john ayotte – SMB Noir

March 1, 1923 issue ~ cover art by A. Rose

March 1, 1923 issue

cover art by A. Rose

~ John Ayotte, “Okolehao”, ‘short-short, ‘A tragedy of Hawaii’, JA’s debut in BM’, 1^st of 10 stories

~ Eustace Hale Ball, “The Trail of the Scarlet Fox”, part 4 of 6 parts with various subtitles, 4th of 13 appearances in BM

~ Black Mask Crime Review, ‘A Crime Expert’s Review of the Hall-Mills Tragedy; Article; anonymous;1^st segment in this irregular, short-lived Department; no indexed beyond this point’

~ Crowley Conmarr, “Under the Hide of Tu Son”, ‘A Weird Tale’; 1^st-person narrator; Chinese character’, 1^st of 2 stories in BM

~ Jack J. Gottlieb, “With His Enemies’ Aid”, ‘A Mystery of the D.A.s office’, authors 8^th and final story in BM

~ John Hanlon, “The Door”, ‘A Skit with Spirits’, last of 3 stories in BM

~ John Holden, “The Perfect Plan”, ‘Gerald Drago, embezzler’, author’s only story in BM

~ Francis James, “Sinister Images”, Prentice, Harvard-trained criminologist turned policeman (‘the young Central Office Man’) with Police Chief Shannon, 3rd of 4 parts, 5th of 20 appearances in BM

~ Roy L. McCardell, “Pieces of Men”, ‘daytime story’, last of 5 appearances in BM

~ Herman Petersen, “The Ghost Ship”, ‘Complete Mystery Novelette of the Cannibal Isles’, 6th of 20 stories in BM

~ Charles Somerville, “Old Clothes”, ‘fictitious names are given…changed a bit for necessary reasons’, 3rd of 47 articles in the ‘Manhunter’ series, 3^rd of 49 total articles in BM

~ Gregory Stragnell, MD, “Our Dreams”, “short-lived Department devoted to ‘one of the newest sciences – psychoanalysis’; not indexed beyond this point”

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

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

May 1, 1923 issue

cover art by L.L. Balcom

better image than previously posted

~ John Ayotte, “A Pillar of Flame”, 2^nd of 10 stories in BM

~ Raymond J. Brown, “Phantom Bullets”, part 3 of 5, only work in BM

~ Randal J. Carnes, “Civilized”, only story in BM

~ Ralph Cummins, “The Gas Heater Mystery”, 2^nd of 3 stories in BM

~ Frederick C. Davis, “All Things Considered”, 3rd of 16 stories in BM (Davis won’t appear again in BM until 8/38)

~ Fairfax Downey, “Blood or Wine”, 1^st of 2 stories in BM

~ John B. Hyde, “The Black Fin”, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Harford Powel, Jr., “Mystery Ship” and “How Two Men Died”, a ‘brief-brief’, 2^nd and 3^rd pieces in BM

~ J. Fortune Reade, “The End of the Measure”, 1^st of 3 stories in BM

~ Charles Somerville, “A Crook Deluxe”, 7th of 47 articles in the articles in the ‘Manhunter’ series, reprinted in 5 parts through consecutive issues of Flynn’s Weekly Detective Fiction, July 23 – August 20, 1927 issue, 7^th of 49 total articles in BM

~ Joe Taylor, “Alias Claire”, 7th of 12 tales in ‘My Underworld’ series, 8^th of 13^th appearances in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

October 1, 1923 issue ~ cover art by John Decker

October 1, 1923 issue

better image than previously posted

cover art by John Decker

~ John Ayotte, “The Black Cracksman”, ‘A white Hawaiian thrill’, 6^th of 10 stories in BM

~ Eustace Hale Ball, “Grandfather’s Will”, 8^th of 13 stories in BM

~ ‘Peter Collinson’ (Dashiell Hammett), “Arson Plus”, ‘1^st Continental Op story & billed as ‘full of fire’; see p, 127 for letter by DH’, 3^rd of 4 stories under this name, reprinted in The Arbor House Treasury of Detective & Mystery Stories from the Great Pulps (1983), reprinted in The Black Lizard Big Book of Black Mask Stories (Vintage, 2010)

~ Donald Feak, “Black Commandments”, ‘South Seas Tale’, 2nd of 3 stories in BM

~ Newton A. Fuessle, “The Purple Mask”, ‘Kenneth Fuessle and Newton may be the same writer’, 2^nd of 2 stories under this name

~ Robert Russell, “Greggs Over-Reaches”, last of 3 stories in BM

~ Harry Simon, “The Man Who Passed Judgment”, 2nd of 2 stories in BM

~ Charles Somerville, “The Sleepless Eye”, 16th of 47 articles in the ‘Manhunter’ series

~ Willett Stockard, “Hutch Blood”, ‘billed as “a Black Mask weirdity”’, 4th of 5 stories in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

February 1, 1924 issue ~ cover art by Onestus Uzzell

February 1, 1924 issue

better image than previously posted

cover art by Onestus Uzzell

~ Carl Asher, “And This Is How It Is”, ‘short story; “a satire”’, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ John Ayotte, “Rifles”, ‘Capt. Ayotte has departed Hawaii in fact & fiction’, 8^th of 10 stories in BM

~ Ray(mond King) Cummings, “T. McGuirk, Movie Actor”, ‘8th of 14 McGuirk stories, billed as “the quaintest character in the Underworld” & honest, more of less’, 8^th of 15 stories in BM

~ Charles M. Green [pseud. of Erle Stanley Gardner], “The Verdict”, last of 3 stories in BM under this name

~ Dashiell Hammett, “Night Shots”, ‘the Op [3^rd of 22] or as BM bills him ‘Mr. Hammett’s nameless detective’, 6th of 45 stories in BM

~ C.S. Montanye (Carleton Stevens), “The Sandalwood Box”, 5^th of 10 with ‘Captain Valentine, that ‘attractive European scalawag’, adventurer and rascal’, 21th of 29 stories in BM

~Jennings Perry, “The Master of the Maisie”, 1^st of 2 stories in BM

~ Herman Petersen, “That Yellow Devil”, 1^st of 2 parts, ‘Madame Pinar, Eurasian’, 16th of 20 stories in BM

~ Henry Serrano, “The Ghost of the Hesperides”, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Don Cameron Shafer, “The Hunters”, ‘tiger-hunting in India’, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Charles Somerville, “The ‘Cat’ Detective’, 24th of 47 articles in the ‘Manhunter’ series

~ Edward Parrish Ware, “The Kid’s Hole Card”, ‘Western’, 3rd of 9 stories in BM

[cover updated 11/8/25]

October 1925 issue ~ cover art by H.C. Murphy

October 1925 issue

cover art by H.C. Murphy

~John Ayotte, “Hawaiian Driftage”, ‘opium ring in Honolulu: some characters from “The Puzzle of Hook Nam”, JA’s last appearance in BM’

~ Ray(mond King) Cummings, “The Mystery at Cragmoor”, only non-McGuirk story (see Apr 23), 14^th of 15 stories in BM

~ Tom Curry, “The Frame-Up”, author’s 1^st of 39 stories in BM

~ Carroll John Daly, “Alias Buttercup”, 10^th of 53 with RW, ‘Race Williams in Mexico’, reprinted in Them That Lives By Their Guns: The Collected Hard-Boiled Stories of Race Williams, Vol. 1 (Altus Press, 2015), 18th of 71 appearances in BM

~ Joseph Gollomb, “A Pass Key to Scotland Yard”, 3rd of 6 articles

~ Donald MacGregor, “The Dancer in the East”, 5th of 10 stories

~ Charles Somerville, “A Weird Detective”, 44th of 47 articles in the ‘Manhunter’ series, 46^th of 49 total articles in BM