
pseudonym of W.T. Ballard
1960 Belmont paperback original
4th Bill Lennox novel (after scads of short stories)
better image than previously posted

pseudonym of W.T. Ballard
1960 Belmont paperback original
4th Bill Lennox novel (after scads of short stories)
better image than previously posted


~ Norman A. Daniels, “My Dying Day”, Rick Trent, ex-PI, ex-con, 1st person narrator, 2nd of 4 stories in BM
~ G.T. Fleming-Roberts, “Don’t Look Behind You”, 4th of 8 stories in BM
~ John D. MacDonald, “Manhattan Horse Opera”, 1of 6 stories in BM
~ Tom Marvin, “Blood-Red and Beautiful”, 2nd of 3 stories in BM
~ Burt Sims, “To Each His Corpse”, ‘diminutive Clint Morgan, Hollywood eye’, author’s sole appearance in BM
~ Fergus Truslow, “Murder Makes the Cock Crow”, ‘Malott & McCool, L.A. gamblers’, 4th of 6 stories in BM
©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

November 1947 issue

~ D.L. Champion, “Down Payment on Death”, 24th of 26 stories with Rex Sackler, reprinted in Murder Costs Money: The Complete Black Mask Stories of Rex Sackler (Steeger, 2020), 26th of 30 stories in BM
~ Bruno Fischer, “Middleman for Murder”, ‘Willie, narrator, is blackmailer, etc.’, reprinted in The Black Lizard Big Book of Black Mask Stories (Vintage, 2010), 3rd of 5 stories in BM
~ William Campbell Gault, “The Case of the Sleeping Beauty”, 4th of 5 with PI Mortimer Jones, reprinted in Hot-House Homicide: The Complete Black Mask Cases of Mortimer Jones (Steeger, 2925), 5th of 9 stories in BM
~ R.M.F. Joses, “Red Pearls”, 2nd of 3 with ‘Hollywood private snoop Duane, 1st person narrator’, 2nd of 4 stories in BM
~ Julius Long, “Call in the Coroner”, last of 17 stories with ‘Ben Corbett, D.A.’s chief investigator, 1st -person narrator’, 22nd of 23 stories in BM
~ H.H. Stinson, “Please Kill Me Carefully”, “Ned Healey, L.A. private eye’, 25th of 27 stories in BM
©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

July 1934 issue
cover art by J. W. Schlaikjer
better image than previously posted
~ W.T. Ballard, “Whatta Guy”, 7th of 27 stories with ‘Bill Lennox, troubleshooter for Consolidated Films’, reprinted in That’s Hollywood: The Complete Black Mask Cases of Bill Lennox, Vol.1 (2023 Steeger Books), 7th of 43 stories in BM
~ Raymond Chandler, “Smart-Aleck Kill”, 2nd Mallory, first book appearance in the collection The Simple Art of Murder (Houghton Mifflin hardcover, 1950), first paperback appearance Pickup on Noon Street (Pocket, 1/52), various paperback editions, 2nd of 11 stories in BM
~ George Harmon Coxe, “Hot Delivery”, 5th of 27 with Flashgun Casey, 5th of 31 stories in BM
~ Eugene Cunningham, “If Murder Can Be Funny”, 3rd of 5 with undercover Texas Ranger Cleve Corby, 9th of 14 stories in BM
~ John Graham, “Murder Crate”, ‘ambulance crew; NYC setting’, 1st of 2 stories in BM
~ Raymond Jae Moffatt, “Death in the Dark”, ‘Patrolman tries to avenge murdered father’, 1st of 2 stories in BM
©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

3rd novel with Hollywood trouble-shooter Bill Lennox who works for the General Consolidated Studios

better image than previously posted

1954 Graphic reissue – cover art by Walter Popp

1958 Banner reissue in the UK – cover art by Stanley Borack

cover art by Fred Craft
better image than previously posted
~ W.T. Ballard, “In Dead Man’s Alley”, 10th of 27 stories with ‘Bill Lennox, troubleshooter for Consolidated Films’, 10th of 43 stories in BM
~ Eugene Cunningham, “Room Service”, last of 5 with Cleve Corby, 11th of 14 stories in BM
~ Carroll John Daly, “The Eyes Have It”, ‘last William’s caper [of 53 though Hagemann lists 54] in BM (wherein he had appeared ‘exclusively’), CJD not to pub. in BM until Mar 1938’, reprinted in If Death is Respectable: The Collected Hard-boiled Stories of Race Williams, v.4 (Altus, 2018), 66th of 71 appearances in BM
~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “Hot Cash”, 59th of 73 Ed Jenkins, as Bob Sabin, 83rd of 99 stories in BM
~ Herbert Koehl, “See See Drops In”, ‘C.C. Cane, private eye, 1st person narrator‘, author’s only appearance in BM
~ Roger Torrey, “Law and Disorder”, 10th of 11 with Dal Prentice, Magna City police dick, ‘one tough guy’, title used again in April 1941 issue, not the same story, 13th of 50 appearances in BM
©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

January 1937 issue
cover art by Wilber Thomas
better image than previously posted
~ Dwight V. Babcock, “State Narcotic Dick”, ‘Bromley and muggles (marijuana)’, 13th of 21 stories in BM
~ J.M. Bell, “The Blinking Eye”, short-short, 2nd of 2 stories in BM
~ Max Brand, “Bulldog”, 1st of 2 stories in BM
~ Raymond Chandler, “Try the Girl”, 4th and last Carmady story, first reprint and first book appearance Killer in the Rain (Hammish Hamilton, 3/26/64), last of 11 stories in BM
~ Theodore A. Tinsley, “Little Guy”, ‘18th (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), 19th of 26 stories in BM
~ Roger Torrey, “Murder Frame”, ‘Cassidy, cop, is framed’, 24th of 50 appearances in BM
~ Cornell Woolrich, “Shooting Going On”, ‘Hollywood murder’, 1st of 24 (22 original) stories to appear in BM
©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

cover art by Albert Drake
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~ Dale Clark, “The Corpse with the Bloody Nose”, last of 28 O’Hanna stories, last of 32 appearances in BM
~ Merle Constiner, “Dead on Arrival”, ‘Luther McGavock, private detective; he works Atherton Browne who heads a Memphis-based agency, 10th of 11 of the McG stories; usually rural setting’, reprinted in Let the Dead Alone: The Complete Black Mask Cases of Luther McGavock (Steeger, 2020), 11th of 12 stories in BM
~ Robert C. Dennis, “Out of This World”, 2nd of 6 with ‘William (Willie) Carmody, Confidential Investigations & Margaret O’Leary, writer, Hollywood, WC is first-person narrator’, 2nd of 10 stories in BM
~ William Campbell Gault, “A Murder for Mac”, reprinted in Hot-House Homicide: The Complete Black Mask Cases of Mortimer Jones (Steeger, 2925), 2nd of 5 with PI Mortimer Jones, 3rd of 9 stories in BM
~ Coleman Meyer, “You’ll Never Grow Old”, ‘Hill Cartright, auto racer, tells it’, author’s 1st of 2 stories in BM
©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

1961 Gold Medal paperback original
cover art by Darcy/Ernest Chiriacka?
better image than previously posted