield), “The Caleso Murders”, 1st story by RFW in this issue, 8th of 24 Jo Gar stories in BM, reprinted in West of Guam: The Complete Cases of Jo Bar (Altus Press, 2013)

~ Nels Leroy Jorgensen, “Racketeers’ Reef”, last of 3 with Rio Kennedy of the Customs Service in Santo Domingo, 20th of 39 stories in BM

~ Horace McCoy, “The Mailed Fist”, 8th of 14 Frost stories ’Capt. Jerry Frost, Texas (Air) Ranger & Stepsons have a go at ‘The Big Shot’, 9th of 17 stories in BM

~ Frederick L. Nebel, “The Red-Hots”, 2nd of 15 stories with ‘tough dick Donahue of Interstate’, reprinted in Tough as Nails (2012, Altus), 27 of 67 stories in BM

~ James P. Olsen, “Honor of the Show”, ‘deformed sideshow owner, Price Eco, and murder’, 3rd of 6 Western stories in BM

~ Bertrand W(illiam) Sinclair, “Rope’s End”, ‘Western; Bill Stokes’, 1st of 3 stories in BM

~ Raoul [Fauconnier] Whitfield, “Murder in the Ring”, ‘boxing, gamblers, racketeers, with Primo-Carnera-like boxer’; reprinted in May ’51 issue, 2nd story in this issue, 44th of 67 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta]

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop