December 1945 issue
cover art by Milton Luros
better image than previously posted
Frederick C. Davis, “Death Can Wait” (Bill Brent)
Dale Clark, “Stay Close to Me”
Merle Constiner, “The Kitchen of Master Lefevre” (The Dean)
Julius Long, “Mostly for Murder” (C.D. Mort)
Robert C. Dennis, “Rear View of Hell”
July 1940 issue
T.T. Flynn, “The Bookie and the Blonde” (Mr. Maddox)
Leslie T. White, “One-Way Street”
Jan Dana, “The Murder Was a Pleasure” (Acme Indemnity Op)
John K. Butler, “The Man from Alcatraz” (Steve Midnight)
Hugh B. Cave, “He Didn’t Know Nothin’“ (Officer Coffey)
better image than previously posted
better image than previously posted
cover art by Rafael DeSoto
~ D.L. Champion, “Infernal Revenue”, 21st of 26 with Sackler, 23rd of 30 stories in BM
~ Robert C. Dennis, “I Thee Kill”, 1st of 6 with ‘William (Willie) Carmody, Confidential Investigations & Margaret O’Leary, writer, Hollywood, WC is first-person narrator’, 1st of 10 stories in BM
~ Jack Karney, “Shake Well and Kill”, ‘Garfield Dolan, red-headed private cop in NYC, 1st person narrator’, author’s sole appearance in BM
~ Paul Komisaruk, “Shot from in Close”, ’Harry Nyland, Consolidated Detective Agency narrates’, author’s sole appearance in BM
~ C.M. (Cyril) Kornbluth, “The Brooklyn Eye”, ‘Tim Skeat, private cop, 1st person narrator, in NYC’, 2nd of 2 stories in BM, both with Skeat
©Seattle Mystery Bookshop
January 1948 issue
better image than previously posted
cover art by Peter Stevens
~ Curtis Cluff, “Snow at Waikiki”, 1st of 3 with Honolulu PI Johnny Ford, ‘1st-person narrator, ‘snow=heroin’, 1st of 4 stories in BM
~ Merle Constiner, “Bury Me Not”, ‘Luther McGavock, private detective; he works for Atherton Browne who heads a Memphis-based agency, last 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), last of 12 stories in BM
~ Norman A. Daniels, “Death is No Stranger”, Rick Trent, ex-PI, ex-con, 1st person narrator, 3rd of 4 stories in BM
~ Robert C. Dennis, “Murder Tops the Cast”, 4th of 6 with ‘William (Willie) Carmody, Confidential Investigations & Margaret O’Leary, writer, Hollywood, WC is first-person narrator’, 4th of 10 stories in BM
~ C.P. Donnel, Jr., “Keep the Killing Quiet”, ‘1st-person narrator’, last of 20 stories in BM
~ George F. Kull, “Red Christmas”, ‘in Reno‘, 1st of 2 stories in BM
©Seattle Mystery Bookshop
[updated 2/28/26]
one of SMB founder Bill Farley’s Top Five Mysteries of all time. Sir Eustace is a cad of the first water, with a specialty in other men’s wives, and the list of people who might want to do him in could fill a London phone book. But which of them actually sent the chocolates with their nasty hidden payload? Scotland Yard is baffled. Enter the Crime Circle, a group of society intellectuals with a shared conviction in their ability to succeed where the police have failed. Eventually, each member will produce a tightly reasoned solution to the Case of the Poisoned Chocolates, but each of those solutions will identify a different murderer. First published in 1929, this is both a classic of the golden age of mystery fiction, and one of the great puzzle-mysteries of all time.
SMB Noir 
