frederick nebel – SMB Noir

November 1936 issue ~ cover art by Malvin Singer

November 1936 issue

cover art by Malvin Singer

November 1936 issue

cover art by Malvin Singer

Frederick Nebel, “Make Mine Murder” (Cardigan), reprinted in The Complete Casebook of Cardigan, Vol. 4 (Altus Press, 2012)

Leslie T. White, “So You Won’t Talk, Eh?” (Duke Martindel)

Erle Stanley Gardner, “Two Sticks of Death” (Small, Weston & Burke)

Fred MacIsaac, “The Corpse in the Taxicab” (Rainbow Murphy)

“The Tongueless Men”

– Chapter 1: John Lawrence, “The Blonde with the Purple Tongue”

– Chapter 2: T.T. Flynn, “The Vanishing Prelate”

– Chapter 3: Carroll John Daly, “The Broken Bank”

– Chapter 4: Frederick C. Davis, “The Lost Stairway”

– Chapter 5: Warren E. Barrett, “Only Two Swords”

[Taylor notes in his Companion: ” This is the fifth anniversary issue. To celebrate, a contest was built around a round-robin story, ‘The Tongueless Men’, where readers were supposed to identify which writer did each chapter.“]

October 1935 issue ~ cover art by Walter Baumhofer

October 1935 issue

cover art by Walter Baumhofer

better image than previously posted

T.T. Flynn, “The Ghost Whistle” (Bill Wallace)

Frederick Nebel, “Death in the Raw” (Cardigan)

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

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

O.B. Myers, “The Corpse Master” (Det. Cutter)

May 1935 issue ~ cover art by Fred Craft

May 1935 issue

cover art by Fred Craft

better image than previously posted

~ William Donald Bray, “A Call for Honor”, 2nd of 4 Britt Hardsley stories, of the Carneal Construction Co., ‘man of murder and mystery’, 1^st person narrator, 9th of 12 stories in BM

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “A Chance to Cheat”, 60th of 73 Ed Jenkins stories, 85^th of 99 stories in BM

~ Nels Leroy Jorgensen, “Salon Piece”, 22nd of 32 with Stuart “Black” Burton, ‘square-shooting gambler from the Southwest, often entangled with the law’, with his wife Vivian, ‘they do not cohabitate’, 29th of 39 stories in BM

~ Frederick L. Nebel, “That’s Kennedy”, 30^th of 37 with Captain Steve MacBride and local reporter Kennedy, reprinted in Winter Kill: Complete Cases of MacBride & Kennedy, v.4 (Altus, 2013), 59 of 67 stories in BM

~ Theodore A. Tinsley, “Keep on Asking”, ‘10th (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’, 11th of 26 stories in BM. Reprinted in South Wind: The Complete Black Mask Cases of Jerry Tracy (Steeger Books, 2021).

~ Roger Torrey, “Win – Place – and Show”, ‘2nd of 4 stories starring 1^st-person narrator Mike O’Dell, ex-wrestler, now bodyguard’, 15th of 50 appearances in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

December 1932 issue ~ cover art by William Reusswig

December 1932 issue

cover art by William Reusswig

better image than previously posted

T.T. Flynn, “The Black Doctor” (Val Easton, Secret Service)

Frederick Nebel, “A Truck Load of Diamonds” (Cardigan)

Erle Stanley Gardner, “Marked Money” (Dane Skarle)

Richard J. Credicott, “The Three Horrible Heads” (Anthony Fletcher)

Joseph Mulvaney, “Smart Like a Fox” (Oscar Fox)

November 15, 1933 issue ~ cover art by William Reusswig

November 15, 1933 issue

cover art by William Reusswig

better image than previously posted

T.T. Flynn, “The Jade Joss” (Val Easton v. Black Doctor)

Russ Meservey, “The Swamp Lake Horrors” (Link Nace)

Frederick Nebel, “Murder a la Carte” (Cardigan)

Erle Stanley Gardner, “The Cross-Stitch Killer” (Paul Pry)

Photo and profile of Russ Meservey appeared on pg. 123

January 1931 issue ~ cover art by J.W. Schlaikjer

January 1931 issue

cover art by J.W. Schlaikjer

~ Carroll John Daly, “’The Flame’ and Race Williams”, 41st of 53 with RW, last of 3 parts, ‘pub.as The Third Murderer (1931)’, reprinted in Shooting out of Turn: The Collected Hard-boiled Stories of Race Williams, v.3 (Altus, 2017), 53rd of 71 appearances in BM

~ Ramon Decolta (Raoul Whitfield), “Diamonds of Death”, last of 6 parts in the ‘Rainbow Diamonds’ sequence that take Jo Gar from Manila to San Francisco, 15^th of 24 Gar stories in BM, reprinted in West of Guam: The Complete Cases of Jo Bar (Altus Press, 2013)

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “Hairy Hands”, 36th of 73 with EJ, ‘The “Hairy Hands” reach for Ed Jenkins; see p. 45 for statement on ESG’s knowledge of Chinese language & people’, 53rd of 99 stories in BM

~ Paul Evan Lehman, “Lead Medicine”, Western, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Frederick L. Nebel, “Spare the Rod”, 5th of 15 stories with ‘tough dick Donahue of Interstate’, reprinted in Tough as Nails (2012, Altus), 33 of 67 stories in BM

~ Raoul [Fauconnier] Whitfield, “The Sky Club Affair”, ‘Alan Van Cleve, wealthy sportsman, man-about-town, 1st (of 6) segment in The Skyline Murders series; printed as separate stories rather than conventional serial’; pub. as Killer’s Carnival (1932) under pseudonym of Temple Field’, 50th of 68 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta]

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

[post corrected 7/2/26]

February 1930 issue ~ cover art by J.W. Schlaikjer

February 1930 issue

better image than previously posted

cover art by J.W. Schlaikjer

~ Ramon Decolta (Raoul Whitfield), “West of Guam”, 1^st of 24 Jo Gar stories in BM, reprinted in West of Guam: The Complete Cases of Jo Bar (Altus Press, 2013)

~ Dashiell Hammett, “The Farewell Murder”, the Op [21^st of 22], 40^th of 45 stories in BM

~ Nels Leroy Jorgensen, “Black Burton Hits Back”, 11th of 32 with Stuart “Black” Burton, ‘square-shooting gambler from the Southwest, often entangled with the law’, 15th of 39 stories in BM

~ W.H.B. Kent, “Framing the Killer”, 5th of 6 Westerns with Killer Blake, deputy sheriff & agent of the Stock Association

~ Hapsburg Liebe, “The Regeneration of John Carter”, Western, 2nd of 4 stories in BM

~ Frederick L. Nebel, “Alley Rat”, 9th of 37 with Captain Steve MacBride and local reporter Kennedy, reprinted in Winter Kill: Complete Cases of MacBride & Kenney, v.1 (Altus, 2013), 21 of 67 stories in BM

~ Henry Wallace Phillips, “Just a Canter”, 5th of 8 with Red Saunders, 9th of 12 stories in BM

~ Earl and Marion Scott, “Seven Glass Beads”, 5th of 6 stories with ‘Cameo Kirby, reformed jewel thief’, ‘Kirby & Wah Foo Wah, Chinese murderer’, 11th of 17 stories in BM as a couple

~ Raoul [Fauconnier] Whitfield, “Green Ice”, ‘Mal Ourney; part 3 (of 5), ‘The Crime Breeders’, presented as separate stories rather than conventional serial’, published in hardcover in 1930 by Knopf as Green Ice, 37th of 67 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta]

April 15, 1935 issue ~ cover art by Walter Baumhofer

April 15, 1935 issue

cover art by Walter Baumhofer

better image than previously posted

Frederick Nebel, “Hell Couldn’t Stop Him” (Cardigan)

Leslie T. White, “Crook for a Night” (Toby Laird)

William Edward Hayes, “The Corpse on the Semaphore” (Dan Howell)

T. T. Flynn, “The Dragons of Change Ch’ien” (Val Easton)

O.B. Myers, “Grave Mates” (Jimmy McRay)

July 1927 issue ~ cover art by Fred Craft

July 1927 issue

cover art by Fred Craft

better image than previously posted

~ Tom Curry, “The Peterman”, 10^th of 23 with Macnamara (Mac), NYPD 1^st grade dick, ‘peterman’ = high explosives expert’, 15^th of 39 stories in BM

~ Carroll John Daly, “The Snarl of the Beast”, 19^th of 53 with Race Williams, part 2 of 4 serial, published as a novel in 1927 as The Snarl of the Beast, reprinted in The Snarl of the Beast: The Collected Hard-boiled Stories of Race Williams, v.2 (Altus, 2016), 28th of 71 appearances in BM

~ Westmoreland Gray, “Box V’s Night of Mystery”, ‘Western’, 2^nd of 3 stories in BM

~ Nels Leroy Jorgensen, “Stud Tactics”, 5th of 32 with Stuart “Black” Burton, ‘square-shooting gambler from the Southwest, often entangled with the law’, 7th of 39 stories in BM

~ F.N. Litten, “The Ninth Life”, ‘gangster story’, author’s only appearance in BM

~ Carl L. Martin, “Figgerin’ Roughly”, Deputy Lon Havens, Drew County, Bayou country, 1st of 6 in BM

~ Frederick L. Nebel, “A Man with Sand”, ‘see p. 128 for data on FLN with small photo’, reprinted in Street Wolf (Altus Press, 2014), 6 of 67 stories in BM

~ L. King Tichenor, “False Impressions”, ‘Told in prison near execution time’, last of 5 stories in BM

February 1935 issue ~ cover art by Fred Craft

February 1935 issue

cover art by Fred Craft

better image than previously posted

~ Dwight V. Babcock, “Murder After Midnight”, ‘Al, bodyguard, 2^nd story in series’, 4^th of 21 stories in BM

~ W.T. Ballard, “Confessions Means Death”, 1^st of 2 with radio host/”people’s pal” Jimmy DeHaven, 12^th of 43 stories in BM

~ Clue Club, “Clue Club Mystery Story Contest”, ‘short-lived contest sponsored by Warner Bros & BM with prizes, etc.; not indexed beyond this issue’

~ George Harmon Coxe, “Casey – Detective”, 8^th of 27 with Flashgun Casey, 8^th of 31 stories in BM

~ Raymond Jae Moffatt, “Dunnigan of the Morning Call”, ‘cub reporter & cops’, 2nd of 2 stories in BM

~ Frederick L. Nebel, “It’s a Gag”, 29th of 37 with Captain Steve MacBride and local reporter Kennedy, reprinted in Too Young to Die: Complete Cases of MacBride & Kennedy, v.3 (Altus, 2013), 57 of 67 stories in BM