August 1928 issue ~ cover art by H.C. Murphy

August 1928 issue

cover art by H.C. Murphy

better image than previously posted

~ Tom Curry, “The Master”, 7th and last DeVrite, with Mac, 26th of 39 stories in BM

~ Carroll John Daly, “Rough Stuff”, 25th of 53,‘Race Williams vs. The Hidden Hand; Pt. 3 of 5 loosely organized 5-pt. serial’, reprinted in The Snarl of the Beast: The Collected Hard-boiled Stories of Race Williams, v.2 (Altus, 2016), 37th of 71 appearances in BM

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “Fangs of Fate”, 5th of 7 Black Barr, 33rd of 99 stories in BM

~ Frederick L. Nebel, “Hell to Pay”, ‘Chicago hood; 1st -person narrator’, reprinted in Street Wolf (Altus Press, 2014), 12 of 67 stories in BM

~ Stephen Payne, “Night-Riding Ruddy”, ‘Western; with Ruddy Ingersoll‘, 2nd of 2 stories in BM

~ Lester Reynard, “Ritzie Gets Clever”, ‘Western; Deputy ‘Happy’ Collins & girl, Ritzie’, 1st of 5 stories in BM

~ Everett H. Tipton, “El Tigre Was Bad”, ‘Bobby Warren, reporter, in Juárez (Chihuahua)’, 6th of 7 stories in BM

~ Raoul [Fauconnier] Whitfield, “High Death”, ‘Mac, Ben Greed; 3rd of 6 in Border Brand series’, reprinted in Border Brand (Steeger, 2024), 23rd of 68 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta]

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

January 1943 issue ~ cover art by Rafael DeSoto

January 1943 issue

cover art by Rafael DeSoto

better image than previously posted

~ Merle Constiner, “Why Meddle with Murder?”, ‘Luther McGavock, private detective; he works Atherton Browne who heads a Memphis-based agency, 3rd 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), 3rd of 12 stories in BM

~ George Harmon Coxe, “Blood on the Lens”, part 1 of 3 of Murder for Two (novel published 1943), 25th of 27 with Flashgun Casey, 29th of 31 stories in BM

~ C.P. Donnel, Jr., “Don’t Stand Under the Blackjack Tree”, 12th of 16 with Colonel Walter (Doc) Rennie, USA Medical Corps, 12th of 20 stories in BM

~ Alan Farley [pseudonym of Mrs. W. Lee Herrington], “Buttered on Both Sides”, 2nd of 2 stories in BM

~ Tom Marvin, “Bag o’Bones”, ‘1st person narrator is a 23-year-old small town sheriff’, 1st of 3 stories

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

August 1936 issue ~ cover art by John Drew

August 1936 issue

cover art by John Drew

better image than previously posted

~ W.T. Ballard, “Fugitive for Justice”, 4th of 7 with ‘Red Drake, undercover investigator for the State Racing Commission, 1st-person narrator’, 20th of 43 stories in BM

~ John K. Butler, “You Can’t Bribe Bullets”, ‘Marty Lewis, 1st person-narrator, & shady local politics’, 4th of 11 stories in BM

~ James Duncan, “Heir to Murder”, ‘Jerry Blaze’, 4th of 10 stories in BM

~ Nels Leroy Jorgensen, “Homicide Cue”, 27th of 32 with Stuart “Black” Burton, ‘square-shooting gambler from the Southwest, often entangled with the law’, 34th of 39 stories in BM

~ Frederick L. Nebel, “Deep Red”, last of 37 with Captain Steve MacBride and local reporter Kennedy, reprinted in Winter Kill: Complete Cases of MacBride & Kennedy, v.4 (Altus, 2013), last of 66 original stories in BM (plus reprints from outside BM)

~ Roger Torrey, “Border Blockade”, ‘4th (of 5) of George Killeen, private ‘tec in L.A., & 1st-person narrator; with Lieutenant McFee, Homicide’, ‘California, i.e., Mexican border’, 20th of 50 appearances in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

November 1936 issue ~ cover art by Malvin Singer

November 1936 issue

cover art by Malvin Singer

November 1936 issue

cover art by Malvin Singer

better image than previously posted

Frederick Nebel, “Make Mine Murder” (Cardigan), reprinted in The Complete Casebook of Cardigan, Vol. 4 (Altus Press, 2012)

Leslie T. White, “So You Won’t Talk, Eh?” (Duke Martindel)

Erle Stanley Gardner, “Two Sticks of Death” (Small, Weston & Burke)

Fred MacIsaac, “The Corpse in the Taxicab” (Rainbow Murphy)

“The Tongueless Men”

 – Chapter 1: John Lawrence, “The Blonde with the Purple Tongue”

 – Chapter 2: T.T. Flynn, “The Vanishing Prelate”

 – Chapter 3: Carroll John Daly, “The Broken Bank”

 – Chapter 4: Frederick C. Davis, “The Lost Stairway”

 – Chapter 5: Warren E. Barrett, “Only Two Swords”

[Taylor notes in his Companion: ” This is the fifth anniversary issue. To celebrate, a contest was built around a round-robin story, ‘The Tongueless Men’, where readers were supposed to identify which writer did each chapter.“]

October 1935 issue ~ cover art by Walter Baumhofer

October 1935 issue

cover art by Walter Baumhofer

better image than previously posted

T.T. Flynn, “The Ghost Whistle” (Bill Wallace)

Frederick Nebel, “Death in the Raw” (Cardigan)

William E. Barrett, “The Tattooed Chain” (Needle Mike)

Frederick C. Davis,“The Case of the Skinned Man” (Carter Cole, MD)

O.B. Myers, “The Corpse Master” (Det. Cutter)

March 1939 issue ~ cover art by John Fleming Gould

March 1939 issue

cover art by John Fleming Gould

Carroll John Daly, “Hell with the Lid Lifted” (Race Williams)

John Lawrence, “The Stars Said Murder” (Marquis of Broadway)

William Edward Hayes, “The Farraday Phantom”

O.B. Myers, “The Body in Booth One”

Wyatt Blassingame, “The Corpse Played Possum”

Frederick Arnold Kummer, Jr., “Death Racket” (reprinted in 100 Dastardly Little Detective Stories, 1993)

December 1932 issue ~ cover art by William Reusswig

December 1932 issue

cover art by William Reusswig

better image than previously posted

T.T. Flynn, “The Black Doctor” (Val Easton, Secret Service)

Frederick Nebel, “A Truck Load of Diamonds” (Cardigan)

Erle Stanley Gardner, “Marked Money” (Dane Skarle)

Richard J. Credicott, “The Three Horrible Heads” (Anthony Fletcher)

Joseph Mulvaney, “Smart Like a Fox” (Oscar Fox)