
cover art by Emmett Watson


cover art by William Reusswig
better image than previously posted
Erle Stanley Gardner, “Time for Murder” (George Brokay)
John Lawrence, “The Scarlet Casket (Sam Beckett)
Leslie T. White, “The Zodiac Clue” (Bart Shane)
Jan Dana, “Panamint Oil”
George Alden Edson, “The Death Club” (Larry Sall)


cover art by Harry Stoner
better image than previously posted
~ W.T. Ballard, “This is Murder”, 18th of 27 stories with ‘Bill Lennox, troubleshooter for Consolidated Films’, 24th of 43 stories in BM
~ Hugh B. Cave, “Dead Dog”, ‘Pooch Hanley a cop who likes dogs’, 2nd of 9 stories in BM
~ James Duncan, “Double Trouble”, 1st of 5 stories with ‘The Parson, who lives on a ‘mythical’ (fictional?) isle, Cariba’, set in Havana, reprinted in Murder for Pennies: The Complete Black Mask Cases of the Parson (Steeger, 2024), 6th of 10 stories in BM
~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “This Way Out”, 64th Ed Jenkins ‘as Bob Sabin; with Ngat T’oy’, same title as 3/1927 but different story, 89th of 99 stories in BM
~ Eric Howard, “The Mugg from Frisco”, ‘Kelly, 1st person narrator & some shady politics’, 1st of 6 stories in BM
~ H. Randolph Peacock, “Dead Alibi”, 1st of 3 with Otto, department store dick, making ‘$40 a week at Klineman’s‘, ‘see p. 127 for word on HRP‘, 1st of 4 stories in BM
~ Cole Richards, “No Reprieve”, ‘short-short’, author’s sole appearance in BM
~ Roger Torrey, “Always a Lady”, ‘Lieutenant Delehanty, a cop’, 26th of 50 appearances in BM
©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

January 1932 – debut issue of only 7 published – one of the rarest of collectable pulps
cover art by Delos Palmer
better image than previously posted
[cover updated 2/11/26]

7th with private eyes Bertha Cool and Donald Lam

1948 Dell reissue – cover art by Gerald Gregg
better image than previously posed

1953 Dell reissue – cover art by Robert Stanley



1963 Dell reissue – cover art by Ron Lesser

1966 Dell reissue – cover art by Robert Abbett

cover art by Fred Craft
~ Peter Ames Cressey, “Do Your Stuff, Ranger”, ‘Western with Carnes’, author’s sole appearance in BM
~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “Spawn of the Night”, 8th of 10 Bob Larkin stories, listed incorrectly in the Table of Contents as ‘Hanging Friday’, 43rd of 99 stories in BM
~ Dashiell Hammett, “Fly Paper”, ‘the Op [23rd of 25] & arsenical fly paper, reprinted The Hard-Boiled Omnibus (1946)’, reprinted in The Big Book of the Continental Op (Vintage, 2017), 40th of 51 stories of BM
~ Earl and Marion Scott, “The Other Cameo”, 3rd of 6 stories with ‘Cameo Kirby, reformed jewel thief’, 8th of 17 stories in BM as a couple
~ Victor Shaw, “Birds of Prey”, ‘getaway from a road gang’, last of 5 stories in BM
~ Raoul [Fauconnier] Whitfield, “River Street Death”, Gary Greer, 7th (of 9) in the Laughing Dead series, ‘presented as separate stories rather than conventional serial; pub. As Five (1931) under the pseudonym of Temple Field’, 33rd of 68 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta]. Reprinted in Laughing Death (Steeger Books, 2021).
©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

March 1932 – first of only two issues published
cover art by William Reusswig
“this rare pulp re-packages contents from ‘Gang World'”
better image than previously posted

cover art by Fred Craft
~ Tom Curry, “The System”, DeVrite, NYPD undercover ‘secret agent’, 4th of 7, subtitled ‘The Receiver’, 23rd of 39 stories in BM
~ Carroll John Daly, “The Law of Silence”, ‘pt. 2 Crime story (subtitled “The Show-Down”) with Charlie, 1st -person narrator’
~ Carroll John Daly, “Wrong Street”, 2nd story in the issue, last Satan Hall story in BM, 33rd and 34th appearances in BM
~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “Out of the Shadows”, 22nd of 73 with Ed Jenkins, in Chinatown with Soo Hoo Duck, Ngat T’oy and Helen Chadwick, 32nd of 99 stories in BM
~ W.H.B. Kent, “The Killer Finds a Horseshoe”, 3rd of 6 Westerns with Killer Blake, deputy sheriff & agent of the Stock Association
~ Henry Leverage, “The Gopher”, “Tony Fishera, alias ‘The Crawler, aka ‘The Gopher’ – gangster”, 2nd of 2 stories in BM
~ Marion Scott, “Fools Rush In”, ‘Steve Burke, tenderfoot lumberjack, 1st-person narrator’, 2nd of 3 by herself, 17 stories with Earl Scott in BM as a couple
~ Everett H. Tipton, “Hunted”, ‘Western’, 5th of 7 stories in BM
~ Raoul [Fauconnier] Whitfield, “Black Murder”, ‘Verner, Federal man, & greyhound racing; Black Murder = dog’, 20th of 68 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta]
~ Clee Woods, “Hoofprints of Law”, ‘Western; subtitled, “A Neck in a Noose”’, author’s sole appearance in BM
©Seattle Mystery Bookshop