bay city blues – SMB Noir

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)

“Try the Girl” (Black Mask Magazine, Jan. 1937)

“Mandarin’s Jade” (Dime Detective Magazine, Nov. 1937)

“Bay City Blues” (Dime Detective Magazine, June 1938)

“No Crime in the Mountains”(Detective Story Magazine, Sept. 1941)

introduction by Philip Durham

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]

first hardcovers were 1964 from Hamish Hamilton the UK and Houghton Mifflin in the US

From Black Mask Magazine: “Killer in the Rain”, “The Men Who Liked Dogs”, “The Curtain” and “Try the Girl”

From Dime Detection Magazine: “Mandarin’s Jade”, “Bay City Blues” and “The Lady in the Lake”

From Detective Story Magazine: “No Crime in the Mountains”