Tag: private eye

cover painting by D.G Summers

1952 Crown hardcover

October 1952 Signet paperback, first printing

first of the series, introducing Kansas City private eye Johnny April, written by a pair of detectives – John Roscoe and Michael Ruso – who worked together at Hargrove’s Detective Agency in KC

cover painting by D.G Summers 

March 1946 issue ~ cover art by Rafael DeSoto

March 1946 issue

cover art by Rafael DeSoto

~ Thorne Lee, “The Mad Dog of Lame Creek”, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Julius Long, “Forgive Not Our Trespassers”, 11th of 17 stories with ‘Ben Corbett, D.A.’s chief investigator, 1st -person narrator’, 16th of 23 stories in BM

~ Dick Pearce, “Homicide Hangover”, ‘Major Bill Boyle, just back from WWII’, only appearance in BM

~ H.H. Stinson, “You’re the Crime in My Coffin”, ‘Gerry Fowler of Fox, Fox, Shapiro & Fox, law firm’, 22nd of 27 stories in BM

~ Fergus Truslow, “The Killing Was Mutuel”, ‘Private snoop Galahan around Del Mar (California)’, 3rd of 6 stories in BM

~ K. Webster, “One Fall for Murder, ‘Steve Ransom, reporter; wrestling story’, last of 3 stories in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

[cover updated 1/29/26]

January 1949 issue ~ cover art by Peter Stevens

January 1949 issue

cover art by Peter Stevens

better image than previously posted

~ Maurice Beam, “Ear-witness”, ‘Malmin, lawyer’ (thought to be possibly a pseud. of Robert Leslie Bellem), last of 7 stories under this name in BM

~ D.L. Champion, “Extra-Alibi”, ‘Baxter Beamish, ex-con turned private eye; his business card reads “Set a Crook to Catch a Crook”’, 28th of 30 stories in BM

~ Richard Deming, “No Pockets in a Shroud”, Manville “Manny” Moon, 1st-person narrator, 3rd of 6 stories in BM

~ G.T. Fleming-Roberts, “Legitimately Dead”, ‘Fells’, 6th of 8 stories in BM

~ Robert J. McCaig, “Trouble on Circuit 13”, ‘Marty Cullane, telephone lineman’, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Robinson MacLean, “Somebody for the Wolves”, ‘Eddie O’Meara, shoestring Hollywood producer’, author’s only appearance in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

[cover updated 1/29/26]

June 15 – July 1, 1933 issue ~ cover art by William Reusswig

June 15 – July 1, 1933 issue

better image than previously posted

cover art by William Reusswig

Erle Stanley Gardner, “The Hand of Horror” (Reed Sampsell)

Frederick Nebel, “Chains of Darkness” (Cardigan)

Frederick C. Davis, “Dead Men Walk” (Det. Lt. Bartholomew Brandt)

Richard J. Credicott, “The Ghoul of Murder Manor”

January 1947 issue ~ cover art by Rafael DeSoto

January 1947 issue

cover art by Rafael DeSoto

better image than previously posted

~ Dale Clark, “Heavenly Homicide”, 27th of 28 with house dick Mike O’Hanna, at San Alpa Resort hotel, 31st of 32 stories in BM

~ William Campbell Gault, “The Cold, Cold Ground”, 2nd of 5 with Mortimer Jones, 2nd of 9 stories in BM

~ Julius Long, “I Remember Murder”, 15th of 17 stories with ’Ben Corbett, D.A.’s chief investigator, 1st -person narrator’, 20th of 23 stories in BM

~ Donn Mullally, “The Corpse I Left Behind Me”, ’Martin Fowler in Hollywood’, 1st of 2 stories in BM

~ William Rough, “Hot Ice”, ‘Ben Slabbe, p.i., who has his own agency; last of 5 capers’ in BM

~ Donegan Wiggins, “The Double-Cross”, ‘brief-brief’, author’s only appearance in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

June 1947 UK edition

[UK cover added 5/16/25]

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), 14th of 15 stories in BM

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

~ Carroll John Daly, “Alias Buttercup”, 10th 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, 46th of 49 total articles in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

September 1935 issue ~ cover art by Rudolph Belarski

September 1935 issue

cover art by Rudolph Belarski

better image than previously posted

~ Dwight V. Babcock, “Death Goes Free”, ‘G-man Chuck Thompson’, 2nd of 7 CT stories, 7th of 21 stories in BM

~ Paul Cain, “Chinaman’s Chance”, Johnny Gay, Hollywood reporter, reprinted in The Complete Slayers (2011 Centipede Press), 14th of 17 stories in BM

~ James Duncan, “Runaround Murder”, last of 3 with Ivor Small – investigations, “He was fat without being fat enough to gain a livelihood as a professional fat man”, 3rd of 10 stories in BM

~ Big announcement that Erle Stanley Gardner & Ed Jenkins return in the next issue

~ Sinclair Gluck, “Double for Danger”, ‘Ted Murray, reporter in Hollywood, 1st-person narrator’, only appearance in BM

~ Theodore A. Tinsley, “Ticketed for Death”, ‘13th (of 25) Jerry Tracy capers, columnist on the (NYC) Planet, ‘mixer with poor and rich, the crooked and the straight, trailer of trouble and happiness’, reprinted in Murder Maze: The Complete Black Mask Cases of Jerry Tracy, vol.2 (Steeger 2022),14th of 26 stories in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

September 1935 Canadian edition