henry w. fisher – SMB Noir

January 1, 1924 issue ~ cover art by Jules Erbit

January 1, 1924 issue

cover art by Jules Erbit

~ Eustace Hale Ball, “The Footprints of Doom”, 7^th with ‘the Scarlet Fox, last of the series’, 11^th of 13 stories in BM

~ Carroll John Daly, “Action! Action!” 2^nd of 2 with Three-Gun Terry Mack, 1^st-person narrator, 8th of 71 appearances in BM. The Price of a Dime: The Complete Black Mask Cases of Ben Shaley (Steeger Books, 2021).

~ Henry W. Fisher, “Executioners I Have Met”, ‘5th^t of 6 ‘true’ articles with various subtitles’

~ Charles M. Green [pseud. of Erle Stanley Gardner], “The Serpent’s Coils”, ‘A Daytime Story’, 2nd of 3 stories under this name

~ Dashiell Hammett, “The Tenth Clew”, the Op [5th of 25], ‘see p. 127 for letter from DH on character in story, Creda Dexter‘, [Hammett’s first time appearing on the cover], reprinted in The Return of the Continental Op (Dell mapback, 1947), reprinted in City Sleuths and Tough Guys (Houghton Miflin, 1989), reprinted in City Sleuths and Tough Guys (Houghton Miflin, 1989), 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), 9th of 51 stories in BM

~ Francis James, “The Sand Devil”, Prentice, Harvard-trained criminologist turned policeman with Police Chief Shannon, 3rd of 4 parts, 12th of 20 appearances in BM

~ Harold Freeman Miners, “Topango Catches a Track”, 2^nd of 4 with ‘Topanga John, ancient desert rat’, 2^nd of 5 stories in BM

~ Herman Petersen, “When a Wizard Woos”, ‘short-short; Wamaba, wizard in New Hebrides‘, 15th of 20 stories in BM

~ Charles Somerville, “The Mole”, 22nd of 47 articles in the ‘Manhunter’ series, 23^rd of 49 total articles in BM

~ Pearce Thorne, “A Jury of His Peers”, ‘brief-brief’, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Edward Parrish Ware, “’Gangway!’”, ‘1^st-person narrator; set in Arkansas, complete with dialect; mule skinner’, 2nd of 9 stories in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

clearer image but more worn

[updated 6/2/26]

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

November 1, 1923 issue

cover art by L.L. Balcom

~ John Ayotte, “White Tents”, ‘Col. Edwards’, 7^th of 10 stories in BM

~ Frank Conly, “The Man Who Was Not”, ‘Can the dead be brought back to life?’, 1^st of 2 in BM

~ Henry W. Fisher, “Executioners I Have Met”, ‘1^st of 6 ‘true’ articles with various subtitles’

~ Dashiell Hammett, “It”, ‘private detective, 1^st-person narrator, not an Op tale’ according to Hagemann but 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), 6th of 51 stories in BM

~ George C. Henderson, “Who Shot?” ‘Complete Novelette’, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Stanley R. Hofflund, “The Third Rider”, ‘yarn set in Mexico’, author’s only story in BM

~ Margaret Alison Johansen, “Mrs. Vandam’s Diamonds”, author’s only appearance in BM

~ Herman Petersen, “One Dried Head”, 1^st of 3 parts, South Seas; issue also has brief article, “The Gentle Art of Drying Heads”, relates to “One Dry Head”, 11th and 12^th of 20 pieces in BM

~ Charles Somerville, “The Hand of God”, 18th of 47 articles in the ‘Manhunter’ series, 19^th of 49 total articles in BM

[note: at this time, Hammett does not yet merit mention on the cover]

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

June 18, 2015

November 15, 1923 issue ~ cover art by L.L. Balcom

November 15, 1923 issue

cover art by L.L. Balcom

better image than previously posted

~ Royce Brier, “Hundred Thousand Cache”, 3^rd of 5 stories in BM

~ H.B. Davenport, “Triggers of Justice”, ‘set in Kentucky mountains’, 1^st of 2 stories in BM

~ Henry W. Fisher, “Executioners I Have Met”, ‘2nd of 6 ‘true’ articles with various subtitles’

~ Dashiell Hammett, “The Second-Story Angel”, reprinted in Nightmare Town (Knopf, 1999), 7th of 51 stories in BM

~ Robert Lee Heiser, “Where the Road Ends”, “A Complete Novelette”, numerous appearances but little fiction – last of 3 stories in BM

~ Clif Hill, “Water”, ‘Western’, author’s only story in BM

~ Vance Hoyt, “The Silent Law”, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Charles T. Jordan, “Felton Celebrates Egg-Day”, 2^ndof 2 stories in BM

~ Elwin J. Owens, “Lupsika of the Forest”, ‘North Woods’, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Herman Petersen, “One Dried Head”, 2nd of 3 parts, ‘South Seas‘, 13th of 20 stories in BM

~ Charles Somerville, “The ‘Cigar Box’ Mystery”, 19th of 47 articles in the ‘Manhunter’ series, 20^th of 49 total articles in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

UK edition of same issue

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, 1^st 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’, 5^th 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, 13^th 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”, ‘1^st 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), 1^st of 71 appearances in BM

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

~ Frederick C. Davis, “Floating Pearls”, 2^nd 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’, 1^st of 7 long pieces in BM

~ Jack J. Gottlieb, “Ling the Lucky”, ‘Chinese gunman Ling Yar in San Francisco’, author’s 6^th 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’, 1^st of 20 appearances in BM

~ Murray Leinster (pseud. of Will F. Jenkins), “The Wallet That Weighed Too Much”, 5^th 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”, 1^st 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

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’, 10^th of 13 stories in BM

~ Henry W. Fisher, “Executioners I Have Met”, ‘3rd^t of 6 ‘true’ articles with various subtitles’

~ Francis James, “The Sand Devil”, Prentice, Harvard-trained criminologist turned policeman with Police Chief Shannon, 1^st 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”, 1^st of 4 with ‘Topanga John, ancient desert rat’, 1^st 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