continental op – SMB Noir

October 15, 1923 issue ~ cover art by Lewis Kennerly

October 15, 1923 issue

cover art by Lewis Kennerly

~ Edwin Baird, “Keep it Dark” short-short, last of 3 stories in BM

~ Eustace Hale Ball, “Little Miss Muffet – 1923”, 9^th of 13 stories in BM

~ Royce Brier, “The Thirteenth Tack”, ‘Spider Klein, criminal’, 2^nd of 5 stories in BM

~ Ray(mond King) Cummings, “T. McGuirk Tries the Luck Charms”, ‘7th of 14 McGuirk stories, billed as “the quaintest character in the Underworld” & honest, more of less’, 7^th of 15 stories in BM

~ Drayton Dunster, “Aided and Abetted by the Law”, 8^th of 9 stories in BM

~ ‘Peter Collinson’ (Hammett), “Slippery Fingers”, 1st story in this issue, ‘see p. 127 for letter by DH & discussion of story’, last of 4 stories under this name in BM, though Hagemann doesn’t note it, 2^nd of 25 Op stories reprinted in The Big Book of the Continental Op (Vintage, 2017), reprinted in Zigzags of Treachery: The Complete Black Mask Cases of the Continental Op, Vol. 1 (Steeger, 2023), though Hagemann does not list this as an Op story, 4^th of 51 total stories in BM

~ Dashiell Hammett, “Crooked Souls”, the Op [3rd of 25], 2nd of 2 stories in this issue but 5th of 51 total stories in BM, reprinted in The Big Book of the Continental Op (Vintage, 2017), reprinted in Zigzags of Treachery: The Complete Black Mask Cases of the Continental Op, Vol. 1 (Steeger, 2023)

~ Robert Lee Heiser, “Fifty Dollars a Peep”, ‘alleged to be true’

~ Jones Jones, “The Talented Burglar”, author’s sole appearance in BM [hard to believe that name is correct]

~ J. Fortune Reade, “At the Bottom of It”, ‘A Strange Detective Problem’, 2nd of 3 stories in BM

~ Charles Somerville, “The Riddle of Room 14”, 17th of 47 articles in the ‘Manhunter’ series, 18^th of 49 total articles in BM

~ J. Paul Suter, “Beyond Justice”, ‘daytime story’, 2nd of 19 appearances in BM

~ Joe Taylor, “The Doublecross”, 10th of 12 tales in ‘My Underworld’ series, 11^th of 13^th appearances in BM

~ Merlin Moore Taylor, “The Young Squirt”, ‘advertised as “A Complete Mystery Novelette”’, 4th of 8 appearances in BM

~ Edward Parrish Ware, “The Snitch”, 1^st of 9 stories in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

March 1, 1924 issue ~ cover art by Henry C. Murphy

March 1, 1924 issue

cover art by Henry C. Murphy

~ H.G. Addison, “The Pain Thermometer”, ‘Daytime story’, 2^nd of 2 stories in BM

~ Harry Adler, “The Impossible Murder”, ‘A Complete Novelette’, author’s only appearance in BM

~ Marjory Stoneman Douglas, “White Midnight”, 1^st of 4 parts, ‘South Seas setting’, author’s only story in BM

~ Dashiell Hammett, “Afraid of a Gun”, ‘Set in Kootenai River country (Montana)‘, 1^st of 2 stories in this same issue, which also includes 2 letters from the author, reprinted in Nightmare Town (Knopf, 1999)

~ Dashiell Hammett, “Zigzags of Treachery”, the Op [7^th of 25], 2nd of 2 stories in this same issue, reprinted in Nightmare Town (Knopf, 1999), reprinted in The Big Book of the Continental Op (Vintage, 2017), reprinted in Zigzags of Treachery: The Complete Black Mask Cases of the Continental Op, Vol. 1 (Steeger, 2023), 12^th and 13th of 51 stories in BM

~ Harford Powel, Jr., “What Did She See?”, ‘billed as ‘A Real Black Mask Mystery’, author’s 6^th and final appearance in BM, ‘for HP, see also under Albert LEE”

~ Charles Somerville, “The False Clue”, 26^th of 47 articles in the ‘Manhunter’ series, 27^th of 49 total articles in BM

~ Richard Hoadley Tingley, “The Sultan’s Diamond”, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Edward Parrish Ware, “The Hay-Bag”, ‘Headnote: “Another mule skinner story, written in breezy slang.”’, 4th of 9 stories in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

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

February 1930 issue

better image than previously posted

cover art by J.W. Schlaikjer

~ Ramon Decolta (Raoul Whitfield), “West of Guam”, 1^st of 24 Jo Gar stories in BM, reprinted in West of Guam: The Complete Cases of Jo Bar (Altus Press, 2013)

~ Dashiell Hammett, “The Farewell Murder”, the Op [21^st of 22], 40^th of 45 stories in BM

~ Nels Leroy Jorgensen, “Black Burton Hits Back”, 11th of 32 with Stuart “Black” Burton, ‘square-shooting gambler from the Southwest, often entangled with the law’, 15th of 39 stories in BM

~ W.H.B. Kent, “Framing the Killer”, 5th of 6 Westerns with Killer Blake, deputy sheriff & agent of the Stock Association

~ Hapsburg Liebe, “The Regeneration of John Carter”, Western, 2nd of 4 stories in BM

~ Frederick L. Nebel, “Alley Rat”, 9th of 37 with Captain Steve MacBride and local reporter Kennedy, reprinted in Winter Kill: Complete Cases of MacBride & Kenney, v.1 (Altus, 2013), 21 of 67 stories in BM

~ Henry Wallace Phillips, “Just a Canter”, 5th of 8 with Red Saunders, 9th of 12 stories in BM

~ Earl and Marion Scott, “Seven Glass Beads”, 5th of 6 stories with ‘Cameo Kirby, reformed jewel thief’, ‘Kirby & Wah Foo Wah, Chinese murderer’, 11th of 17 stories in BM as a couple

~ Raoul [Fauconnier] Whitfield, “Green Ice”, ‘Mal Ourney; part 3 (of 5), ‘The Crime Breeders’, presented as separate stories rather than conventional serial’, published in hardcover in 1930 by Knopf as Green Ice, 37th of 67 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta]

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

January 1929 issue ~ cover art by Fred Craft

January 1929 issue

cover art by Fred Craft

better image than previously posted

~ Eustace Hale Ball, “The Old Gray Mouse”, prison setting, last of 13 stories in BM

~ S. Omar Barker, “The Way of the Westerner”, ‘Pecos McKain; modern Western’, 1^st of 4 stories in BM

~ Katherine Brocklebank, “White Talons”, 2nd 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), 5^th of 7 stories in BM

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “One Crook to Another”, 24th of 73 Ed Jenkins, 2nd of 2 parts with ‘Big Bill Delano & gang war’, 37th of 99 stories in BM

~ Dashiell Hammett, “Black Honeymoon”, 3rd of 4 Continental Op stories that will go together to make up The Dain Curse (Knopf hc, 1929), reprinted in The Big Book of the Continental Op (Vintage, 2017), 38th of 51 stories in BM

~ Anderson McCully, “The Rajah’s Bracelet”, ‘crime involving a group of socially prominent people’, 2nd of 2 stories in BM

~ Carl L. Martin, “The Discard”, Deputy Lon Havens, Drew County, Bayou country, 4th of 6 in BM

~ Marion Scott, “Poison Enters the Manse”, ‘1^st-person narrator & kidnapping’, last of 3 by herself, 17 stories with Earl Scott in BM as a couple

~ Edward Parrish Ware, “The Border Buckoes”, ‘Kid Shelley, 1^st-person narrator’, 8th of 9 stories in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

January 1, 1924 issue ~ cover art by Jules Erbit

January 1, 1924 issue

cover art by Jules Erbit

~ Eustace Hale Ball, “The Footprints of Doom”, 7^th with ‘the Scarlet Fox, last of the series’, 11^th of 13 stories in BM

~ Carroll John Daly, “Action! Action!” 2^nd of 2 with Three-Gun Terry Mack, 1^st-person narrator, 8th of 71 appearances in BM. The Price of a Dime: The Complete Black Mask Cases of Ben Shaley (Steeger Books, 2021).

~ Henry W. Fisher, “Executioners I Have Met”, ‘5th^t of 6 ‘true’ articles with various subtitles’

~ Charles M. Green [pseud. of Erle Stanley Gardner], “The Serpent’s Coils”, ‘A Daytime Story’, 2nd of 3 stories under this name

~ Dashiell Hammett, “The Tenth Clew”, the Op [5th of 25], ‘see p. 127 for letter from DH on character in story, Creda Dexter‘, [Hammett’s first time appearing on the cover], reprinted in The Return of the Continental Op (Dell mapback, 1947), reprinted in City Sleuths and Tough Guys (Houghton Miflin, 1989), reprinted in City Sleuths and Tough Guys (Houghton Miflin, 1989), reprinted in The Big Book of the Continental Op (Vintage, 2017), reprinted in Zigzags of Treachery: The Complete Black Mask Cases of the Continental Op, Vol. 1 (Steeger, 2023), 9th of 51 stories in BM

~ Francis James, “The Sand Devil”, Prentice, Harvard-trained criminologist turned policeman with Police Chief Shannon, 3rd of 4 parts, 12th of 20 appearances in BM

~ Harold Freeman Miners, “Topango Catches a Track”, 2^nd of 4 with ‘Topanga John, ancient desert rat’, 2^nd of 5 stories in BM

~ Herman Petersen, “When a Wizard Woos”, ‘short-short; Wamaba, wizard in New Hebrides‘, 15th of 20 stories in BM

~ Charles Somerville, “The Mole”, 22nd of 47 articles in the ‘Manhunter’ series, 23^rd of 49 total articles in BM

~ Pearce Thorne, “A Jury of His Peers”, ‘brief-brief’, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Edward Parrish Ware, “’Gangway!’”, ‘1^st-person narrator; set in Arkansas, complete with dialect; mule skinner’, 2nd of 9 stories in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

clearer image but more worn

[updated 6/2/26]

November 1, 1923 issue ~ cover art by L.L. Balcom

November 1, 1923 issue

cover art by L.L. Balcom

~ John Ayotte, “White Tents”, ‘Col. Edwards’, 7^th of 10 stories in BM

~ Frank Conly, “The Man Who Was Not”, ‘Can the dead be brought back to life?’, 1^st of 2 in BM

~ Henry W. Fisher, “Executioners I Have Met”, ‘1^st of 6 ‘true’ articles with various subtitles’

~ Dashiell Hammett, “It”, ‘private detective, 1^st-person narrator, not an Op tale’ according to Hagemann but reprinted in The Big Book of the Continental Op (Vintage, 2017), reprinted in Zigzags of Treachery: The Complete Black Mask Cases of the Continental Op, Vol. 1 (Steeger, 2023), 6th of 51 stories in BM

~ George C. Henderson, “Who Shot?” ‘Complete Novelette’, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Stanley R. Hofflund, “The Third Rider”, ‘yarn set in Mexico’, author’s only story in BM

~ Margaret Alison Johansen, “Mrs. Vandam’s Diamonds”, author’s only appearance in BM

~ Herman Petersen, “One Dried Head”, 1^st of 3 parts, South Seas; issue also has brief article, “The Gentle Art of Drying Heads”, relates to “One Dry Head”, 11th and 12^th of 20 pieces in BM

~ Charles Somerville, “The Hand of God”, 18th of 47 articles in the ‘Manhunter’ series, 19^th of 49 total articles in BM

[note: at this time, Hammett does not yet merit mention on the cover]

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

June 18, 2015

April 1927 issue ~ cover art by Fred Craft

May 1927 issue

cover art by Fred Craft

~ J. Edgar Ambler, “The Buzzard”, ‘The Buzzard & the Cracker, criminals’, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Tom Curry, “The Stick-Up Club”, 8^th of 23 with Macnamara (Mac), NYPD 1^st grade dick, 13^th of 39 stories in BM

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “In Full Account”, 16th of 73 Ed Jenkins stories, last of 3 with ‘The Girl with the Mole’, reprinted in Dead Men’s Letters (1990, Carroll & Graf anthology of Jenkins stories), 25th of 99 stories in BM

~ Dashiell Hammett, “$106,000 Blood Money” Continental Op [21st of 25], sequel to “The Big Knock-Over”, in the 2/1927 issue, reprinted with its prequel as Blood Money (Tower, 1943), reprinted in The Big Book of the Continental Op (Vintage, 2017), 30^th of 51 stories in BM

~ (Charles John) Cutcliffe Hyne, “The Liner and the Iceberg”, 7th of 8 yarns with Captain Kettle

~ Don Livingston, “No Grandstand Play”, Western, 2nd of 2 stories in BM

~ Riblew Reelhew, “Eyes of the Night”, ‘Dandy Dan, nimble & nimble-witted crook’, 2nd of 2 stories under this pseudonym, Wilber Wheeler reversed

~ Victor Shaw, “For a Girl Like That”, ‘Western detective’, 1st of 5 stories in BM

~ Raoul [Fauconnier] Whitfield, “South of Savannah”, 4th of 7 ‘Chuck Reddington story; airplanes & machineguns’, 12th of 68 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta]

Frank Miller’s “Famous Detective Pin-Up” portfolio

Frank Miller’s “Famous Detective Pin-Up” portfolio was published as PinUps at the back of Renegade Press’s “Ms. Tree Thrilling Detective Adventures”, #s 1-4, back in 1983.

February 1927 issue ~ cover art by Frank H. Harbaugh

February 1927 issue

cover art by Francis H. Harbaugh

better image than previously posted

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “The Cat-Woman”, 13th of 73 Ed Jenkins stories, reprinted in Dead Men’s Letters (1990, Carroll & Graf anthology of Jenkins stories), reprinted in The Black Lizard Big Book of Pulps (Vintage, 2007), 22nd of 99 stories in BM

~ Dashiell Hammett, “The Big Knock-Over”, Continental Op [20^th of 25], see 5/1927 for sequel, “$106,000 Blood Money”, reprinted with its sequel as Blood Money (Tower, 1943), reprinted in The Big Book of the Continental Op (Vintage, 2017), 29th of 51 stories in BM

~ (Charles John) Cutcliffe Hyne, “Fortunes Adrift”, 4th of 8 yarns with Captain Kettle

~ Nels Leroy Jorgensen, “The Stolen Rancho”, ‘border tale’, 5th of 39 stories in BM

~ Lt. Col. J.H. [John Henry] Patterson, D.S.O., “The Man-Eaters of Tsavo”, 5th of 7 serialized parts of this ex-British Army officer’s account of building a railway in Kenya, 1898-1899; book published in 1927

~ J. Paul Suter, “The Tail of the Serpent”, 12th of 15 stories with The Reverend McGregor Daunt, ‘clergyman by profession and detective by choice’, ‘robbery & murder in archeological museum’, 16th of 19 appearances in BM

~ Raoul [Fauconnier] Whitfield, “White Murder”, 2nd of 7 Chuck Reddington story; airplanes & machineguns’, 10th of 68 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta]

March 1925 issue

March 1925 issue

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “Hard As Nails”, 2nd of 73 Ed Jenkins, 5^th of 99 stories in BM

~ Dashiell Hammett, “The Whosis Kid”, the Op [14^th of 25], reprinted in The Return of the Continental Op (Dell mapback, 1947), reprinted in The Big Book of the Continental Op (Vintage, 2017), in The Girl with the Silver Eyes: The Complete Black Mask Cases of the Continental Op, vol.2 (Steeger, 2023), 21st of 51 stories in BM

~ J.E. McDowell, “The True Story of the Benders”, ‘short-lived Department of Investigations; not indexed beyond this point’ [Bloody Benders of Kansas?]

~ Donald MacGregor, “The Literary Failings of Robber Bill”, 3rd of 10 stories

~ Ira D. Mullinax, “Bas Burke Keeps a Date”, Western mystery, author’s only appearance in BM

~ William Rollins, Jr., “Treasures That Dead Men Guard”, part 2 of 3, last of 3 stories with Jack Darrow, 11th of 23 stories in BM

~ Charles Somerville, “The Clue of the Bad Check”, 38th of 47 articles in the ‘Manhunter’ series, 39^th of 49 total articles in BM

~ J. Paul Suter, “The Cat Mocker”, 4th of 15 stories with The Reverend McGregor Daunt, ‘clergyman by profession and detective by choice’, 7th of 19 appearances in BM