1944 Dell mapback reissue
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selection of two connected Continental Op stories, “The Big Knockover” and “$106,000 Blood Money”:
“The Big Knock-over”, Black Mask Magazine, February 1927
“$106,000 Blood Money”, Black Mask Magazine, March 1927
better image than previously posted
cover art by J. W. Schlaikjer
~ Ramon Decolta (Raoul Whitfield), “Red Hemp”, Jo Gar, 3rd of 24 stories in BM, reprinted in West of Guam: The Complete Cases of Jo Bar (Altus Press, 2013)
~ J. J. Des Ormeaux, “Murderer’s Night”, ‘modern Western; 1st-person narrator,’ 1st of 5 stories in BM, (pseudonym of Forrest Rosaire)
~ Dashiell Hammett, “The Cyclone Shot”, Ned Beaumont, 2nd of 4 stories that will go together to make up The Glass Key (published 1931), 42nd of 45 stories in BM
~ Nels Leroy Jorgensen, “Your Play, Gentlemen”, 13th of 32 with Stuart “Black” Burton, ‘square-shooting gambler from the Southwest, often entangled with the law’, ‘Burton in NYC, features Kyoto Kara, a Japanese’, 17th of 39 stories in BM
~ Frederick L. Nebel, “Wise Guy”, 10th of 37 with Captain Steve MacBride and local reporter Kennedy ’& the usual company’, reprinted in Winter Kill: Complete Cases of MacBride & Kenney, v.2 (Altus, 2013), 22 of 67 stories in BM
~ Raoul [Fauconnier] Whitfield, “Killers’ Show”, Mal Ourney, last of 5 stories, ‘The Crime Breeders’, presented as separate stories rather than conventional serial’, published in hardcover in 1930 by Knopf as Green Ice, 39th of 67 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta]
©Seattle Mystery Bookshop
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cover art by H.C. Murphy
~ Ray(mond) King, “T. McGuirk Lends a Helping Hand”, ‘13th of 14 McGuirk stories, billed as “the quaintest character in the Underworld” & honest, more of less’, 13th of 15 stories in BM
~ Joseph Gollomb, “The Man Who Stole a Palace”, ‘study of Parisian police methods’, 2nd of 6 articles
~ Glenn G. Gravatt, “The Million Dollar Robbery”, ‘The Manhunters; for this series, see chiefly under Charles Somerville,’ author’s only appearance in BM
~ Dashiell Hammett, “Corkscrew”, ‘The Op [12th of 22] in Arizona, billed as ‘A Western Detective Novelette’, reprinted in As Tough as They Come (Perma, 1951), 17th of 45 stories in BM
~ William La Varre, “The Golden Head”, ‘A Daytime Story’, author’s only appearance in BM
~ Ralph E. Mooney, “Outside the World”, ‘attempted murder of an editor’, author’s only appearance in BM
~ L. King Tichenor, “A Just Price”, ‘The Senator’ [no other explanation], 4th of 5 stories in BM
~ Henry S. Whitehead, “The Gladstone Bag”, 1st of 2 stories in BM
~ Valleau Wilkie, “The White Elephant”, ‘Billed as “A Last Minute Mystery”’, 2nd of 2 stories in BM
~ Jack Woodford, “Blank Fingers”, ‘article; fingerprints; cf. under John Nicholas Beffel’, May 1925 issue
©Seattle Mystery Bookshop
Dashiell Hammett lived in this San Francisco building while writing The Maltese Falcon
Hammett – and Spade – lived in the top, right apartment.
Scene of the Crime
The Flood Building, where Hammett worked as a Pinkerton Agent.
John’s Grill, where Spade dined, still in business after all these decades.
©Seattle Mystery Bookshop
Frederic Forrest as Dashiell Hammett in Wim Wender’s Hammett.
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cover art by John Decker
~ John Ayotte, “The Black Cracksman”, ‘A white Hawaiian thrill’, 6th of 10 stories in BM
~ Eustace Hale Ball, “Grandfather’s Will”, 8th of 13 stories in BM
~ ‘Peter Collinson’ (Dashiell Hammett), “Arson Plus”, ‘1st Continental Op story & billed as ‘full of fire’; see p, 127 for letter by DH’, 3rd of 4 stories under this name, reprinted in The Arbor House Treasury of Detective & Mystery Stories from the Great Pulps (1983), reprinted in The Black Lizard Big Book of Black Mask Stories (Vintage, 2010)
~ Donald Feak, “Black Commandments”, ‘South Seas Tale’, 2nd of 3 stories in BM
~ Newton A. Fuessle, “The Purple Mask”, ‘Kenneth Fuessle and Newton may be the same writer’, 2nd of 2 stories under this name
~ Robert Russell, “Greggs Over-Reaches”, last of 3 stories in BM
~ Harry Simon, “The Man Who Passed Judgment”, 2nd of 2 stories in BM
~ Charles Somerville, “The Sleepless Eye”, 16th of 47 articles in the ‘Manhunter’ series
~ Willett Stockard, “Hutch Blood”, ‘billed as “a Black Mask weirdity”’, 4th of 5 stories in BM
©Seattle Mystery Bookshop
better image than previously posted
cover art by H.C. Murphy
~ Frank Hepburn Crawford, “Silver Bullets”, ‘A weird, unusual tale’, only appearance in BM
~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “Beyond the Law”, 1st of 73 with ‘Ed Jenkins, The Phantom Crook, 1st-person narrator; a.k.a Bob Sabin, private detective; full name Edward Gordon Jenkins; more often than not, stories take place in San Francisco’s Chinatown’, 4th of 99 stories in BM
~ Dashiell Hammett, “Mike or Alex or Rufus”, the Op [9th of 22], 14th of 45 stories in BM
~ Charles Somerville, “The Corpse in the Woods”, 36th of 47 articles in the ‘Manhunter’ series
~ Solon K. Stewart, “The Trail of the Feathered Snake”, ‘A Complete Mystery Novelette’, last of 3 appearances in BM
~ J. Paul Suter, “The Little Blonde Nightmare”, 2nd of 15 stories with The Reverend McGregor Daunt, ‘clergyman by profession and detective by choice’, 5th of 19 appearances in BM
©Seattle Mystery Bookshop
[updated 1/3/26]
cover art by J. W. Schlaikjer
~ Tom Curry, “The Web”, John Flahertie, the lone wolf, Macnamara (Mac), NYPD 1st grade dick, a secondary character. 34th of 39 stories in BM
~ Carroll John Daly, “The Silver Eagle”, 32nd of 53,‘Pt. 1, Race Williams & The Flame; serial dropped after Pt.2’, 44th of 71 appearances in BM
~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “Straight from the Shoulder”, 28th of 73 with Ed Jenkins, with Helen Chadwick and Arthur Hemington, “here & elsewhere; cf. ‘Triple Treachery’” [12/1929 issue], 45th of 99 stories in BM
~ Dashiell Hammett, “The Maltese Falcon”, part 2 of 5 serialized parts before hardcover publication (1931), reprinted in The Black Lizard Big Book of Black Mask Stories (Vintage, 2010), 36th of 45 stories in BM
~ Horace McCoy, “Hell’s Stepsons”, 2nd of 14 Frost stories with ‘Capt. Jerry Frost, Texas (Air) Ranger’, 3rd of 17 stories in BM
~ Raoul [Fauconnier] Whitfield, “Sal the Dude”, Gary Greer, last (9th) in the Laughing Dead series, ‘presented as separate stories rather than conventional serial; pub. As Five (1931) under the pseudonym of Temple Field’, 34th of 67 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta], reprinted in The Black Mask Boys (1985, Morrow)
©Seattle Mystery Bookshop
better image than previously posted
better image than previously posted
cover art by Onestus Uzzell
~ Carl Asher, “And This Is How It Is”, ‘short story; “a satire”’, author’s sole appearance in BM
~ John Ayotte, “Rifles”, ‘Capt. Ayotte has departed Hawaii in fact & fiction’, 8th of 10 stories in BM
~ Ray(mond King) Cummings, “T. McGuirk, Movie Actor”, ‘8th of 14 McGuirk stories, billed as “the quaintest character in the Underworld” & honest, more of less’, 8th of 15 stories in BM
~ Charles M. Green [pseud. of Erle Stanley Gardner], “The Verdict”, last of 3 stories in BM under this name
~ Dashiell Hammett, “Night Shots”, ‘the Op [3rd of 22] or as BM bills him ‘Mr. Hammett’s nameless detective’, 6th of 45 stories in BM
~ C.S. Montanye (Carleton Stevens), “The Sandalwood Box”, 5th of 10 with ‘Captain Valentine, that ‘attractive European scalawag’, adventurer and rascal’, 21th of 29 stories in BM
~Jennings Perry, “The Master of the Maisie”, 1st of 2 stories in BM
~ Herman Petersen, “That Yellow Devil”, 1st of 2 parts, ‘Madame Pinar, Eurasian’, 16th of 20 stories in BM
~ Henry Serrano, “The Ghost of the Hesperides”, author’s sole appearance in BM
~ Don Cameron Shafer, “The Hunters”, ‘tiger-hunting in India’, author’s sole appearance in BM
~ Charles Somerville, “The ‘Cat’ Detective’, 24th of 47 articles in the ‘Manhunter’ series
~ Edward Parrish Ware, “The Kid’s Hole Card”, ‘Western’, 3rd of 9 stories in BM
©Seattle Mystery Bookshop
[cover updated 11/8/25]
SMB Noir 