black mask magazine – Page 5

June 1925 issue ~ cover art by A.T. Stewart

June 1925 issue

cover art by A.T. Stewart

~ Charles G. Booth, “One Shot”, ‘An Impossible Crime’, reprinted in The Black Lizard Big Book of Black Mask Stories (Vintage, 2010), 4^th of 7 stories in BM

~ Carroll John Daly, “Say It with Lead”, 8^th of 53 with Race Williams, reprinted in Them That Lives By Their Guns: The Collected Hard-Boiled Stories of Race Williams, Vol. 1 (Altus Press, 2015), 16th of 71 appearances in BM

~ J.S. (Joseph Smith) Fletcher, “The Skene-Dhu of Inverikie”, ‘A Family Mystery’, last of 6 appearances in BM

~ S.S. Gannett, “Invisible Fingers”, author’s sole story in BM

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “No So Darned Bad”, 3rd of 73 Ed Jenkins, ‘the Phantom Crook again’, 7^th of 99 stories in BM

~ Richard Frank Hagar, “In Sea Bats’ Craws”, ‘Mystery of the Sea’, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Dashiell Hammett, “Finger-Prints”, letter to ed, relating to article by Beffel in previous issue [not counted as a ‘story’]

~ Arthur Kearns, “That Grahame Gem Robbery”, ‘touted as ‘A Compressed Novelette’‘, 2nd of 2 stories in BM

~ Charles Somerville, “Swift Work”, 41st of 47 articles in the ‘Manhunter’ series, 42nd of 49 total articles in BM

~ L. King Tichenor, “The Law Steps In”, ‘a confidence yarn’, 2nd of 5 stories in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

August 1938 issue ~ cover art by Don Creigh

August 1938 issue

cover art by Don Creigh

better image than previously posted

~ William E. Brandon, “Handout”, ‘panhandler in trouble’, 1^st of 7 stories in BM

~ Frederick C. Davis, “Seven Knocks at My Door”, ‘Dr. Joel Perry’, 4th of 16 stories in BM

~ Frank Gruber, “The Ring and the Finger”, ‘1^st-person narrator’, 8th of 14 stories in BM

~ John Lawrence, “Deed of Gift”, 2nd of 2 stories with ‘Barron Hargraft & boxing in Detroit & NYC’, 4^th of 14 stories in BM

~ William Tanquery, “At Stillson’s”, ‘newspaper reporter; Stillson’s – a bar’, 1^st of 2 stories in BM

~ Roger Torrey, “Death Plays Tag”, ‘8th (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’, 35th of 50 appearances in BM

~ Donald Wandrei, “Make Me a Death Mask”, ‘young artist’, 3rd of 6 stories in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

[cover updated 10/27/25]

December 1924 issue

December 1924 issue

~ Thomas Ewing Dabney, “The Drug of Ullua”, ‘Hard-Boiled Smith in Latin America’, 2nd of 2 stories in BM

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “Without No Reindeer”, 2^nd of 10 Bob Larkin stories, 3^rd of 99 stories in BM

~ Robert Lee Heiser, “The Norris Case”, ‘The Manhunters, for this series see chiefly under Charles Somerville’

~ Francis James, “The Green Enigma”, Prentice, Harvard-trained criminologist turned policeman with Police Chief Shannon, 2nd of 2 parts, issue also includes letter from the author with a small photo, 18th of 20 appearances in BM

~ Donald MacGregor, “The One-Dollar Bandit”, 2nd of 10 stories

~ William Rollins, Jr., “Dead Men of the Marshes”, 2nd of 3 stories with Jack Darrow, 16-year-old hero, ‘double murder’, 9th of 23 stories in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

April 1928 issue ~ cover art by Fred Craft

April 1928 issue

better image than previously posted

cover art by Fred Craft

~ William Donald Bray, “The Trick Play”, Western, 5^th of 12 stories in BM

~ Tom Curry, “Wheels Within Wheels”, DeVrite, NYPD undercover ‘secret agent’, 3rd of 7, 22nd of 39 stories in BM

~ Carroll John Daly, “The Law of Silence”, ‘1st half of a crime story with Charlie, 1^st person narrator’, 32nd of 71 appearances in BM

~ Joseph E. Dash, “Cass Munroe Plays a Hand”, Western, only story in BM

~ Bob Du Soe, “A Score Settled”, ‘action in NYC night clubs’, last of 3 stories in BM

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “Snow Bird”, 21st of 73 with Ed Jenkins stories, with Paul Boardman and the others, 31st of 99 stories in BM

~ Leslie N. Johnson, “The Killing of Antone Mulvaney”, ‘ex-con attempts vengeance’, 1^st of 2 stories in BM

~ W.H.B. Kent, “The Killer Comes In”, 2nd of 6 Westerns with Killer Blake, deputy sheriff & agent of the Stock Association

~ David Thibault, “Muddy Waters”, ‘fighting crooks against Mississippi-flood background’, 2nd of 2 stories in BM

~ Everett H. Tipton, “Noose Law”, ‘Western’, 4th of 7 stories in BM

~ Raoul [Fauconnier] Whitfield, “Little Guns”, ‘police & gangsters in Center City’, 19th of 67 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta]

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

February 1937 issue ~ cover art by John Drew

February 1937 issue

cover art by John Drew

~ Baynard H(ardwick) Kendrick, “Fish to Fry”, 1^st of 14 stories with Mikes Standish (Stan) Rice, ‘The Hungry’[?], all set in Florida, author’s debut in BM

~ John Onslow, “The Damned Rookie”, ‘Larry Brogan, rookie cop’, 2^nd of 2 stories in BM

~ H.H. Stinson, “Lay Off, O’Hara”, 4th of 14 with ‘Ken O’Hara, fighting reporter on Los Angeles Tribune’, 5th of 27 stories in BM

~ MacAllister Street, “$1000 a Day”, ‘Hade, private ‘tec’, only appearance in BM

~ Roger Torrey, “Murder’s Never Funny”, ‘3rd (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’, 25th of 50 appearances in BM

~ Donald Wandrei, “The Rod and the Staff”, ‘short-short’, 1^st of 6 stories in BM

~ Cornell Woolrich, “Murder on the Night Boat”, ‘police dick on honeymoon; Sergeant James Q. Bradford’, 2nd of 24 (22 original) stories to appear in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

August 1942 British edition

August 1942 British edition

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

June 1930 issue

better image than previously posted

cover art by J. W. Schlaikjer

~ Carroll John Daly, “Tainted Power”, 34^th of 53, ‘Williams &‘The Flame’ aka Florence Drummond, ‘The Girl with the Criminal Mind’, Pt. 1 of loosely organized 3-pt. serial; pub. As novel (1931) under same title’, 46th of 71 appearances in BM

~ Ramon Decolta (Raoul Whitfield), “Signals of Storm”, Jo Gar, PI with office in Manila , 4^th of 24 stories in BM, reprinted in West of Guam: The Complete Cases of Jo Bar (Altus Press, 2013)

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “Hell’s Kettle”, 33^th Ed Jenkins & his wife Helen Chadwick, 2nd of a 3-part story with The Crime Crusher, 50th of 99 stories in BM, reprinted in The Black Mask Boys (1985, Morrow)

~ Dashiell Hammett, “The Shattered Key”, Ned Beaumont, last of 4 stories that will go together to make up The Glass Key (published 1931), issue includes editor’s note on DH, 44th of 45 stories in BM

~ Hapsburg Liebe, “Red Dice”, ‘Blaze Hanson in Florida cattle country; see p. 120 for HL’s comment on story’ 3rd of 4 stories in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

April 1925 issue ~ cover art by A.T. Stewart

April 1925 issue

cover art by A.T. Stewart

~ Frank L. Benscoter, “Shola Al”, ‘a detective story’, 3rd of 5 stories in BM

~ C. Chapin, “Room Rent”, author’s only appearance in BM

~ Valma Clark, “A Little Matter of Chivalry”, “A Mystery of Real Life”, only appearance in BM

~ Ray(mond King) Cummings, “The System of T. McGuirk”, ‘11th of 14 McGuirk stories, billed as “the quaintest character in the Underworld” & honest, more of less’, 11^th of 15 stories in BM

~ Carroll John Daly, “Conceited, Maybe”, 7^th of 53 with Race Williams, reprinted in Them That Lives By Their Guns: The Collected Hard-Boiled Stories of Race Williams, Vol. 1 (Altus Press, 2015) 15th of 71 appearances in BM

~ Arthur Kearns, “A Born Thief”, 1^st of 2 stories in BM

~ Genevieve Neegard, “The Sandalwood Casket”, advertised as ‘a meek man drunk with blood’, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ William Rollins, Jr., “Treasures That Dead Men Guard”, part 3 of 3, last of 3 stories with Jack Darrow, 12th of 23 stories in BM

~ Charles Somerville, “The Grey-Green House”, 39th of 47 articles in the ‘Manhunter’ series, 40^th of 49 total articles in BM

November 1921 issue

November 1921 issue

~ John Baer, “The Silver Lining”, 11^th of 24 stories in BM

~ Walter Deffenbaugh, “The Talking Wind”, 6^th of 14 stories in BM

~ Elizabeth (Bessie) Dudley, “The Blonde Shadow”, 2nd of 4 stories in BM

~ Grover Fayerweather, “When Two Plus Two Equals Five”, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Victor Lauriston, “The Dead Man’s Letters”, 1^st of 2 stories in BM

~ H.W. Starr, “The Sheriff Takes the Stand”, 1^st of 3 stories by the same author under 3 different names (with Ward and Sterling) in this issue

~ Ward Sterling, “The Whip of Death”, 2nd of 3 stories in this issue (see Ward), 9th of 16 stories under this name in BM

~ Frederic J. Thorne, “The Death Warrant”, part 2 of 2, ‘A Mystery Novel’, 5th of 10 stories

~ Frederic J. Thorne, “The Man Who Died Twice”, ‘narrated by defendant to jury; murder of twins in Seattle & Hong Kong’, 2^nd of 2 stories in this issue, 6th of 10 stories in BM

~ Harold Ward, “The Hand of Destiny”, ‘Secret Service op, 1^st person narrator’, 3^rd story in this issue, 18th of 29 stories under this name in BM [26^th, 27^th and 28th of 46 stories in BM under three different names – Ward Sterling and H.W. Starr]

~ J.R. Ward, “The Bamboozler”, ‘N.B. It is possible that JRW is also a pseudonym of Harold Ward’, 1^st of 2 stories in this issue, 1^st of three under this name in BM

~ J.R. Ward, “The Emperor of Blunderland”, 2^nd of 2 stories in this issue, last of three under this name in BM

October 1936 issue ~ cover art by John Drew

October 1936 issue

cover art by John Drew

better image than previously posted

~ Russell Bender, “Heat Target”, ‘mayor of a small Maryland town’, 1^st of 3 stories in BM

~ John K. Butler, “No Rest for Soldiers”, ‘WWI vets, bonuses & Russ McGregor’, 5^th of 11 stories in BM

~ Lester Dent, “Sail”, 1^st Oscar Sale story, set in Miami, 1^st of 2 stories in BM, reprinted The Hard-Boiled Detective (1977), earlier version of this story reprinted in The Black Lizard Big Book of Black Mask Stories (Vintage, 2010) as “Luck”. “Sail” and “Luck” reprinted in Luck: The Complete Black Mask Cases of Oscar Sail (Steeger Books, 2021).

~ Roger Torrey, “Jail Bait”, ‘1st (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’, 21st of 50 appearances in BM