edward parrish ware

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 17, 1934 issue

February 17, 1934

July-August 1928 issue ~ cover art by Andrew Bensen

July-August 1928

cover art by Andrew Bensen

better image than previously posted

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