January 1938 issue ~ cover art by Raymond S. Pease

January 1938 issue

cover art by Raymond S. Pease

~ Dwight V. Babcock, “The Widow Regrets”, 1st of 7 Beeker (“Beek”) stories, 15th of 21 stories in BM

~ Thomas W. Duncan, “The Cat and the Corpse”, ‘Dan Macey’, author’s only story in BM

~ Steve Fisher, “No Gentleman Strangles His Wife”, ‘Kip I. Muldane, p.i. in Hawaiian’, 2nd of 9 stories in BM

~ Nels Leroy Jorgensen, “Blood in the Fog”, 31st of 32 with Stuart “Black” Burton, ‘square-shooting gambler from the Southwest, often entangled with the law’, ‘Black Burton in London’, 38th of 39 stories in BM

~ Roger Torrey, “Relative Trouble”, ‘Shean Connell, private peep; last of 4 SC stories’, 32nd of 50 appearances in BM

~ Cornell Woolrich, “After-Dinner Story”, 9th of 24 (22 original) stories to appear in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

[updated 1/26/26]

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).

December 1935 issue ~ cover art by John Drew

December 1935 issue

cover art by John Drew

better image than previously posted

~ W.T. Ballard, “After Breakfast”, 2nd of 7 with ‘Red Drake, undercover investigator for the State Racing Commission, 1st-person narrator’, 16th of 43 stories in BM

~ Eugene Cunningham, “Tough People”, 1st of 2 with Det. Sgt. Bob Land, border patrol, 13th of 14 stories in BM

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “Above the Law”, 62th Ed Jenkins, ‘The Phantom Crook’, 87th of 99 stories in BM

~ Nels Leroy Jorgensen, “The Man from Monaco”, 23rd of 32 with Stuart “Black” Burton, ‘square-shooting gambler from the Southwest, often entangled with the law’, 30th of 39 stories in BM

~ Eric Taylor, “Red Death”, ‘Gene Terry, detective, Metropolitan Agency’, 5th of 7 stories in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

May 1929 issue ~ cover art by Fred Craft

May 1929 issue

cover art by Fred Craft

better image than previously posted

~ Tom Curry, “The Terror”, 18th of 23 with Macnamara (Mac), NYPD 1st grade dick, 32nd of 39 stories in BM

~ Carroll John Daly, “Get Race Williams”, 30th of 53 with RW, ‘The Flame’ aka Florence Drummond, ‘The Girl with the Criminal Mind’, 3rd 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), 42nd of 71 appearances in BM

~ Nels Leroy Jorgensen, “Gambling in Yellow”, 10th of 32 with Stuart “Black” Burton, ‘square-shooting gambler from the Southwest, often entangled with the law’, 14th of 39 stories in BM

~ Frederick L. Nebel, “Graft”, 5th of 37 with Captain Steve MacBride and local reporter Kennedy, 5th and last 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), 17 of 67 stories in BM

~ Earl and Marion Scott, “Gat Grabs the Shadows”, ‘Gat Wilson, gangster’, 5th of 17 stories in BM as a couple

~ Victor Shaw, “Pack Rats”, mining, 4th of 5 stories in BM

~ Raoul [Fauconnier] Whitfield, “High Odds”, Gary Greer, 4th (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 67 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta]. Reprinted in Laughing Death (Steeger Books, 2021).

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

1963 Regency paperback original

1963 Regency paperback original

adapted into the 1990 neo-noir with John Cusack, Anjelica Huston, Pat Hingle, and Annette Benning

directed by Stephen Frears

Donald E. Westlake won the Academy Award for adapted screenplay