boxing fiction – SMB Noir

1930 Longman, Green hardcover – cover art by Edna Reindel

Burnett, W[illiam] R[iley]. IRON MAN. New York: Lincoln Mac Veagh The Dial Press … Toronto: Longman, Green & Co., 1930. Octavo, pp. [1-8] [1-2] 3-312, original blue cloth, spine panel stamped in gold, publisher’s monogram stamped in blind on front panel, top edge stained red, other edges rough trimmed. First edition. Burnett’s second novel, preceded by his well-received gangster novel, LITTLE CAESAR (1929). The story of a mechanic’s helper who becomes a prize fighter and finally middleweight champion. Hanna 527. A fine copy in fine pictorial dust jacket (with art deco illustration by Edna Reindel) with light wear at upper spine end and corner tips and tiny, narrow chip at lower spine end.

1949 Avon reissue

better image than previously posted

a non-mystery, it was his second novel, published the year after Little Caesar

[post updated with paperback 9/27/25]

May 1932 issue ~ cover art by J.W. Schlaikjer

May 1932 issue

cover art by J. W. Schlaikjer

better image than previously posted

~ Thomson Burtis, “The Death of a Deal”, ‘Slats Kirke, minor boxing manager, 1^st person’, 3^rd of 6 appearances in BM

~ Paul Cain, “Black”, 1^st of 2 with Black, 1^st person, Hollywood, later released as one of the Seven Slayers (1950 Avon), reprinted in The Complete Slayers (2011 Centipede Press), Black Mask: The Complete Stories (2013 Mysterious Press), Lead Party: The Complete Fiction Works of Paul Cain (Steeger, 2024), 3^rd of 17 stories in BM

~ Carroll John Daly, “The Amateur Murderer”, 44th of 53 with Race Williams, part 2 of 4, published as a novel in 1933, reprinted in If Death is Respectable: The Collected Hard-boiled Stories of Race Williams, v.4 (Altus, 2018), 56th of 71 appearances in BM

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “Under the Guns”, 43 of 73 stories with Ed Jenkins, 60th of 99 stories in BM

~ Hapsburg Liebe, “The Wolf of Rowdy House”, ‘Western’, last of 4 stories in BM

~ Frederick L. Nebel, “Backwash”, 18th of 37 with Captain Steve MacBride and local reporter Kennedy, reprinted in Shakedown: Complete Cases of MacBride & Kennedy, v.2 (Altus, 2013), 39 of 67 stories in BM

~ Bertrand W(illiam) Sinclair, “The Spider in His Web”, ‘Western detective story’, last of 3 stories in BM

~ Raoul [Fauconnier] Whitfield, “Walking Dynamite”, 2nd of 3 stories with PI Don Free, 2^nd story in this issue by RFW, 58th of 68 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta]

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

[cover updated 11/8/25]

December 1937 issue ~ cover art by J. George Janes

December 1937 issue

cover art by J. George Janes

~ W.T. Ballard, “Only Proof Counts”, last of 7 with ‘Red Drake, undercover investigator for the State Racing Commission, 1^st-person narrator’, 29^th of 43 stories in BM

~ Norbert Davis, “Murder in Two Parts”, ‘Brent’, 7^th of 13 stories in BM

~ Frank Gruber, “Death on Eagle’s Craig”, 3^rd of 10 with ‘Oliver Quade, The Human Encyclopedia’, reprinted in The Hardboiled Dicks (1965), reprinted in The Hardboiled Dicks (1965), 4th of 14 stories in BM

~ Eric Howard, “Copper, Have a Heart”, 4^th of 6 story in BM

~ John Lawrence, “Club Fighter”, 1^st of 2 stories with ‘Barron Hargraft & boxing in Detroit & NYC‘, 3^rd of 14 stories in BM

~ Cornell Woolrich, “Dusk to Dawn”, ‘Lew Stahl’, 8^th of 24 (22 original) stories to appear in BM