Tag: erle stanley gardner

September 1924 UK issue ~ cover art by L.L. Balcom

September 1924 UK issue

cover art by L.L. Balcom

most contents the same as US Sept. 1924

~ C.S. Montanye (Carleton Stevens), “The Dragon Fly”, 14th of 29 stories in BM [US Jan.’23]

~ Royce Brier, “Black and Blue”, ‘set in Mexico’, last of 5 stories in BM

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “Accommodatin’ a Lady”, 1st of 10 Bob Larkin stories, 1st person narrator, author’s first appearance in BM under this name (see June, 1924), 2nd of 99 stories in BM

~ Dashiell Hammett, “Women, Politics and Murder”, the Op [11th of 25], 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), 18th of 51 stories in BM

~ Francis James, “The Long Hand of Middleton”, Prentice, Harvard-trained criminologist turned policeman, 16th of 20 appearances in BM

~ Jud Pierce, “Sunrise”, ‘short-short’, author’s only appearance in BM

~ Ray Raymond, “The Curse of the Long Tooth”, ‘South Seas mystery’, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Charles Somerville, “The Rough Diamond”, 33rd of 47 articles in the ‘Manhunter’ series, 34th of 49 total articles in BM

~ George A. Wright, “The Mountain Comes to Mohammad”, author’s only appearance in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

December 1941 issue ~ cover art by Rafael DeSoto

December 1940 issue

cover art by Rafael DeSoto

~ D.L. Champion, “The Brand of Abel”, ‘desert setting’, 3rd of 30 stories in BM

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “Jade Sanctuary”, 68th of 73 Ed Jenkins stories, ‘reader points out discrepancy in this story in Feb ’41 issue, p. 29’, 95th of 100 appearances in BM

~ Eaton K. Goldthwaite, “The Veiled Vampire”, ‘Duke Brian & Franny Steinmetz, ‘ex-felons from Philly’, now private dicks, more or less, Brian narrates’, 3rd of 5 stories in BM

~ Harvey Howard, “Red Friday”, see 2/1940 for H.F. Howard: Hagemann says ‘entirely possible HH and HFH one and the same’

~ Jim Kjelgaard, “Backfire”, ‘short-short; wilderness setting’, 3rd of 6 stories in BM

~ Stewart Sterling, “Coat of Many Killers”, 2nd of 9 stories with ‘Special Squad (safe-and-loft)’, 5th of 12 stories under this name in BM [Sterling and Stirling were pen names of Nathaniel Prentice Winchell, 20 total stories in BM]

~ H.H. Stinson, “North of the Border”, 9th of 14 with ‘Ken O’Hara, fighting reporter on Los Angeles Tribune’, 15th of 27 stories in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

February 1928 issue ~ cover art by Fred Craft

February 1928 issue

cover art by Fred Craft

~ Tom Curry, “Under Cover”, ‘DeVrite, NYPD undercover ‘secret agent’, 1st of 7, subtitled ‘The Receiver’, 20th of 39 stories in BM

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “Yellow Shadows, 19th of 73 Ed Jenkins stories, in Chinatown with Helen Chadwick and Ngat T’oy; “headnote to story provides valuable data (background)”, 29th of 99 stories in BM

~ Dashiell Hammett, “The 19th Murder”, last of 4 Continental Op stories that will go together to make up Red Harvest (Knopf hc, 1929), reprinted in The Big Book of the Continental Op (Vintage, 2017), 35th of 51 stories in BM

~ Charles T. Hickey, “Left Helps the Cops”, ‘Lefty McRae, crook’, author’s only story in BM

~ Victor Shaw, “The Tommy-Knocker”, Dan Craig & hard rock mining, 2nd with Craig, 3rd of 5 stories in BM

~ David Thibault, “The Contract”, ‘Louisiana lumber swamps in Mississippi Delta, Irish dialect’, 1st of 2 stories in BM

~ Everett H. Tipton, “Leather Mask and Cowhide Vest”, ‘Western’, 2nd of 7 stories in BM

~ Raoul [Fauconnier] Whitfield, “Soft Goods”, ‘Little Bennie, a hood, & Charlie Harmer, detective, in Center City’, 18th of 68 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta]

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

October 1935 issue ~ cover art by Rudolph Belarski

October 1935 issue

cover art by Rudolph Belarski

better image than previously posted

~ W.T. Ballard, “You Never Know About Women”, 1st of 7 with ‘Red Drake, undercover investigator for the State Racing Commission, 1st-person narrator’, 15th of 43 stories in BM

~ George Harmon Coxe, “Mr. Casey Flashgun Murder”, 14th of 27 with Flashgun Casey, 14th of 31 stories in BM

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “Crash and Carry”, 61th of 73 stories with Ed Jenkins, ‘The Phantom Crook’, 86th of 99 stories in BM

~ Preston Grady, “Massacre”, ‘Ned price, p.i., in South Carolina, 1st-person  narrator; smuggling & Chinese villain.’, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Leslie T. White, “The City of Hell”, ‘four honest cops “put the Indian sign on a city of graft”’, author’s sole appearance in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

[cover updated 1/25/26]

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, 1st person’, 3rd of 6 appearances in BM

~ Paul Cain, “Black”, 1st of 2 with Black, 1st 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), 3rd 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, 2nd 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]

April 1929 issue ~ cover art by H.C. Murphy

 April 1929 issue

cover art by H. C. Murphy

better image than previously posted

~ Tom Curry, “The Star”, 17th of 23 with Macnamara (Mac), NYPD 1st grade dick, 31st of 39 stories in BM

~ Carroll John Daly, “A Pretty Bit of Shooting”, 29th of 53 with Race Williams, ‘The Flame’ aka Florence Drummond, ‘The Girl with the Criminal Mind’, 2nd of a loosely organized 4-pt. serial; pub. as The Tag Murders (1930)’, reprinted in The Snarl of the Beast: The Collected Hard-boiled Stories of Race Williams, v.2 (Altus, 2016), 41st of 71 appearances in BM

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “No Questions Asked”, 27th of 73 Ed Jenkins stories, with Helen Chadwick, 40th of 99 stories in BM

~ Nels Leroy Jorgensen, “Crooks Assorted”, 9th of 32 with Stuart “Black” Burton, ‘square-shooting gambler from the Southwest, often entangled with the law’, 13th of 39 stories in BM

~ Frederick L. Nebel, “Law without Law”, 4th of 37 with Captain Steve MacBride and local reporter Kennedy, 4th of the ‘Crimes of Richmond City’ sub-series, reprinted in Raw Law: Complete Cases of MacBride & Kennedy, v.1 (Altus, 2013), 16 of 67 stories in BM

~ Edward Parrish Ware, “The Six-Gun Showdown”, ‘Western novelette’, last of 9 stories in BM

~ Raoul [Fauconnier] Whitfield, “The Pay-Off”, Gary Greer, 3rd (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’, 29th of 68 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta]. Reprinted in Laughing Death (Steeger Books, 2021).

June 1925 issue ~ cover art by A.T. Stewart

June 1925 issue

cover art by A.T. Stewart

~ Charles G. Booth, “One Shot”, ‘An Impossible Crime’, reprinted in The Black Lizard Big Book of Black Mask Stories (Vintage, 2010), 4th of 7 stories in BM

~ Carroll John Daly, “Say It with Lead”, 8th of 53 with Race Williams, reprinted in Them That Lives By Their Guns: The Collected Hard-Boiled Stories of Race Williams, Vol. 1 (Altus Press, 2015), 16th of 71 appearances in BM

~ J.S. (Joseph Smith) Fletcher, “The Skene-Dhu of Inverikie”, ‘A Family Mystery’, last of 6 appearances in BM

~ S.S. Gannett, “Invisible Fingers”, author’s sole story in BM

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “No So Darned Bad”, 3rd of 73 Ed Jenkins, ‘the Phantom Crook again’, 7th of 99 stories in BM

~ Richard Frank Hagar, “In Sea Bats’ Craws”, ‘Mystery of the Sea’, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Dashiell Hammett, “Finger-Prints”, letter to ed, relating to article by Beffel in previous issue [not counted as a ‘story’]

~ Arthur Kearns, “That Grahame Gem Robbery”, ‘touted as ‘A Compressed Novelette’‘, 2nd of 2 stories in BM

~ Charles Somerville, “Swift Work”, 41st of 47 articles in the ‘Manhunter’ series, 42nd of 49 total articles in BM

~ L. King Tichenor, “The Law Steps In”, ‘a confidence yarn’, 2nd of 5 stories in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop