black mask magazine – Page 2

May 1935 issue ~ cover art by Fred Craft

May 1935 issue

cover art by Fred Craft

~ William Donald Bray, “A Call for Honor”, 2nd of 4 Britt Hardsley stories, of the Carneal Construction Co., ‘man of murder and mystery’, 1^st person narrator, 9th of 12 stories in BM

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “A Chance to Cheat”, 60th of 73 Ed Jenkins stories, 85^th of 99 stories in BM

~ Nels Leroy Jorgensen, “Salon Piece”, 22nd of 32 with Stuart “Black” Burton, ‘square-shooting gambler from the Southwest, often entangled with the law’, with his wife Vivian, ‘they do not cohabitate’, 29th of 39 stories in BM

~ Frederick L. Nebel, “That’s Kennedy”, 30^th of 37 with Captain Steve MacBride and local reporter Kennedy, reprinted in Winter Kill: Complete Cases of MacBride & Kennedy, v.4 (Altus, 2013), 59 of 67 stories in BM

~ Theodore A. Tinsley, “Keep on Asking”, ‘10th (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’, 11th of 26 stories in BM. Reprinted in South Wind: The Complete Black Mask Cases of Jerry Tracy (Steeger Books, 2021).

~ Roger Torrey, “Win – Place – and Show”, ‘2nd of 4 stories starring 1^st-person narrator Mike O’Dell, ex-wrestler, now bodyguard’, 15th of 50 appearances in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

July 1929 issue ~ cover art by H.C. Murphy

July 1929 issue

cover art by H.C. Murphy

~ Katherine Brocklebank, “Silver Horseshoe”, last of 4 with ‘Tex of Border Service in Tia Juana; Tex is a woman!’, reprinted in White Talons: The Complete Black Mask Cases of Tex of the Border Service (Steeger, 2023), last of 7 stories in BM

~ Tom Curry, “The Water Rats”, 19^th of 23 with Macnamara (Mac), NYPD 1^st grade dick, 33rd of 39 stories in BM

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “All the Way”, 7th of 10 Bob Larkin stories, 42nd of 99 stories in BM

~ Heydorn Schleh, “The Whitest Man That Ever Lived”, author’s only appearance in BM

~ Earl and Marion Scott, “Regards to the Chief”, 2nd of 6 stories with ‘Cameo Kirby, reformed jewel thief’, 7th of 17 stories in BM as a couple

~ Oliver Swett, “Crossed Lead”, ‘Western’, sole appearance in BM

~ Raoul [Fauconnier] Whitfield, “The Carnival Kill”, Gary Greer, 6^th (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’, 32nd of 68 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta]. Reprinted in Laughing Death (Steeger Books, 2021).

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

December 1921 issue

December 1921 issue

better image than previously posted

~ Meredith Beyers, “The Dark Brown Dress”, author’s only appearance in BM

~ Walter Deffenbaugh, “Hear Not, See Not. Speak Not Evil”, 1^st story in this issue

~ Walter Deffenbaugh, “Fit for a King”, 2^nd story in this issue, 7^th and 8^th stories in BM

~ Elizabeth (Bessie) Dudley, “Ananias Ltd”, ‘A Chinese among the characters’, 3rd of 4 stories in BM

~ John B. Hart, “In Full Payment”, author’s only appearance in BM

~ J.B. Hawley, “The Mystery of the One-Legged Man”, 8^th of 12 stories in BM

~ Pettersen Marzoni, “Fear”, 1^st of 2 stories in BM

~ David Morrison, “Thornton Smiled Significantly”, 2^nd of 2 stories in BM

~ Harry M. Sutherland, “The Weeping Killer”, short-short, 1st of 2 stories in BM

~ John D. Swain, “The Man Who Knew Too Much”, 2nd of 2 stories in BM

~ Frederic J. Thorne, “The Prisoner Speaks”, ‘A Complete Mystery Novelette’, 7th of 10 stories in BM

~ Harold Ward, “The Woman Who Cursed a Man”, 19th of 29 stories under this name in BM [29th of 46 stories in BM under three different names – Ward Sterling and H.W. Starr]

~ Henry S. Watson and Asa Steele, “The Trap Thief”, 2^nd of 2 stories in BM

~ Charles S. Wolfe, “The Finishing Touch”, 1^st of 3 stories in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

May 1938 issue ~ cover art by Raymond S. Pease

May 1938 issue

cover art by Raymond S. Pease

~ William R. Cox, “Half a Crook”, murder & politics, 1^st of 2 stories in BM

~ Carroll John Daly, “I Am the Law”, ‘Meet that implacable, coldly reckless manhunter, Satan Hall’, 1^st of 2 stories (he mostly appeared in Dime Detective Magazine), 67th of 71 appearances in BM

~ James Duncan, “A Deal in Coconuts”, 4 of 5 stories with The Parson, who lives on a ‘mythical’ (fictional?) isle, Cariba, reprinted in Murder for Pennies: The Complete Black Mask Cases of the Parson (Steeger, 2024), 9^th of 10 stories in BM

~ Steve Fisher, “Wait for Me”, ‘murder & intrigue in Shanghai’, reprinted in The Black Lizard Big Book of Black Mask Stories (Vintage, 2010), 5^th of 9 stories in BM

~ Frank Gruber, “Death Sits Down”, 5th of 10 with ‘Oliver Quade, The Human Encyclopedia’, 7th of 14 stories in BM

~ Roger Torrey, “Murder Link”, ‘7th (of 14) in Pat McCarthy series, with Marge Chalmers often his “sidekick”; he is ex-NYC cop, ex-agency man (Chicago & St. Louis) who dislikes cops’, 34th of 50 appearances in BM

~ Donald Wandrei, “Game of Legs”, ‘wrestler’, 2nd of 6 stories in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

April 1922 issue ~ cover art by William Grotz

April 1922 issue

cover art by William Grotz

~ John Baer, “The Campaign for Vengeance”, ‘A Complete mystery novelette’, 16^th of 24 stories in BM

~ George Briggs, “The Too-Easy Alibi”, 1^st of 2 BM stories

~ Walter Deffenbaugh, “A Track-and-a-Half”, 12^th of 14 stories in BM

~ J.S. (Joseph Smith) Fletcher, “Exterior to the Evidence”, 1^st of 5 parts, ‘serial re-run of novel 1^st pub in London (1920) with same title’, 1^st of 6 appearances in BM

~ J.B. Hawley, “The Extra Dozen Eggs”, author’s last of 12 stories in BM

~ George B. Jenkins, Jr., “Appearances Are Deceiving”, 1^st of 5 stories in BM

~ Murray Leinster (pseud. of Will F. Jenkins), “Pink Ears”, and 2^nd of 7 stories under this name

~ Pettersen Marzoni, “The Light That Lies”, 2nd of 2 stories in BM

~ R.T.M. Scott (Reginald Thomas Maitland), “The Trap”, ‘Secret Service Smith’, 1^st of 2 stories in BM

~ J.J. Stagg, “The Finger of Guilt”, 6th of 11 stories in BM

~ Ward Sterling, “The Brand of Cain”, 1st of 3 stories in this issue (see Ward), 12th of 16 stories under this name in BM

~ Ward Sterling, “Hankenson’s Perfect Crime”, 2nd of 3 stories in this issue (see Ward), 13th of 16 stories under this name in BM

~ Harold Ward, “The Man Who Was Two”, 3^rd story in this issue, 23rd of 29 stories under this name in BM [35^th, 36^th and 37th of 46 stories in BM under three different names – Ward Sterling and H.W. Starr]

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

September 1947 issue ~ cover art by Peter Stevens

September 1947 issue

cover art by Peter Stevens

~ Norman A. Daniels, “My Dying Day”, Rick Trent, ex-PI, ex-con, 1^st person narrator, 2^nd of 4 stories in BM

~ G.T. Fleming-Roberts, “Don’t Look Behind You”, 4th of 8 stories in BM

~ John D. MacDonald, “Manhattan Horse Opera”, 1of 6 stories in BM

~ Tom Marvin, “Blood-Red and Beautiful”, 2nd of 3 stories in BM

~ Burt Sims, “To Each His Corpse”, ‘diminutive Clint Morgan, Hollywood eye’, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Fergus Truslow, “Murder Makes the Cock Crow”, ‘Malott & McCool, L.A. gamblers’, 4th of 6 stories in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

September 1939 UK edition ~ cover art J. George Janes

September 1939 UK edition

cover art J. George Janes

better image than previously posted

~ Frank Collinson, “Death on the Prairie” [Part 2 of 2] ~ article does not appear in the US issue

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “Dark Alleys”, 66th of 73 Ed Jenkins stories, this one a spy story with Ngat T’oy and Soo Hoo Duck (‘Soo has a name for Jenkins – Sai Yan Pang Yeu: Man of the West Who is My Friend’)

~ Bill Gerry, “Autopsies Tell” [spelling in Hagemann], 1^st of 2 stories in BM

~ Baynard H(ardwick) Kendrick, “Headless Angel”, 11th of 14 stories with Mikes Standish (Stan) Rice, ‘The Hungry’[?], all set in Florida, this one in a swamp

~ John Lawrence, “Death to Spare”, 5^th of 14 stories in BM

~ Peter Paige, “I Guard Nudes”, ‘factual article; PP is guard at New York’s World’s Fair’, 1^st of 12 stories in BM

~ Cornell Woolrich, “Crime by the Forelock”, 13th of 24 (22 original) stories to appear in BM

November 1947 issue ~ cover art by Peter Stevens

November 1947 issue

cover art by Peter Stevens

~ D.L. Champion, “Down Payment on Death”, 24^th of 26 stories with Rex Sackler, reprinted in Murder Costs Money: The Complete Black Mask Stories of Rex Sackler (Steeger, 2020), 26^th of 30 stories in BM

~ Bruno Fischer, “Middleman for Murder”, ‘Willie, narrator, is blackmailer, etc.’, reprinted in The Black Lizard Big Book of Black Mask Stories (Vintage, 2010), 3^rd of 5 stories in BM

~ William Campbell Gault, “The Case of the Sleeping Beauty”, 4^th of 5 with PI Mortimer Jones, reprinted in Hot-House Homicide: The Complete Black Mask Cases of Mortimer Jones (Steeger, 2925), 5^th of 9 stories in BM

~ R.M.F. Joses, “Red Pearls”, 2nd of 3 with ‘Hollywood private snoop Duane, 1^st person narrator’, 2^nd of 4 stories in BM

~ Julius Long, “Call in the Coroner”, last of 17 stories with ‘Ben Corbett, D.A.’s chief investigator, 1^st -person narrator’, 22nd of 23 stories in BM

~ H.H. Stinson, “Please Kill Me Carefully”, “Ned Healey, L.A. private eye’, 25th of 27 stories in BM

January 1931 issue ~ cover art by J.W. Schlaikjer

January 1931 issue

cover art by J.W. Schlaikjer

~ Carroll John Daly, “’The Flame’ and Race Williams”, 41st of 53 with RW, last of 3 parts, ‘pub.as The Third Murderer (1931)’, reprinted in Shooting out of Turn: The Collected Hard-boiled Stories of Race Williams, v.3 (Altus, 2017), 53rd of 71 appearances in BM

~ Ramon Decolta (Raoul Whitfield), “Diamonds of Death”, last of 6 parts in the ‘Rainbow Diamonds’ sequence that take Jo Gar from Manila to San Francisco, 15^th of 24 Gar stories in BM, reprinted in West of Guam: The Complete Cases of Jo Bar (Altus Press, 2013)

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “Hairy Hands”, 36th of 73 with EJ, ‘The “Hairy Hands” reach for Ed Jenkins; see p. 45 for statement on ESG’s knowledge of Chinese language & people’, 53rd of 99 stories in BM

~ Paul Evan Lehman, “Lead Medicine”, Western, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Frederick L. Nebel, “Spare the Rod”, 5th of 15 stories with ‘tough dick Donahue of Interstate’, reprinted in Tough as Nails (2012, Altus), 33 of 67 stories in BM

~ Raoul [Fauconnier] Whitfield, “The Sky Club Affair”, ‘Alan Van Cleve, wealthy sportsman, man-about-town, 1st (of 6) segment in The Skyline Murders series; printed as separate stories rather than conventional serial’; pub. as Killer’s Carnival (1932) under pseudonym of Temple Field’, 50th of 68 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta]

[post corrected 7/2/26]

May 1945 issue ~ cover art by Gloria Stoll

May 1945 issue

cover art by Gloria Stoll

better image than previously posted

~ W.T. Ballard, “Dressed to Kill”, ‘Sleepy Payne, gambler, 1^st-person narrator’, last of 43 stories in BM

~ Merle Constiner, “The Witch of Birdfoot Ranch”, ‘Sheriff Britten; hill-country setting’, 9^th of 12 stories in BM

~ G.T. Fleming-Roberts, “The Creeps”, ‘William Payne, clumsy oaf; in a town that has ‘the creeps’, 3^rd of 8 stories in BM

~ Julius Long, “Carnie Kill”, 5th of 17 stories with ‘Ben Corbett, D.A.’s chief investigator, 1^st -person narrator’, 10th of 23 stories in BM

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

~ H.H. Stinson, “A Noose for Little Nemo”, ‘Sergeant Joe Terry, home on leave’, 20^th of 27 stories in BM