race williams – SMB Noir

July 1927 issue ~ cover art by Fred Craft

July 1927 issue

cover art by Fred Craft

~ Tom Curry, “The Peterman”, 10^th of 23 with Macnamara (Mac), NYPD 1^st grade dick, ‘peterman’ = high explosives expert’, 15^th of 39 stories in BM

~ Carroll John Daly, “The Snarl of the Beast”, 19^th of 53 with Race Williams, part 2 of 4 serial, published as a novel in 1927 as The Snarl of the Beast, reprinted in The Snarl of the Beast: The Collected Hard-boiled Stories of Race Williams, v.2 (Altus, 2016), 28th of 71 appearances in BM

~ Westmoreland Gray, “Box V’s Night of Mystery”, ‘Western’, 2^nd of 3 stories in BM

~ Nels Leroy Jorgensen, “Stud Tactics”, 5th of 32 with Stuart “Black” Burton, ‘square-shooting gambler from the Southwest, often entangled with the law’, 7th of 39 stories in BM

~ F.N. Litten, “The Ninth Life”, ‘gangster story’, author’s only appearance in BM

~ Carl L. Martin, “Figgerin’ Roughly”, Deputy Lon Havens, Drew County, Bayou country, 1st of 6 in BM

~ Frederick L. Nebel, “A Man with Sand”, ‘see p. 128 for data on FLN with small photo’, reprinted in Street Wolf (Altus Press, 2014), 6 of 67 stories in BM

~ L. King Tichenor, “False Impressions”, ‘Told in prison near execution time’, last of 5 stories in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

August 1924 issue

August 1924 issue

~ Carroll John Daly, “Them That Lives by Their Guns”, 4^th of 53 with Race Williams, reprinted in Them That Lives By Their Guns: The Collected Hard-Boiled Stories of Race Williams, Vol. 1 (Altus Press, 2015) 12th of 71 appearances in BM

~ Dashiell Hammett, “Our Own Short Story Course”, letter to editor from DH, in part about BM’s rejection of “Women, Politics and Murder” [not counted as a ‘story’]

~ Irvin Mattick, “The Devil’s Rocket”, ‘closing act of Koerner’s ‘Greatest Show on Earth’, sole appearance in BM

~ Harold Freeman Miners, “Topango Reverses the Decision”, 3^rd of 4 with ‘Topanga John, ancient desert rat’, 4^th of 5 stories in BM

~ J. Fortune Reade, “The Windfall”, last of 3 stories in BM

~ Victor Shea, “Charity”, short-short, 2nd of 2 stories in BM

~ Charles Somerville, “The Gun-Girl”, ‘Celia Cooney & 42 stick-ups in 4 ½ months’, 32nd of 47 articles in the ‘Manhunter’ series, 33rd of 49 total articles in BM

~ Edward Parrish Ware, “The Jungle Buzzard”, ‘Western’, 5th of 9 stories in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

April 1927 issue ~ cover art by Fred Craft

May 1927 issue

cover art by Fred Craft

~ J. Edgar Ambler, “The Buzzard”, ‘The Buzzard & the Cracker, criminals’, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Tom Curry, “The Stick-Up Club”, 8^th of 23 with Macnamara (Mac), NYPD 1^st grade dick, 13^th of 39 stories in BM

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “In Full Account”, 16th of 73 Ed Jenkins stories, last of 3 with ‘The Girl with the Mole’, reprinted in Dead Men’s Letters (1990, Carroll & Graf anthology of Jenkins stories), 25th of 99 stories in BM

~ Dashiell Hammett, “$106,000 Blood Money” Continental Op [21st of 25], sequel to “The Big Knock-Over”, in the 2/1927 issue, reprinted with its prequel as Blood Money (Tower, 1943), reprinted in The Big Book of the Continental Op (Vintage, 2017), 30^th of 51 stories in BM

~ (Charles John) Cutcliffe Hyne, “The Liner and the Iceberg”, 7th of 8 yarns with Captain Kettle

~ Don Livingston, “No Grandstand Play”, Western, 2nd of 2 stories in BM

~ Riblew Reelhew, “Eyes of the Night”, ‘Dandy Dan, nimble & nimble-witted crook’, 2nd of 2 stories under this pseudonym, Wilber Wheeler reversed

~ Victor Shaw, “For a Girl Like That”, ‘Western detective’, 1st of 5 stories in BM

~ Raoul [Fauconnier] Whitfield, “South of Savannah”, 4th of 7 ‘Chuck Reddington story; airplanes & machineguns’, 12th of 68 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta]

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

November 1935 issue ~ cover art by Walter Baumhofer

November 1935 issue

cover art by Walter Baumhofer

better image than previously posted

Carroll John Daly, “Dead Hands Reaching” (Race Williams)

John K. Butler, “The Stairway to Hell” (Rex Lonergan)

Oscar Schisgall, “Island of Fear”

Norbert Davis, “The Devil’s Scalpel” (Bill Ray)

Wyatt Blassingame, “3+1 = Murder”

July 1926 issue ~ cover art by Dodge

July 1926 issue

cover art by Dodge

~ Carroll John Daly, “The False Clara Burkhart”, 14^th of 53 with Race Williams, reprinted in Them That Lives By Their Guns: The Collected Hard-Boiled Stories of Race Williams, Vol. 1 (Altus Press, 2015), 22nd of 71 appearances in BM

~ William Colt MacDonald, “Romney Gets the Dope”, Western, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Howard E. Morgan, “The Prisoner at Silver City”, 2^nd of 2 stories in BM

~ Herman Petersen, “The Knife”, last of 20 stories in BM

~ Harry Emmons Rolfe, “Tin Cans”, ‘short-short’, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ George Surrey, “The King of Pearls”, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Raoul [Fauconnier] Whitfield, “Black Air”, 4th of 68 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta]

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

June 1924 issue ~ cover art by H.C. Murphy

June 1924 issue

cover art by H.C. Murphy

~ Russell Arden Bankson, “Underground”, ‘The detective-sheriff of the Kaniksu country’, 2^nd of 2 stories in BM

~ Madeline Bartlett, “The Mutilated Masterpiece”, 2^nd of 2 stories in BM

~ Frank L. Benscoter, “Gilligan and Co”, ‘Introducing a new character’, 1^st of 5 stories in BM

~ Carroll John Daly, “The Red Peril”, 3^rd of 53 with Race Williams, reprinted in Them That Lives By Their Guns: The Collected Hard-Boiled Stories of Race Williams, Vol. 1 (Altus Press, 2015) 11th of 71 appearances in BM

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “A Fair Trial”, ‘pub. anonymously; authorship established in Hughes, Gardner, (1978), p. 312’, 1^st of 99 stories in BM

~ Dashiell Hammett, “The Girl with the Silver Eyes”, the Op [10^th of 25], referred to in BM as ‘Hammett’s San Francisco Detective’, sequel to “The House in Turk Street” (4/15/1924), issue also includes letter about the story, reprinted in The Black Lizard Big Book of Pulps (Vintage, 2007), reprinted in The Big Book of the Continental Op (Vintage, 2017), in The Girl with the Silver Eyes: The Complete Black Mask Cases of the Continental Op, vol.2 (Steeger, 2023),17th of 51 stories in BM

~ Frank Howard, Jr., “The Vernacular at the Night Court”, ‘No data’ [no explanation as to what that means], author’s only appearance in BM

~ Victor Shea, “Mr. Pentridge Comes Down to Breakfast”, 1^st of 2 stories in BM

~ Charles Somerville, “The Lively Corpse”, 30th of 49 articles in the ‘Manhunter’ series, 31st of 49 total articles in BM

~ Joe Taylor, “Monty’s Last Job”, last of 12 tales in ‘My Underworld’ series, last of 13 appearances in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

[terrible cover but first I’ve seen since starting this project in 2013]

[cover updated 2/16/26]

March 1928 issue ~ cover art by Fred Craft

March 1928 issue

cover art by Fred Craft

better image than previously posted

~ Tom Curry, “The Gang”, DeVrite, NYPD undercover ‘secret agent’, 2nd of 7, 21st of 39 stories in BM

~ Carroll John Daly, “The Egyptian Lure”, 22^nd of 53 with RW,‘The Name Race Williams Stand for Service’, 31st of 71 appearances in BM

~ Bob Du Soe, “All Over a Pup”, ‘waterfront bum takes on hijackers because of a dog’, 2nd of 3 stories in BM

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “Whispering Feet”, 20th of 73 with Ed Jenkins, with Soo Hoo Duck & Ngat T’oy, ‘see endnote, p.73, for data on series’, 30th of 99 stories in BM

~ Henry Leverage, “The Clue Upstairs”, ‘Big Scar, yegg, just out of stir‘, 1^st of 2 stories in BM

~ Anderson McCully, “The Masked Trail”, ‘story of the Far North’, 1^st of 2 stories in BM

~ Bentley B. MacCay, “Bullfrogs”, ‘Louisiana tale’, author’s only appearance in BM

~ Everett H. Tipton, “Killers Should Run”, ‘Western’, 3^rd of 7 stories in BM

~ Wilber Wheeler [see Riblew Reelhew, Mar & May ’27], “The Trail of Sudden Death”, ‘Western’, 2nd of 2 under this name in BM

June 1932 issue ~ cover art by J.W. Schlaikjer

June 1932 issue

cover art by J.W. Schlaikjer

~ Thomson Burtis, “They Don’t Shake Hands in Arkansas”, ‘Slats Kirke in Detroit’, 4^th of 6 appearances in BM

~ Paul Cain, “Velvet”, ‘Kells & Granquist; part 3 of Fast One’, 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), 4^th of 17 stories in BM

~ Carroll John Daly, “The Amateur Murderer”, 45^th of 53 with Race Williams, part 3 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), 57th of 71 appearances in BM

~ Norbert Davis, “Reform Racket”, ‘Dan Stiles; one-time gunman’, 1^st of 13 stories in BM

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “Cooking Crooks”, 44th of 73 with Ed Jenkins, ‘with Norma Gay’, 61st of 99 stories in BM

~ Horace McCoy, “The Golden Rule”, 11th of 14 Frost stories ‘Capt. Jerry Frost, Texas (Air) Ranger’, reprinted in Headfirst into Hell: The Complete Black Mask Cases of Jerry Front, Vol. 2 (Steeger, 2025), 13^h of 17 stories in BM

~ Henry Wallace Phillips, “A Touch of Nature”, Western mystery, last of 8 with Red Saunders who ‘fights a “wild man in kilts”’, last of 12 stories in BM

December 1938 issue ~ cover art by John Fleming Gould

December 1938 issue

cover art by John Fleming Gould

better image than previously posted

Carroll John Daly, “The Quick and the Dead” (Race Williams)

Frederick C. Davis, “The Ghoul Hangs High” (Keyhole Kerry)

D.L. Champion, “Lock the Death House Door!”

O.B. Myers, “Don’t Bet on Ghosts” (Doc Kincaid)

Mark Harper, “Frame for a Fall-Guy”

March 1931 issue

March 1931 issue

cover art by J. W. Schlaikjer

better image than previously posted

~ Galen C. Colin, “Wrong Font Brands”, ‘Pica Slim, tramp printer’, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Carroll John Daly, “Murder by Mail”, 38^th of 53 with Race Williams, ‘vs. Bull Lowery’, 50th of 71 appearances in BM

~ Ramon Decolta (Raoul Whitfield), “The Man in White”, 2nd of 6 parts in the ‘Rainbow Diamonds’ sequence that take Jo Gar from Manila to San Francisco, 11^th of 24 Gar stories in BM, reprinted in West of Guam: The Complete Cases of Jo Bar (Altus Press, 2013)

~ Grimes Hill (pseud. of Frederick Lewis Nebel), “The Kill”, 1^st of 2 stories in this issue by the author, 1^st of 2 stories under this name in BM, reprinted in Street Wolf (Altus Press, 2014),

~ Frederick L. Nebel, “Junk”, 13th of 37 with Captain Steve MacBride and local reporter Kennedy ‘fighting river pirates’, reprinted in Winter Kill: Complete Cases of MacBride & Kenney, v.2 (Altus, 2013), 30 of 67 Nebel stories in BM

~ James P. Olsen, “Who Knows?”, 5^th of 6 Western stories in BM

~ Joseph T. Shaw, “Derelict”, 2nd of 4-part serialization of his 1930 novel, ‘murder, romance and disaster on a deserted ocean liner’, 3rd of 9 fiction pieces in BM