February 1936 issue ~ cover art by John Drew

 February 1936 issue

cover art by John Drew

better image than previously posted

~ Dwight V. Babcock, “Rat Bait”, 4th of 7 Chuck Thompson stories, 9th of 21 stories in BM

~ George Harmon Coxe, “Portrait of Murder”, 15th of 27 with Flashgun Casey, 15th of 31 stories in BM

~ Nels Leroy Jorgensen, “Shylock Is Murdered”, 24th of 32 with Stuart “Black” Burton, ‘square-shooting gambler from the Southwest, often entangled with the law’, 31st of 39 stories in BM

~ Frederick L. Nebel, “No Hard Feelings”, 34th of 37 with Captain Steve MacBride and local reporter Kennedy, they reverse roles in this story, reprinted in Winter Kill: Complete Cases of MacBride & Kenney, v.4 (Altus, 2013), 63 of 67 stories in BM

~ Theodore A. Tinsley, “Body Snatcher”, ‘15th (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’, 16th of 26 stories in BM

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[cover updated 10/27/25]

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

September 1931 issue

cover art by J.W. Schlaikjer

~ Carroll John Daly, “Death for Two”, 42nd of 53 with RW, Race ‘Williams pinch-hits for his friend, Sergeant O’Rourke’, reprinted in Shooting out of Turn: The Collected Hard-boiled Stories of Race Williams, v.3 (Altus, 2017), 54th of 71 appearances in BM

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “Promise to Pay”, 37th of 73 Ed Jenkins, with Lui Sing Fong, patriarchal master of Chinatown, 2nd of 3 connected stories (7/1931 and 12/1931), 54th of 99 stories in BM

~ Nels Leroy Jorgensen, “The Sound of Guns”, 16th of 32 with Stuart “Black” Burton, ‘square-shooting gambler from the Southwest, often entangled with the law’, ‘set in NYC’, 22nd of 39 stories in BM

~ Frederick L. Nebel, “Pearls are Tears”, 6th of 15 stories with ‘tough dick Donahue of Interstate’, reprinted in Tough as Nails (2012, Altus), 34 of 67 stories in BM

~ Stewart Stirling, (‘possible pseud. of Stewart Sterling?’), “Pushover”, 4th of 8 stories with ‘Johnny Hi Gear, a.k.a. K-5, Undercover Agent’, ‘…& boxing fix’ [Sterling and Stirling were pen names of Nathaniel Prentice Winchell, 20 total stories in BM]. Reprinted in Boomerang Dice: The Complete Black Mask Cases of Johnny Hi Gear (Steeger Books, 2020).

~ Raoul [Fauconnier] Whitfield, “Red Terrace”, ‘Alan Van Cleve, wealthy sportsman, man-about-town, 2nd (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 67 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta]

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

December 1936 issue ~ cover art by John Drew

     December 1936 issue

cover art by John Drew

~ Dwight V. Babcock, “Murder on the Side”, ‘unemployed reporter, 1st-person narrator’, 12th of 21 stories in BM

~ W.T. Ballard, “Whipsawed”, 17th of 27 stories with ‘Bill Lennox, troubleshooter for Consolidated Films’, 23rd of 43 stories in BM

~ James Francis Bonnell, “Address Unknown”, short-short, only appearance in BM

~ Paul Cain, “Dutch Treat”, ‘emeralds’, reprinted in The Complete Slayers (2011 Centipede Press), last of 17 stories in BM

~ Lester Dent, “Angelfish”, 2nd Oscar Sale story, last story in BM, reprinted in The Hardboiled Dicks (1965), and The Hard-Boiled Detective (1977), last of 2 stories in BM. Reprinted in Luck: The Complete Black Mask Cases of Oscar Sail (Steeger Books, 2021).

~ James Duncan, “Thoroughbred”, ‘Jerry Breton 1st-grade dick, & Florida Racing Commission’, 5th of 10 stories in BM

~ E.G. Morris, “Panic”, ‘petty crook’s panic’, author’s only appearance in BM

~ Roger Torrey, “The Irish Have It”, ‘2nd (of 14) in Pat McCarthy series, with Marge Chalmers often his “sidekick”; he is ex-NYC cop, ex-agency man (Chicago & St. Louis) who dislikes cops’, 23rd of 50 appearances in BM

better image than previously posted

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

[image updated 6/2/24]