fred craft – SMB Noir

August 27, 1932 issue ~ cover art by Fred Craft

August 27, 1932

cover art by Fred Craft

May 1928 issue ~ cover art by Fred Craft

May 1928 issue

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, 1^st -person narrator’

~ Carroll John Daly, “Wrong Street”, 2^nd story in the issue, last Satan Hall story in BM, 33^rd and 34^th 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, 1^st-person narrator’, 2nd of 3 by herself, 17 stories with Earl Scott in BM as a couple

~ Everett H. Tipton, “Hunted”, ‘Western’, 5^th 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

May 1937 issue ~ cover art by Fred Craft

May 1927 issue

cover art by Fred Craft

better image than previously posted

~ 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, an anagram of Wilber Wheeler

~ 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]

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

December 1933 issue ~ cover art by Fred Craft

December 1933 issue

better image than previously posted

cover art by Fred Craft

~ John L. Chambliss, “The Contact”, NYC PI Schuyler Blake, only appearance in BM

~ Raymond Chandler, “Blackmailers Don’t Shoot”, his debut in BM, his first published writing, 1^st of 2 with PI Mallory, 1^st of 11 stories in BM, first book appearance in Five Murderers (Avon digest, 1944), reprinted in Red Wind (Tower hc, 1946), The Smell of Fear (Hamish Hamilton/UK hc, 1965), Midnight Raymond Chandler (Houghton Mifflin hc, 1971), The Black Mask Boys (Morrow, 1985)

~ Eugene Cunningham, “Chalk”, 2^nd of 5 with undercover Texas Ranger Cleve Corby, 8^th of 14 stories in BM

~ Tom Curry, “Clancy Takes the Air”, Clancy, NYPD 1^st grade dick, author’s last of 39 stories in BM

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “Dead Men’s Shoes”, 53th of 73 Ed Jenkins stories, ‘The Phantom Crook’ with Ngat T’oy, 77th of 99 stories in BM

~ Raoul [Fauconnier] Whitfield, “Murder Again”, ‘L.A. County dicks; Hollywood story’, 65th of 67 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta]

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

November 1927 issue ~ cover art by Fred Craft

November 1927 issue

better image than previously posted

cover art by Fred Craft

~ Tom Curry, “The Raiders”, 11^th of 23 with Macnamara (Mac), NYPD 1^st grade dick, 18^th of 39 stories in BM

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “The Wax Wagon”, 17th of 73 Ed Jenkins stories, with Helen Chadwick & Soo Hoo Duck, 27th of 99 stories in BM

~ Dashiell Hammett, “The Cleansing of Poisonville”, 1^st of 4 Continental Op stories that will go together to make up Red Harvest (published 1929), 26^th of 45 stories in BM

~ Nels Leroy Jorgensen, “Get Burton”, 8^th of 32 with Stuart “Black” Burton, ‘square-shooting gambler from the Southwest, often entangled with the law’, 10th of 39 stories in BM

~ Raymond Emery Lawrence, “Riker Accomodates” [spelling in Hagemann], ‘aviator’, 1^st of 2 stories in BM

~ John W. McCardell, “The Return of Gun Eagen”, ‘Western’, 1^st of 2 stories in BM

~ Frederick L. Nebel, “With Benefit of Law”, ’boxing & crooks’, reprinted in Street Wolf (Altus Press, 2014), 9 of 67 stories in BM

~ Everett H. Tipton, “One Bad Man”, ‘Western’, 1^st of 7 stories in BM

~ Raoul [Fauconnier] Whitfield, “Red Pearls”, ‘police dick, Lou Kyle’, 16th of 67 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta]

©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’, 1^st of 7, subtitled ‘The Receiver’, 20^th 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 19^th 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, 2^nd with Craig, 3rd of 5 stories in BM

~ David Thibault, “The Contract”, ‘Louisiana lumber swamps in Mississippi Delta, Irish dialect’, 1^st 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 1928 issue ~ cover art by Fred Craft

October 1928 issue

cover art by Fred Craft

better image than previously posted

~ Tom Curry, “Supercrook”, 14^th of 23 with Macnamara (Mac), NYPD 1^st grade dick, 28^th of 39 stories in BM

~ Carroll John Daly, “The Last Shot”, 27^th of 53,‘Race Williams vs. The Hidden Hand; last of 5 loosely organized 5-pt. serial’, reprinted in The Snarl of the Beast: The Collected Hard-boiled Stories of Race Williams, v.2 (Altus, 2016), 39th of 71 appearances in BM

~ Nels Leroy Jorgensen, “Black Sheep’s Return”, ‘Flash Powell; Western’, 12^th of 39 stories in BM

~ John W. McCardell, “Warren of Granite Canyon”, ‘Western’, 2nd of 2 stories in BM

~ Frederick L. Nebel, “Dog Eat Dog”, 2nd of 37 with Captain Steve MacBride and local reporter Kennedy, ‘2nd of the ‘Crimes of Richmond City’ sub-series, reprinted in The Black Lizard Big Book of Pulps (Vintage, 2007), reprinted in Raw Law: Complete Cases of MacBride & Kennedy, v.1 (Altus, 2013), 14 of 67 stories in BM

~ Everett H. Tipton, “A Song in the Night”, ‘Border tale; Juárez’, 1^st of 7 stories in BM

~ Raoul [Fauconnier] Whitfield, “Ghost Guns”, ‘Mac, Ben Greed; 5th of 6 in Border Brand series’, reprinted in Border Brand (Steeger, 2024), 25th of 68 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta]