September 1935 issue ~ cover art by Rudolph Belarski

September 1935

cover art by Rudolph Belarski

~ Dwight V. Babcock, “Death Goes Free”, ‘G-man Chuck Thompson’, 2nd of 7 CT stories, 7th of 21 stories in BM

~ Paul Cain, “Chinaman’s Chance”, Johnny Gay, Hollywood reporter, reprinted in The Complete Slayers (2011 Centipede Press), 14th of 17 stories in BM

~ James Duncan, “Runaround Murder”, last of 3 with Ivor Small – investigations, “He was fat without being fat enough to gain a livelihood as a professional fat man”, 3rd of 10 stories in BM

~ Big announcement that Erle Stanley Gardner & Ed Jenkins return in the next issue

~ Sinclair Gluck, “Double for Danger”, ‘Ted Murray, reporter in Hollywood, 1st-person narrator’, only appearance in BM

~ Theodore A. Tinsley, “Ticketed for Death”, ‘13th (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’, reprinted in Murder Maze: The Complete Black Mask Cases of Jerry Tracy, vol.2 (Steeger 2022),14th of 26 stories in BM

better image than previously posted

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

January 1936 issue ~ cover art by Rudolph Belarski

January 1936

cover art by John Drew

~ Dwight V. Babcock, “G-man Chuck Thompson”, 3rd of 7 CT stories, 8th of 21 stories in BM

~ W.T. Ballard, “Numbers with Lead”, 13th of 27 stories with ‘Bill Lennox, troubleshooter for Consolidated Films’, 17th of 43 stories in BM

~ Paul Cain, “Death Song”, ‘Pat Nolan, film studio trouble-shooter’, reprinted in The Complete Slayers (2011 Centipede Press), 15th of 17 stories in BM

~ Raymond Chandler, “Guns at Cyrano’s”, Ted Malvern, included in the collection The Simple Art of Murder (1950), then Pickup on Noon Street, 7th of 11 stories in BM

~ Frederick L. Nebel, “Fan Dance”, 33rd of 37 with Captain Steve MacBride and local reporter Kennedy, reprinted in Winter Kill: Complete Cases of MacBride & Kennedy, v.4 (Altus, 2013), 62 of 67 stories in BM

better image than previously posted

©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]

September 1936 issue ~ cover art by John Drew

September 1936

cover art by John Drew

~ Dwight V. Babcock, “Men of the FBI”, 6th of 7 with LA FBI agent Chuck Thompson, 11th of 21 stories in BM

~ W.T. Ballard, “There’s No Excuses for Murder”, 15th of 27 stories with ‘Bill Lennox, troubleshooter for Consolidated Films’, ‘LaBrea Tar Pits figure into the story’, 21st of 43 stories in BM

~ Raymond Chandler, “The Curtain”, PI Carmody #3 of 4, reprinted in the anthology Killer in the Rain, 1963 Hamish Hamilton UK hardcover, first book appearance, 10th of 11 stories in BM

~ George Harmon Coxe, “Too Many Women”, 18th of 27 with Flashgun Casey, 21st of 31 stories in BM

~ Theodore A. Tinsley, “Murder Maze”, ‘17th (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’, ‘Tracy meets a Coney Island “Hindu”, reprinted in Murder Maze: The Complete Black Mask Cases of Jerry Tracy, vol.2 (Steeger 2022), 18th of 26 stories in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

December 1934 issue ~ cover art by Fred Craft

December 1934

cover art by Fred Craft

~ Dwight V. Babcock, “Too Many Slips”, ‘1st Al, bodyguard, story’, 3rd of 21 stories in BM

~ W.T. Ballard, “Murder Isn’t Legal”, 11th of 27 stories with ‘Bill Lennox, troubleshooter for Consolidated Films’, 11th of 43 stories in BM

~ Eugene Cunningham, “An Old Spanish Custom”, 2nd of 2 with Western with Pony Kerr, 12th of 14 stories in BM

~ Hugh Lundie, “A Farewell to Strife”, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ H.H. Stinson, “Trivial, Like Murder”, 2nd of 14 with ‘Ken O’Hara, fighting reporter on Los Angeles Tribune’, 2nd of 27 stories in BM