August 1, 1923 issue

August 1, 1923 issue

cover art by Jules Erbit?

better image than previously posted

~ John Baer, “A Wholesaler in Crime”, ‘compete mystery novelette’, his last of 24 stories in BM

~ Edwin Baird, “This Way Out”, short-short, 1st of 3 stories in BM

~ Peter Chance, “The Scarlet Scalpel”, only appearance in BM

~ Ray(mond King) Cummings, “T. McGuirk – Detective”, ‘5th of 14 McGuirk stories, billed as “the quaintest character in the Underworld” & honest, more of less’, 5th of 15 stories in BM

~ Arthur Fetter, “The Treachery of Spike McGuire”, ‘A Queer Glimpse of the Underworld’, author’s only appearance in BM

~ Henry W. Fisher, “Odd Bits”, ‘short-lived feature; not indexed past this point’

~ Geoffrey Foster, “Bedlam”, ‘short-short’, author’s only appearance in BM

~ Kenneth Fuessle, “Superstition”, ‘Adventure in Weird Surroundings’, author’s only appearance in BM

~ K. Godwin, “Conscience”, ‘Billed as BM’s “first one-act play”’, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Robert Lee Heiser, “The World’s Greatest Mystery”, ‘true account of the murder of Clare Stone, a child, in Baltimore; would occupy readers for some time; not indexed beyond this point’

~ William Rollins, Jr., “A Song of India”, ‘billed as an ‘Oriental adventure in a small town’, 3rd of 23 stories in BM

~ Charles Somerville, “The Camp Dix Mystery”, 12th of 47 articles in the ‘Manhunter’ series, 13th of 49 total articles in BM

~ Merlin Moore Taylor, “One of Five”, part 1 of 2, 2nd of 8 appearances in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

October 1922 issue

October 1922 issue

~ Carroll John Daly, “Dolly”, ‘1st person narrated mood piece…see p. 65 for editorial comment on story’, reprinted in Them That Lives By Their Guns: The Collected Hard-Boiled Stories of Race Williams, Vol. 1 (Altus Press, 2015), 1st of 71 appearances in BM

~ David Dart, “Parker Proves His Theory”, 1st of 2 stories in BM

~ Frederick C. Davis, “Floating Pearls”, 2nd of 16 stories in BM

~ Mary Browne, “Man, Woman and the Iceman”, sole appearance in BM

~ Henry W. Fisher, “The Truth About the Belgrade Assassinations”, ‘Murders of King Alexander & Queen Dragna of Serbia in 1903’, 1st of 7 long pieces in BM

~ Jack J. Gottlieb, “Ling the Lucky”, ‘Chinese gunman Ling Yar in San Francisco’, author’s 6th of 8 stories

~ Francis F. Gregory, “A Pile of Dust”, author’s sole story in BM

~ Francis James, “The Sand Devil”, ‘billed as “A Complete Novelette of Mystery and Action…This weird story should be ready by daylight”; debut of Prentice, Harvard-trained criminologist, turned policeman’, 1st of 20 appearances in BM

~ Murray Leinster (pseud. of Will F. Jenkins), “The Wallet That Weighed Too Much”, 5th of 7 stories in BM

~ Herman Petersen, “A Gold-Digger’s Man” and “Half Across the World”, 3rd and 4th of 20 stories in BM

~ Howard P. Rockey, “False Witness”, last of 5 stories in BM

~ Robert Russell, “Suspiciously Good Behavior”, 1st of 3 stories in BM

~ Robert E(mmett) Sherwood, “Film Thrillers”, film-review series, short –lived department, not indexed beyond this issue

~ Ward Sterling, “The Concrete Facts About Thomas Hancock”, last of 16 stories under this name in BM [44th of 46 stories in BM under three different names – Harold Ward and H.W. Starr]

~ J. Ainsworth Wood, “Beyond”, ‘brief-brief’, author’s only appearance in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

December 1, 1923 issue ~ cover art by L.L. Balcom

December 1, 1923 issue

 cover art by L.L. Balcom

~ Eustace Hale Ball,“When 7539 Went Black”, ‘7539 is a convict’, 10th of 13 stories in BM

~ Henry W. Fisher, “Executioners I Have Met”, ‘3rdt of 6 ‘true’ articles with various subtitles’

~ Francis James, “The Sand Devil”, Prentice, Harvard-trained criminologist turned policeman with Police Chief Shannon, 1st of 4 parts, 10th of 20 appearances in BM

~ Dashiell Hammett, “Bodies Pile Up”, Continental Op, 4th of 25, reprinted in The Black Mask Boys (1985, Morrow), reprinted in Nightmare Town as “House Dick” (Knopf, 1999), reprinted in The Big Book of the Continental Op (Vintage, 2017), reprinted in Zigzags of Treachery: The Complete Black Mask Cases of the Continental Op, Vol. 1 (Steeger, 2023), 8th of 51 stories in BM

~ Fred McLaughlin, “The White Streak”, author’s only appearance in BM

~ Harold Freeman Miners, “Oscar the Terrible”, 1st of 4 with ‘Topanga John, ancient desert rat’, 1st of 5 stories in BM

~ Herman Petersen, “One Dried Head”, last of 3 parts, South Seas, 13th of 20 stories in BM

~ Charles Somerville, “The Vultures’ Trail”, 20th of 47 articles in the ‘Manhunter’ series

~ Willett Stockard, “Punctual”, last of 5 stories in BM

~ Emmet Welsh, “The Slippery Eel”, ‘Billed as “A Complete Fast-Moving Novelette”; NYC police; oddly, in 15 Nov 1923 issue (p. 42) author is listed as Robert E. Welch’, sole appearance in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop