J.W. Schlaikjer – SMB Noir

December 1930 issue ~ cover art by J.W. Schlaikjer

December 1930 issue

cover art by J.W. Schlaikjer

~ Ramon Decolta (Raoul Whitfield), “The Caleso Murders”, 1st story by RFW in this issue, 8^th of 24 Jo Gar stories in BM, reprinted in West of Guam: The Complete Cases of Jo Bar (Altus Press, 2013)

~ Nels Leroy Jorgensen, “Racketeers’ Reef”, last of 3 with Rio Kennedy of the Customs Service in Santo Domingo, 20th of 39 stories in BM

~ Horace McCoy, “The Mailed Fist”, 8th of 14 Frost stories ’Capt. Jerry Frost, Texas (Air) Ranger & Stepsons have a go at ‘The Big Shot’, 9^th of 17 stories in BM

~ Frederick L. Nebel, “The Red-Hots”, 2nd of 15 stories with ‘tough dick Donahue of Interstate’, reprinted in Tough as Nails (2012, Altus), 27 of 67 stories in BM

~ James P. Olsen, “Honor of the Show”, ‘deformed sideshow owner, Price Eco, and murder’, 3rd of 6 Western stories in BM

~ Bertrand W(illiam) Sinclair, “Rope’s End”, ‘Western; Bill Stokes’, 1^st of 3 stories in BM

~ Raoul [Fauconnier] Whitfield, “Murder in the Ring”, ‘boxing, gamblers, racketeers, with Primo-Carnera-like boxer’; reprinted in May ’51 issue, 2^nd story in this issue, 44th of 67 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta]

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

December 1929 issue x 2

December 1929 issue #1

December 1929 issue #2

both better images than previously posted

cover art by J.W. Schlaikjer

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “Triple Treachery”, 30th of 73 stories with Ed Jenkins, with his wife Helen Chadwick, in LA, 2nd half of story with Ramsey, from previous issue, 47th of 99 stories in BM

~ Dashiell Hammett, “The Maltese Falcon”, part 4 of 5 serialized parts before hardcover publication (1931), reprinted in The Black Lizard Big Book of Black Mask Stories (Vintage, 2010), 38^th of 45 stories in BM

~ Horace McCoy, “Renegades of the Rio”, 3^rd of 14 stories with ‘Capt. Jerry Frost, Texas (Air) Ranger’, 4th of 17 stories in BM

~ Lester Reynard, “Saving the Double-Cross”, 4th of 5 stories in BM

~ Earl and Marion Scott, “Craleigh Comes to Life”, 2nd of 6 stories with ‘Phil Craleigh, once brilliant lawyer, now a drunk, given to bouts of reform’, 10th of 17 stories in BM as a couple

~ L.R. Sherman, “Reading Sign on the Sagebrush Kid”, Western, last of 3 stories in BM

~ Raoul [Fauconnier] Whitfield, “Outside”, ‘Mal Ourney; part 1 (of 5), ‘The Crime Breeders’, presented as separate stories rather than conventional serial’, pub. in hardcover in 1930 by Knopf as Green Ice, 35th of 67 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta]

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

April 1933 issue ~ cover art by J.W. Schlaikjer

April 1933 issue

cover art by J. W. Schlaikjer

better image than previously posted

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “Chinatown Murder”, 49th of 73 Ed Jenkins stories, ‘Chinese frequently spoken’, 70th of 99 stories in BM

~ Frederick L. Nebel, “Farewell to Crime”, 21st of 37 with Captain Steve MacBride and local reporter Kennedy, reprinted in Too Young to Die: Complete Cases of MacBride & Kennedy, v.3 (Altus, 2013), 46 of 67 stories in BM

~ Norvell Page, “Black Harvest”, ‘last of 3 Jules Tremaine stories; Manhattan and Little Italy; (ed. note) a projected & potentially important series that never developed’ [Hagemann doesn’t explain his editor’s note], only these 3 stories in BM. Reprinted in Black Harvest: The Complete Black Mask Cases of Jules Tremaine (Steeger Books, 2021).

~ William Rollins, Jr., “K.O. and the Killers”, 3rd of 4 stories with ‘Kenneth Osborne from ‘No’th Cah’lina’; 1^st person narrator’, 20th of 23 stories in BM

~ H.H. Stinson, “Give the Man Rope”, 1st of 14 with ‘Ken O’Hara, fighting reporter on Los Angeles Tribune’, debut and 1^st of 27 stories in BM

~ Roger Torrey, “The Case-Hardened Samaritan”, 2nd of 11 with Dal Prentice, Magna City police dick, ‘one tough guy’, ‘Prentice – “hard when it comes to handling killers”, reprinted in The Case-Hardened Samaritan: The Complete Black Mask Cases of Dal Prentice, Vol. 1, 3rd of 50 appearances in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

May 1930 issue ~ cover art by J.W. Schlaikjer

May 1930 issue

cover art by J. W. Schlaikjer

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “The Crime Crusher”, 32^th Ed Jenkins & his wife Helen Chadwick, 1^st of a 3-part story, 49th of 99 stories in BM

~ Dashiell Hammett, “Dagger Point”, Ned Beaumont, 3^rd of 4 stories that will go together to make up The Glass Key (published 1931), 43rd of 45 stories in BM

~ Nels Leroy Jorgensen, “Slowdown Hands”, 14th of 32 with Stuart “Black” Burton, ‘square-shooting gambler from the Southwest, often entangled with the law’, 18th of 39 stories in BM

~ Frederick L. Nebel, “Street Wolf”, ’Napoleon Damiani, gangster’, 23 of 67 stories in BM

~ Reuben Jennings Shay, “Backfire”, 1^st of 2 in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

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

December 1931 issue

cover art by J.W. Schlaikjer

better image than previously posted

~ Ramon Decolta (Raoul Whitfield), “The Javanese Mask”, 1^st of 2 stories in this issue by RFW, Jo Gar, 17^th of 24 Gar stories in BM, reprinted in West of Guam: The Complete Cases of Jo Bar (Altus Press, 2013)

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “Strictly Personal”, 39th of 73 Ed Jenkins, ‘Jenkins’ return after death of his wife, Helen, which had broken him; out of hospital & in Chinatown with Lui Sing Fong’, [patriarchal master of Chinatown], last of 3 connected stories (7/1931 and 9/1931), 56th of 99 stories in BM

~ Ed Lybeck, “Leaded Ink”, ’debut of Francis St. Xavier Harrigan, reporter on Leader’, 1^st of 4 stories in BM

~ Frederick L. Nebel, “Some Die Young”, 16th of 37 with Captain Steve MacBride and local reporter Kennedy, reprinted in Winter Kill: Complete Cases of MacBride & Kenney, v.2 (Altus, 2013), 37 of 67 stories in BM

~ Henry Wallace Phillips, “For Sale, The Golden Queen”, ‘Western; Agamemnon Jones & Hy, 1^st-person narrator, Golden Queen is a gold mine’, 7^th of 8 with Red Saunders, 11th of 12 stories in BM

~ Stewart Stirling, (possible pseud. of Stewart Sterling?), “600 to 1”, 5^th of 8 stories with ‘Johnny Hi Gear, a.k.a. K-5, Undercover Agent’ with ‘King Collis, Negro policy king; racial slurs’

~ Raoul [Fauconnier] Whitfield, “Unfair Exchange”, ‘Alan Van Cleve, wealthy sportsman, man-about-town, 5th (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’, 2^nd story in this issue, 53rd of 67 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta]

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

October 1930 issue ~ cover art by J.W. Schlaikjer

October 1930 issue

better image than previously posted

cover art by J.W. Schlaikjer

~ Ramon Decolta (Raoul Whitfield), “Nagasaki Knives”, 2nd half of Jo Gar story, 7^th of 24 stories in BM, reprinted in West of Guam: The Complete Cases of Jo Bar (Altus Press, 2013)

~ Nels Leroy Jorgensen, “The Dark Pack”, ‘Western’, 19th of 39 stories in BM

~ James Howard Leveque, “Nigger Loon”, bayou tale, sole appearance in BM

~ James P. Olsen, “’Shot!’”, 1^st of 6 Western stories in BM

~ Lester Reynard, “Ladies Love Diamonds”, ‘San Francisco setting’, last of 5 stories in BM

~ Raoul [Fauconnier] Whitfield, “Death in a Bowl”, 2nd of 3 serialized parts, ‘Ben Jardinn, Hollywood eye, & murder in Hollywood Bowl’, ‘(originally titled The Maestro Murder)’, published in hardcover in 1931 by Knopf, 42nd of 67 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta]

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

May 1932 issue ~ cover art by J.W. Schlaikjer

May 1932 issue

cover art by J. W. Schlaikjer

better image than previously posted

~ Thomson Burtis, “The Death of a Deal”, ‘Slats Kirke, minor boxing manager, 1^st person’, 3^rd of 6 appearances in BM

~ Paul Cain, “Black”, 1^st of 2 with Black, 1^st person, Hollywood, later released as one of the Seven Slayers (1950 Avon), reprinted in The Complete Slayers (2011 Centipede Press), Black Mask: The Complete Stories (2013 Mysterious Press), Lead Party: The Complete Fiction Works of Paul Cain (Steeger, 2024), 3^rd of 17 stories in BM

~ Carroll John Daly, “The Amateur Murderer”, 44th of 53 with Race Williams, part 2 of 4, published as a novel in 1933, reprinted in If Death is Respectable: The Collected Hard-boiled Stories of Race Williams, v.4 (Altus, 2018), 56th of 71 appearances in BM

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “Under the Guns”, 43 of 73 stories with Ed Jenkins, 60th of 99 stories in BM

~ Hapsburg Liebe, “The Wolf of Rowdy House”, ‘Western’, last of 4 stories in BM

~ Frederick L. Nebel, “Backwash”, 18th of 37 with Captain Steve MacBride and local reporter Kennedy, reprinted in Shakedown: Complete Cases of MacBride & Kennedy, v.2 (Altus, 2013), 39 of 67 stories in BM

~ Bertrand W(illiam) Sinclair, “The Spider in His Web”, ‘Western detective story’, last of 3 stories in BM

~ Raoul [Fauconnier] Whitfield, “Walking Dynamite”, 2nd of 3 stories with PI Don Free, 2^nd story in this issue by RFW, 58th of 68 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta]

[cover updated 11/8/25]

June 1930 issue ~ cover art by J.W. Schlaikjer

June 1930 issue

better image than previously posted

cover art by J. W. Schlaikjer

~ Carroll John Daly, “Tainted Power”, 34^th of 53, ‘Williams &‘The Flame’ aka Florence Drummond, ‘The Girl with the Criminal Mind’, Pt. 1 of loosely organized 3-pt. serial; pub. As novel (1931) under same title’, 46th of 71 appearances in BM

~ Ramon Decolta (Raoul Whitfield), “Signals of Storm”, Jo Gar, PI with office in Manila , 4^th of 24 stories in BM, reprinted in West of Guam: The Complete Cases of Jo Bar (Altus Press, 2013)

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “Hell’s Kettle”, 33^th Ed Jenkins & his wife Helen Chadwick, 2nd of a 3-part story with The Crime Crusher, 50th of 99 stories in BM, reprinted in The Black Mask Boys (1985, Morrow)

~ Dashiell Hammett, “The Shattered Key”, Ned Beaumont, last of 4 stories that will go together to make up The Glass Key (published 1931), issue includes editor’s note on DH, 44th of 45 stories in BM

~ Hapsburg Liebe, “Red Dice”, ‘Blaze Hanson in Florida cattle country; see p. 120 for HL’s comment on story’ 3rd of 4 stories in BM

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

June 1931 issue

cover art by J.W. Schlaikjer

~ Eugene Cunningham, “Gunhands”, Western with Bob Burney, 5^th of 14 stories in BM

~ Carroll John Daly, “’The Flame’ and Race Williams”, 39^th of 53 with RW, part 1 of 3, ‘pub.as The Third Murderer (1931)’, reprinted in Shooting out of Turn: The Collected Hard-boiled Stories of Race Williams, v.3 (Altus, 2017), 51st of 71 appearances in BM

~ James P. Olsen, “Gunman’s Goal”, ‘Tip Wing’, last of 6 Western stories in BM

~ Earl and Marion Scott, “Lights Out at Benetti’s”, 5^th of 6 stories with ‘Phil Craleigh, once brilliant lawyer, now a drunk, given to bouts of reform’, Benetti’s is a nightclub, 15th of 17 stories in BM as a couple

~ Stewart Stirling, (‘possible pseud. of Stewart Sterling?’), “Two-Timer”, 2^nd of 8 stories with ‘Johnny Hi Gear, a.k.a. K-5, Undercover Agent’ [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, “For Sale – Murder”, ‘Center City yarn, Gil Baggart, a square dick’, sequel to “Soft City” in previous issue, 49th of 68 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta]

April 1930 issue ~ cover art by J.W. Schlaikjer

April 1930 issue

better image than previously posted

cover art by J. W. Schlaikjer

~ Ramon Decolta (Raoul Whitfield), “Red Hemp”, Jo Gar, 3^rd of 24 stories in BM, reprinted in West of Guam: The Complete Cases of Jo Bar (Altus Press, 2013)

~ J. J. Des Ormeaux, “Murderer’s Night”, ‘modern Western; 1^st-person narrator,’ 1^st of 5 stories in BM, (pseudonym of Forrest Rosaire)

~ Dashiell Hammett, “The Cyclone Shot”, Ned Beaumont, 2^nd of 4 stories that will go together to make up The Glass Key (published 1931), 42nd of 45 stories in BM

~ Nels Leroy Jorgensen, “Your Play, Gentlemen”, 13th of 32 with Stuart “Black” Burton, ‘square-shooting gambler from the Southwest, often entangled with the law’, ‘Burton in NYC, features Kyoto Kara, a Japanese’, 17th of 39 stories in BM

~ Frederick L. Nebel, “Wise Guy”, 10th of 37 with Captain Steve MacBride and local reporter Kennedy ’& the usual company’, reprinted in Winter Kill: Complete Cases of MacBride & Kenney, v.2 (Altus, 2013), 22 of 67 stories in BM

~ Raoul [Fauconnier] Whitfield, “Killers’ Show”, Mal Ourney, last of 5 stories, ‘The Crime Breeders’, presented as separate stories rather than conventional serial’, published in hardcover in 1930 by Knopf as Green Ice, 39th of 67 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta]