January 1927 issue ~ cover art by Fred Craft

January 1927 issue

cover art by Fred Craft

~ Tom Curry, “The Stoolie”, 6th of 23 stories with Macnamara (Mac), NYPD 1st grade dick, 10th of 39 stories in BM

~ Carroll John Daly, “Twenty Grand”, ‘Benny Slawson, “product of Delancey Street”’, 25th of 71 appearances in BM

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “Whispering Sand”, 3rd of 7 with Black Barr, 21st of 99 stories in BM

~ Westmoreland Gray, “Slayer’s Finesse”, ‘Wallace McNeel, private ‘shoe, & police captain’, 1st of 3 stories in BM

~ (Charles John) Cutcliffe Hyne, “The Pilgrim Ship”, 3rd of 8 yarns with Captain Kettle

~ Nels Leroy Jorgensen, “The Reformation of Ace Brand”, “border story’, 4th of 39 stories in BM

~ Frederick L. Nebel, “Dumb Luck”, ‘Whitey Fleer, professional crook in NYC‘, reprinted in Street Wolf (Altus Press, 2014), 3 of 67 stories

~ Lt. Col. J.H. [John Henry] Patterson, D.S.O., “The Man-Eaters of Tsavo”, 4th of 7 serialized parts of this ex-British Army officer’s account of building a railway in Kenya, 1898-1899; book published in 1927

~ L.R. Sherman, “The Last Cartridge”, ‘The Frozen North’, 1st of 3 stories in BM

~ Raoul [Fauconnier] Whitfield, “Uneasy Money”, ‘aviation on the border; Buck, 1st person narrator’, 9th of 68 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta]

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

June 1936 issue ~ cover art by Walter Baumhofer

June 1936 issue

cover art by Walter Baumhofer

better image than previously posted

Frederick Nebel, “Murder by Mail” (Cardigan)

Hugh B. Cave, “The Lady Who Left Her Coffin” (Martin Lane)

William E. Barrett, “The Tattooed Circle” (Needle Mike)

Frederick C. Davis, “The Case of the Queen’s Headsman” (Carter Cole)

Robert Sidney Bowen, “The Corpse in Seat 2” (Kip Lacey)

“Murder by Mail” was reprinted in Hard-Boiled Dames (St. Martin’s, 1986) and The Complete Cases of Cardigan (Altus Press, 2011)

“The Lady Who Left Her Coffin” reprinted in The Mammoth Book of Pulp Action (Carroll & Graff, 2001)

February 1933 issue ~ cover art by J.W. Schlaikjer

February 1933 issue

cover art by J.W. Schlaikjer

~ S. Omar Barker, “Two-Way Trick”, ‘Sheriff John Lonsdale, modern Western’, 3rd of 4 stories in BM

~ William E. Barrett, “Behind the Star”, ‘Black Bart Doyle, chief of detectives & Michael Costigan, chief of police’, only original story in BM (there is one reprint of a story from another source, Mar. ‘51)

~ Charles G. Booth, “Sister Act”, Det. Blair & Joe Ricardo; reprinted in The Hard-Boiled Omnibus (1946), 6th of 7 stories in BM

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “The Hour of the Rat”, 47th of 73 Ed Jenkins in Chinatown with Soo Hoo Duck, Ngat T’oy; ‘the “hour” is 11pm (Chinese time cycle)’, 68th of 99 stories in BM

~ Frederick L. Nebel, “Doors in the Dark”, 19th of 37 with Captain Steve MacBride and local reporter Kennedy, reprinted in The Black Lizard Big Book of Black Mask Stories (Vintage, 2010), reprinted in Shakedown: Complete Cases of MacBride & Kennedy, v.2 (Altus, 2013), 44 of 67 stories in BM

~ Norvell Page, “Those Catrini”, ‘1st of 3 Jules Tremaine stories; Little Italy; (ed. note) a projected & potentially important series that never developed’ [Hagemann doesn’t explain his editor’s note], only these 3 stories in BM. Reprinted in Black Harvest: The Complete Black Mask Cases of Jules Tremaine (Steeger Books, 2021).

~ William Rollins, Jr., “K.O. Comes Clean”, 1st of 4 stories with ‘Kenneth Osborne from ‘No’th Cah’lina’; 1st person narrator’, 18th of 23 stories in BM

~ Theodore A. Tinsley, “Ball and Chain”, ‘5th (of 25) Jerry Tracy capers, columnist on the (NYC) Planet, ‘mixer with poor and rich, the crooked and the straight, trailer of trouble and happiness’, 5th of 26 stories in BM. Reprinted in South Wind: The Complete Black Mask Cases of Jerry Tracy (Steeger Books, 2021).

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

January 1933 issue ~ cover art by William Reusswig

January 1933 issue

cover art by William Reusswig

better image than previously posted

Oscar Schisgall, “Claws of the Condor” (Trent & Cadwell)

Erle Stanley Gardner, “Framed in Guilt” (Dane Skarle)

Frederick Nebel, “The Murder Cure” (Cardigan)

Maxwell Hawkins, “Death Tunes In” (Det. Fitzgerald)

H.M. Appel, “The Body in the Crypt”

photos of Hawkins and Appel appear on pgs. 121-22

March 1932 issue ~ cover art William Reusswig

March 1932, issue #5

cover art by William Reusswig

better image than previously posted

Oscar Schisgall, “The Death Scream”

Edward Parrish Ware, “The Skull of Judgment” (Det. Tug Norton)

J. Allan Dunn, “Out of the Night”

Frederick Nebel, “Phantom Fingers” (Cardigan)

Carroll John Daly, “The Curtain of Frost” (Vee Brown)

Maxwell Hawkins, “Murder Digs Its Grave”

October 1932 issue ~ cover art by William Reusswig

October 1932 issue

cover art by William Reusswig

better image than previously posted

Carroll John Daly, “As Midnight Strikes” (Vee Brown)

J. Allan Dunn, “The Saffron Shadow” (Fang Li)

Frederick Nebel, “The Dead Don’t Die” (Cardigan)

John Lawrence, “The Torso Trap” (Sam Beckett)

March 1936 issue

March 1936 issue

cover art attributed Malvin Singer, Walter Baumhofer, or Tom Lovell?

better image than previously posted

Leslie T. White, “Matches in Hell” (Tod Naughton, arson dick)

Frederick Nebel, “The Sign of Murder” (Cardigan)

Frederick C. Davis, “The Case of the Silent Giantess” (Carter Cole, MD)

John Lawrence, “The Dope in the Death House (Colin Barr)

William E. Barrett, “The Blue Barrel” (Dean Culver, underworld gossip columnist)

August 15, 1934 issue ~ cover art by John Newton Howitt

August 15, 1934 issue

cover art by John Newton Howitt

better image than previously posted

Frederick Nebel, “Not So Tough” (Cardigan)

Fred MacIsaac, “Murder Reel” (Rambler Murphy)

J. Paul Suter, “Dead and Buried” (Horatio Humberton)

John Lawrence, “Guilty Party” (Cass Blue)

Edward S. Williams, “Seven Days Missing” (Det. Vance)

Dwight V. Babcock, “Pearls Without Publicity” (Kirk Daniels & Marcia Winters)

Anson Hatch, “Phantom Footsteps (Det. Larry Gilden)

November 15, 1934 issue ~ cover art by John Newton Howitt

November 15, 1934 issue

cover art by John Newton Howitt

better image than previously posted

T.T. Flynn, “The Evil Brand” (Val Easton)

Eric Taylor, “Scarlet Wake” (Jim Kern)

Frederick Nebel, “Pardon My Murder” (Cardigan)

Max Brand, “The Unnumbered Door” (Dave Clovelly)

Cornell Woolrich, “Preview of Death” [revised into “Murder Before the Camera”] (Det. Galbraith)

Sam Powell, “Blood Storm”

August 1932 issue ~ cover art by William Reusswig

August 1932 issue

cover art by William Reusswig

better image than previously posted

Westmoreland Gray, “The Beast in Black (Colin Windsor)

Carroll John Daly, “Murder at Midnight” (Vee Brown)

Erle Stanley Gardner, “Forged Kill” (Dick Bentley)

Frederick Nebel, “Rogues’ Ransom” (Cardigan)

Oscar Schisgall, “The Hooded Terror” (Kent Carmiody)

Photo and profile of Gardner appeared on pgs. 123-24