peter collinson – SMB Noir

October 15, 1923 issue ~ cover art by Lewis Kennerly

October 15, 1923 issue

cover art by Lewis Kennerly

~ Edwin Baird, “Keep it Dark” short-short, last of 3 stories in BM

~ Eustace Hale Ball, “Little Miss Muffet – 1923”, 9^th of 13 stories in BM

~ Royce Brier, “The Thirteenth Tack”, ‘Spider Klein, criminal’, 2^nd of 5 stories in BM

~ Ray(mond King) Cummings, “T. McGuirk Tries the Luck Charms”, ‘7th of 14 McGuirk stories, billed as “the quaintest character in the Underworld” & honest, more of less’, 7^th of 15 stories in BM

~ Drayton Dunster, “Aided and Abetted by the Law”, 8^th of 9 stories in BM

~ ‘Peter Collinson’ (Hammett), “Slippery Fingers”, 1st story in this issue, ‘see p. 127 for letter by DH & discussion of story’, last of 4 stories under this name in BM, though Hagemann doesn’t note it, 2^nd of 25 Op stories reprinted in The Big Book of the Continental Op (Vintage, 2017), reprinted in Zigzags of Treachery: The Complete Black Mask Cases of the Continental Op, Vol. 1 (Steeger, 2023), though Hagemann does not list this as an Op story, 4^th of 51 total stories in BM

~ Dashiell Hammett, “Crooked Souls”, the Op [3rd of 25], 2nd of 2 stories in this issue but 5th of 51 total stories in BM, reprinted in The Big Book of the Continental Op (Vintage, 2017), reprinted in Zigzags of Treachery: The Complete Black Mask Cases of the Continental Op, Vol. 1 (Steeger, 2023)

~ Robert Lee Heiser, “Fifty Dollars a Peep”, ‘alleged to be true’

~ Jones Jones, “The Talented Burglar”, author’s sole appearance in BM [hard to believe that name is correct]

~ J. Fortune Reade, “At the Bottom of It”, ‘A Strange Detective Problem’, 2nd of 3 stories in BM

~ Charles Somerville, “The Riddle of Room 14”, 17th of 47 articles in the ‘Manhunter’ series, 18^th of 49 total articles in BM

~ J. Paul Suter, “Beyond Justice”, ‘daytime story’, 2nd of 19 appearances in BM

~ Joe Taylor, “The Doublecross”, 10th of 12 tales in ‘My Underworld’ series, 11^th of 13^th appearances in BM

~ Merlin Moore Taylor, “The Young Squirt”, ‘advertised as “A Complete Mystery Novelette”’, 4th of 8 appearances in BM

~ Edward Parrish Ware, “The Snitch”, 1^st of 9 stories 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

January 1977 Vintage paperback original, 1st printing

January 1977 Vintage paperback original, 1st printing

edited and with an introduction by Herbert Ruhm

Carroll John Daly, “The False Burton Combs” (Dec, 1922)

Peter Collinson, “The Road Home” (Dashiell Hammettt, Dec, 1922)

Dashiell Hammett, “The Gutting of Couffignal” (Dec, 1925)

Norbert Davis, “Kansas City Flash” (Mar, 1933)

Frederick Nebel, “Take It and Like It” (June, 1934)

Raymond Chandler, “Goldfish” (June, 1936)

Lester Dent, “Angelfish” (Dec, 1936)

Erle Stanley Gardner, “Leg Man” (Feb, 1938)

George Harmon Coxe, “Once Around the Clock” (May, 1941)

Merle Constiner, “The Turkey Buzzard Blues” (July, 1943)

William Brandon, “It’s So Peaceful in the Country” (Nov, 1943)

Curt Hamlin, “Killer Come Home” (his only Black Mask story, July, 1948)

Paul W. Fairman, “Big-Time Operator” (his only Black Mask story, July, 1948)

Bruno Fischer, “Five O’Clock Menace” (May, 1949)

June 15, 1923 issue ~ cover art by H.C. Murphy

June 15, 1923 issue

cover art by H.C. Murphy

~ ‘Peter Collinson’ (Hammett), “The Vicious Circle”, ‘see pp. 126-127 for letter by DH’, 2^nd of 4 stories under this name, 2^nd of 51 total stories in BM

~ Anthony Crittenden, “Spike McCready’s Exit”, only appearance in BM

~ Ray(mond King) Cummings, “T. McGuirk Juggles the Pawn Tickets”, ‘4th of 14 McGuirk stories, billed as “the quaintest character in the Underworld” & honest, more of less’, 4^th of 15 stories in BM

~ Wyona Dashwood, “Out of the Fog”, ‘Human weirdities’, only story in BM

~ Meredith Davis, “Beyond the Chair”, last of 3 stories in BM

~ Drayton Dunster, “Sabotage”, ‘A Cemetery Tale’, 6^th of 9 stories in BM

~ Newton A. Fuessle, “Hoodwinked”, ‘KKK story but not in special issue’, 1^st of 2 stories in BM

~ Peter Grumble, “What Happened at Flanders”, ‘Western yarn’, author’s only appearance in BM

~ W.H. Holmes, “Scrambled Motives”, ‘A Complete Mystery Novelette’, 2^nd of 3 stories in BM

~ Charles Somerville, “The Clue of the Hatband”, 9th of 47 articles in the ‘Manhunter’ series, 10^th of 49 total articles in BM