First Edition. Hawkins dustjacket art. Rare hard-boiled mystery by this author who died young in 1945.
first novel with private eye Cellini Smith
there had been seven Smith short stories published in Black Mask Magazine by the time of the author’s death.
cover art by John Drew
~ Dwight V. Babcock, “Men of the FBI”, 6th of 7 with LA FBI agent Chuck Thompson, 11th of 21 stories in BM
~ W.T. Ballard, “There’s No Excuses for Murder”, 15th of 27 stories with ‘Bill Lennox, troubleshooter for Consolidated Films’, ‘LaBrea Tar Pits figure into the story’, 21st of 43 stories in BM
~ Raymond Chandler, “The Curtain”, PI Carmody #3 of 4, reprinted in the anthology Killer in the Rain, 1963 Hamish Hamilton UK hardcover, first book appearance, 10th of 11 stories in BM
~ George Harmon Coxe, “Too Many Women”, 18th of 27 with Flashgun Casey, 21st of 31 stories in BM
~ Theodore A. Tinsley, “Murder Maze”, ‘17th (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’, ‘Tracy meets a Coney Island “Hindu”, reprinted in Murder Maze: The Complete Black Mask Cases of Jerry Tracy, vol.2 (Steeger 2022), 18th of 26 stories in BM
©Seattle Mystery Bookshop
[cover updated 11/8/25]
Oil on canvas, 25 x 18 inches (63.5 x 45.7 cm)
Signed lower right
November 1942 issue
cover art by Rafael De Soto
~ Dale Clark, “Now I Slay Me – ”, 12th of 28 with house dick Mike O’Hanna story, at San Alpa Resort hotel, 14th of 32 stories in BM
~ Norbert Davis, “Beat Me Daddy”, 2nd of 3 with Hollywood piano man John Collins, 12th of 13 stories in BM
~ Alan Farley [pseudonym of Mrs. W. Lee Herrington], “How Big Is the Bucket?”, ‘her 1st pub. Story; see p. 8 for brief biographical note’, and 1st of 2 in BM
~ Robert Reeves, “A Taste for Murder”, 7th of 10 with PI Cellini Smith, 9th of 12 appearances in BM
~ Curt Siodmak, “Donovan’s Brain”, last of 3 parts, serialization of the novel published in 1943, only 3 appearances in BM by the author and director
©Seattle Mystery Bookshop
cover art by Peter Stevens
“British edition of the hardboiled detective pulp magazine Black Mask. This issue is a partial reprint of the January 1949 American issue, leaving out the short story “Extra Alibi” by D. L. Champion and the article “Bullets, Ballistics And Bloodshed” by J. E. B. Cole.”
better image than previously posted
cover art by J.W. Schlaikjer
~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “Double or Quit”, 31th of 73 with Ed Jenkins, ‘last episode in his fight with Ramsey: Arthur Hemington also around’, 48th of 99 stories in BM
~ Dashiell Hammett, “The Maltese Falcon”, part last of 5 serialized parts before hardcover publication (1931), 39th of 45 stories in BM
~ Horace McCoy, “The Little Black Book”, 4th of 14 Frost stories with ‘Capt. Jerry Frost, Texas (Air) Ranger’, 5th of 17 stories in BM
~ Frederick L. Nebel, “Tough Treatment”, 8th of 37 with Captain Steve MacBride and local reporter Kennedy, ‘but not in Richmond City’, reprinted in Winter Kill: Complete Cases of MacBride & Kenney, v.1 (Altus, 2013), 20 of 67 stories in BM
~ Henry Wallace Phillips, “A Chance Shot”, ‘Western mystery’, 4th of 8 with Red Saunders, 8th of 12 stories in BM
~ Raoul [Fauconnier] Whitfield, “Red Smoke”, ‘Mal Ourney; part 2 (of 5), ‘The Crime Breeders’, presented as separate stories rather than conventional serial’, published in hardcover in 1930 by Knopf as Green Ice, 36th of 67 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta]
©Seattle Mystery Bookshop
[image updated 9/18/24]
cover art by Fred Craft
~ Dwight V. Babcock, “Too Many Slips”, ‘1st Al, bodyguard, story’, 3rd of 21 stories in BM
~ W.T. Ballard, “Murder Isn’t Legal”, 11th of 27 stories with ‘Bill Lennox, troubleshooter for Consolidated Films’, 11th of 43 stories in BM
~ Eugene Cunningham, “An Old Spanish Custom”, 2nd of 2 with Western with Pony Kerr, 12th of 14 stories in BM
~ Hugh Lundie, “A Farewell to Strife”, author’s sole appearance in BM
~ H.H. Stinson, “Trivial, Like Murder”, 2nd of 14 with ‘Ken O’Hara, fighting reporter on Los Angeles Tribune’, 2nd of 27 stories in BM
oil on board, 16″ X 21″
unidentified 1950s pulp magazine cover, similar composition to a September 1950 Black Mask issue, so perhaps this was an earlier version of the idea?
Oil on board, 21-1/4 x 14-3/8 inches (54.0 x 36.5 cm) (sight)
Not signed
[cover updated 1/30/26]
“From the estate of the American artist James Lunnon, this is an unsigned proposed Black Mask pulp cover painting which was slated for publication in May of 1940. The yellow left side field is a telling trait and was unique to the title – this format was used between January 1937 to April of 1940, with many of these covers painted by James Lunnon. There was no May, 1940 issue, as the title was sold to Popular Publications right after the April 1940 issue and when the magazine appeared again in June of 1940, it had a completely redesigned look. Our guess is that this painting was intended as the cover for the 5/40 issue, but with the change of publishers causing that issue to be skipped, and the then resulting change in cover design, it was never used.”
December 1925 issue
~ Carroll John Daly, “Under Cover”, 1st of 2 parts, Race Williams, 11th of 53, reprinted in Them That Lives By Their Guns: The Collected Hard-Boiled Stories of Race Williams, Vol. 1 (Altus Press, 2015), 19th of 71 appearances in BM
~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “The Triple Cross”, 5th of 73 Ed Jenkins stories, 11th of 99 stories in BM
~ Joseph Gollomb, “Vienna’s Scholarly Detectives”, 5th of 6 articles
~ Dashiell Hammett, “The Gutting of Couffignal”, the Op [18th of 25], reprinted in The Return of the Continental Op (Dell mapback, 1947), reprinted in The Hard-Boiled Detective (1977), reprinted in The Big Book of the Continental Op (Vintage, 2017), 25th of 51 stories in BM
~ Donald MacGregor, “The House of Flashing Lights”, ‘concerning a vaudeville actor’, 7th of 10 stories
~ Benjamin Michalek, “The Invisible Order of the Living Dead”, “advertised as ‘strange and weird story’”, author’s sole appearance in BM
~ Charles Somerville, “Trapped”, 45th of 47 articles in the ‘Manhunter’ series, 47th of 49 total articles in BM
~ J. Paul Suter, “The German Field Glass”, 8th of 15 stories with The Reverend McGregor Daunt, ‘clergyman by profession and detective by choice’, 11th of 19 appearances in BM
cover art by Henry C. Murphy
~ Carroll John Daly, “Half-Breed”, 16th of 53 with ‘Race Williams among the Oklahoma oil-rich Indians’, reprinted in Them That Lives By Their Guns: The Collected Hard-Boiled Stories of Race Williams, Vol. 1 (Altus Press, 2015), 24th of 71 appearances in BM
~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “Money, Marbles and Chalk”, 11th of 73 Ed Jenkins stories, ‘still a ‘crook’, reprinted in The Black Lizard Big Book of Pulps (Vintage, 2007), 19th of 99 stories in BM
~ (Charles John) Cutcliffe Hyne, “The Guns for Cuba”, 1st of 8 yarns with Captain Kettle, author’s debut in BM
~ Don Livingston, “The Awakening of Bash Langley”, ‘modern-day Western’, 1st of 2 stories in BM
~ Frederick L. Nebel, “Grain to Grain”, ‘Corson & Gleason, ex-gangster and ex-boxer turned dicks’, reprinted in Street Wolf (Altus Press, 2014), 2 of 67 stories
~ Lt. Col. J.H. [John Henry] Patterson, D.S.O., “The Man-Eaters of Tsavo”, 2nd of 7 serialized parts of this ex-British Army officer’s account of building a railway in Kenya, 1898-1899; book published in 1927
~ Raoul [Fauconnier] Whitfield, “Delivered Goods”, ‘aviator hero; see headnote for data on RFW’, 7th of 67 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta]
better image than previously posted
© Seattle Mystery Bookshop
SMB Noir 