journalism fiction – Page 2

December 1939 issue ~ cover art by James Lunnon

December 1938 issue

cover art by James Lunnon

~ Dwight V. Babcock, “Careless Killer”, 3^rd of 7 Beeker stories, 17^th of 21 stories in BM

~ Allen Beck, “Long Live the Dead”, ‘magician’, only story in BM

~ Hugh B. Cave, “Smoke in Your Eyes”, ‘unusually well-plotted’, 5th of 9 stories in BM

~ Frederick C. Davis, “Stop the Presses”, 2^nd with reporter Murray Gifford, ‘see p. 51 for data on how FCD writes’, 6^th of 16 stories in BM

~ M.P. Hall, “Ad Lib”, ‘short-short, radio broadcasting’, author’s only appearance in BM

~ Roger Torrey, “Concealed Weapon”, ‘10 (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’, reprinted in The Black Lizard Big Book of Pulps (Vintage, 2007), 37th of 50 appearances in BM

~ Donald Wandrei, “Come Clean”, last of 6 stories in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

October 1938 issue ~ cover art by J. George Janes

October 1938 issue

cover art by J. George Janes

better image than previously posted

~ Russell Bender, “Body-Guard to Death”, ‘Jake Connolly’, 2^nd of 3 stories in BM

~ Frederick C. Davis, “This Way to the Morgue”, 1^st of 2 with reporter Murray Gifford, 5^th of 16 stories in BM

~ Frank Gruber, “Forced Landing”, 6th of 10 with ‘Oliver Quade, The Human Encyclopedia’, ‘Quade in Hollywood; see p.5 for letter from FG on Oliver Q.’, 9th of 14 stories in BM

~ Baynard H(ardwick) Kendrick, “The Death Pool”, 7th of 14 stories with Mikes Standish (Stan) Rice, ‘The Hungry’[?], all set in Florida

~ Roger Torrey, “Gardenia Kill”, ‘9th (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’, 36th of 50 appearances in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

September 1942 issue ~ cover art by Allen Anderson

September 1942

cover art by Allen Anderson

June 1951 issue ~ cover art by Norman Saunders

June 1951 issue

cover art by Norman Saunders – oil on board, 22 x 15 in.

better image than previously posted

Albert Simmons, “Dead Air”

Day Keene, “He Who Dies Last, Dies Hardest” (reprint from 1943)

Raymond Drennen, Jr., “Pennies From Hell”

Rufus Bakalor, “A Hitch in Crime”

Don James, “Babe and the Hoods”

Duane Yarnell, “Death on the Menu” (Patrolman Kelly)

[I wonder which was reversed – the image of the painting or the image for the cover…]

January 1940 issue ~ cover art by Edgar A. Whitney

January 1940 issue

cover art by Edgar A. Whitney

better image than previously posted

~Robert Arthur, “Too Much Static”, ‘patrol cop’, 1^st of 2 appearances in BM but only original story to appear

~Maurice Beam, “Ham Strung”, small-town hardware store owner, 1^st-person narrator (thought to be possibly a pseud. of Robert Leslie Bellem), 4^th of 7 under this name in BM

~ Wyatt Blassingame, “Some Call It Murder”, 1^st with Bishop, pegged-legged political writer for a Southern newspaper, 1^st of 6 in series, 2^nd of 8 stories in BM

~ Peter Paige, “Voodoo Frame”, ‘Cash Wale, 1^st person narrator, employee in Moonglow, an amusement park’, 3rd of 12 stories in BM

~ William B. Rainey, “The Garden of Violent Death”, ‘Philip Dumaine, New Orleans private gumshoe & Negro sidekick, Ben Bolt’, pseudonym of Wyatt Blassingame, only appearance in BM under this name

~ H.H. Stinson, “This Murder’s On Me”, ‘Van Hogan, Worldwide Agency dick, 1^st -person narrator’, 13th of 27 stories in BM

~ Roger Torrey, “Death Calls the Hand”, ‘13th (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’, ‘ see p. 81 for letter from RT on story’, 41st of 50 appearances in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

October 1935 issue ~ cover art by Rudolph Belarski

October 1935 issue

cover art by Rudolph Belarski

better image than previously posted

~ W.T. Ballard, “You Never Know About Women”, 1^st of 7 with ‘Red Drake, undercover investigator for the State Racing Commission, 1^st-person narrator’, 15^th of 43 stories in BM

~ George Harmon Coxe, “Mr. Casey Flashgun Murder”, 14^th of 27 with Flashgun Casey, 14^th of 31 stories in BM

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “Crash and Carry”, 61th of 73 stories with Ed Jenkins, ‘The Phantom Crook’, 86th of 99 stories in BM

~ Preston Grady, “Massacre”, ‘Ned price, p.i., in South Carolina, 1^st-person narrator; smuggling & Chinese villain.’, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Leslie T. White, “The City of Hell”, ‘four honest cops “put the Indian sign on a city of graft”’, author’s sole appearance in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

[cover updated 1/25/26]

July 1941 issue ~ cover art by Raphael DeSoto

July 1941 issue

cover art by Raphael DeSoto

better image than previously posted

~ Cleve F. Adams, “Nobody Loves Cops”, ‘Engelhardt & Dewey, Car 97, LA’, 5^th of 6 stories in BM

~ W.T. Ballard, “Not in the Script”, 24th of 27 stories with ‘Bill Lennox, troubleshooter for Consolidated Films’, 37th of 43 stories in BM

~ Wyatt Blassingame, “The Bishop and the Tinkling Belle”, 4th of 6 stories with The Bishop, political writer on a Southern newspaper, 60ish and peg-legged, ‘young Eddie narrates’, 6th of 8 stories in BM

~ Jim Kjelgaard, “Curse of the Beaver”, ‘again, the wilderness’, 4^th of 6 stories in BM

~ H.H. Stinson, “Calling All Hearses”, 10th of 14 with ‘Ken O’Hara, fighting reporter on Los Angeles Tribune’, 16th of 27 stories in BM

~ C.G. Tahney, [pseud of Charles Green, not to be confused with Charles M. Green], “Murder in Ten Easy Lessons”, Nickie, aka ‘Sherlock in short pants’, 2nd of 5 stories in BM

©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]

August 1938 issue ~ cover art by Don Creigh

August 1938 issue

cover art by Don Creigh

better image than previously posted

~ William E. Brandon, “Handout”, ‘panhandler in trouble’, 1^st of 7 stories in BM

~ Frederick C. Davis, “Seven Knocks at My Door”, ‘Dr. Joel Perry’, 4th of 16 stories in BM

~ Frank Gruber, “The Ring and the Finger”, ‘1^st-person narrator’, 8th of 14 stories in BM

~ John Lawrence, “Deed of Gift”, 2nd of 2 stories with ‘Barron Hargraft & boxing in Detroit & NYC’, 4^th of 14 stories in BM

~ William Tanquery, “At Stillson’s”, ‘newspaper reporter; Stillson’s – a bar’, 1^st of 2 stories in BM

~ Roger Torrey, “Death Plays Tag”, ‘8th (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’, 35th of 50 appearances in BM

~ Donald Wandrei, “Make Me a Death Mask”, ‘young artist’, 3rd of 6 stories in BM

[cover updated 10/27/25]

February 1937 issue ~ cover art by John Drew

February 1937 issue

cover art by John Drew

~ Baynard H(ardwick) Kendrick, “Fish to Fry”, 1^st of 14 stories with Mikes Standish (Stan) Rice, ‘The Hungry’[?], all set in Florida, author’s debut in BM

~ John Onslow, “The Damned Rookie”, ‘Larry Brogan, rookie cop’, 2^nd of 2 stories in BM

~ H.H. Stinson, “Lay Off, O’Hara”, 4th of 14 with ‘Ken O’Hara, fighting reporter on Los Angeles Tribune’, 5th of 27 stories in BM

~ MacAllister Street, “$1000 a Day”, ‘Hade, private ‘tec’, only appearance in BM

~ Roger Torrey, “Murder’s Never Funny”, ‘3rd (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’, 25th of 50 appearances in BM

~ Donald Wandrei, “The Rod and the Staff”, ‘short-short’, 1^st of 6 stories in BM

~ Cornell Woolrich, “Murder on the Night Boat”, ‘police dick on honeymoon; Sergeant James Q. Bradford’, 2nd of 24 (22 original) stories to appear in BM