
cover art by Rafael DeSoto

October 1939 issue
cover art by Rafael DeSoto
better image than previously posted
John Lawrence, “Man Hunt” (Marquis of Broadway)
D.L. Champion, “Dead and Dumb” (Inspector Allhoff)
Sam Merwin, Jr., “Murder March of the Toy Soldiers”
Martin Labas, “The Devil’s Burden”
O.B. Myers, “Diamonds Can’t Swim”

cover art by Rafael DeSoto
~ George Harmon Coxe, “Blood on the Lens”, part 3 of 3 of Murder for Two (novel published 1943), last of 27 stories with Flashgun Casey, last of 31 stories in BM
~ C.P. Donnel, Jr., “Conspiracy in Sunlight”, ‘Military Intelligence; set in WWII England’, 13th of 20 stories in BM
~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “The Incredible Mister Smith”, 72nd of 73 Ed Jenkins in Chinatown with Soo Hoo Duck, Ngat T’oy, 98th of 99 stories in BM
~ Philip Ketchum, “Coffin Number Three”, ‘death of an Army officer; WWII’, 2nd of 3 stories in BM
~ Henry Norton, “Slay, Fiddle, Slay”, ‘Steve Wiacheck, Polish-American worker’, 3rd of 6 stories in BM
©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

cover art by Rafael DeSoto
better image than previously posted
D.L. Champion, “There was a Crooked Man – ” (Inspector Allhoff)
Norbert Davis, “This will Kill You!” (Bail-Bond Dodd)
John Lawrence, “The Death of the Party” (Marquis of Broadway)
Merle Constiner, “Strangler’s Kill” (The Dean)
O.B. Myers, “United We Fall”

cover art by Rafael DeSoto
better image than previously posted
John Lawrence, “Murder Must Go On!” (Marquis of Broadway)
Carl Clausen, “The Bell of Blackman’s Knob”
Cornell Woolrich, “Meet Me by the Mannequin”
D.L. Champion, “Turn in Your Badge!” (Insp. Allhoff)
Wyatt Blassingame, “The Coral Band”

cover art by Rafael DeSoto

~ Frances Beck, “Dig Down Deep”, only story in BM
~ Anthony Boucher [pseud. of William Anthony Parker White], “The Catalyst”, only story by Boucher in BM
~ D.L. Champion, “Spend, Killer, Spend”, 18th of 26 with Rex Sackler, reprinted in Murder Costs Money: The Complete Black Mask Stories of Rex Sackler (Steeger, 2020), 20th of 30 stories in BM
~ Dale Clark, “Open and Shut”, 21st of 28 with house dick Mike O’Hanna story, at San Alpa Resort hotel, 24th of 32 stories in BM
~ Julius Long, “The Witch of Endor County”, 6th of 17 stories with ‘Ben Corbett, D.A.’s chief investigator, 1st -person narrator’, 11th of 23 stories in BM
~ Henry Norton, “Here’s Homicide”, ‘Barney & Brownie, writers of a smash-hit radio whodunnit show with same name’, 5th of 6 stories in BM
~ Michael Sutton, “Jail Will Be Lonely”, Steve Duncan, hotel bouncer, 1st of 2 stories in BM
~ Fergus Truslow, “Death on Ice”, ‘Hendricks, rookie cop in L.A’, 1st of 6 stories in BM
©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

[updated and corrected 1/29/26]

1955 Popular Library paperback original
cover art by Rafael DeSoto
better image than previously posted
1962 Belmont reissue as Jailbait Jungle


cover art by Rafael DeSoto
better image than previously posted
John Lawrence, “Murder in the Family” (Marquis of Broadway)
Norbert Davis, “Give the Devil His Due” (Max Latin)
C.P. Donnel, Jr., “Footprints on the Ceiling” (Colonel Kaspir)
D.L. Champion, “Tell It to Homicide” (Inspector Allhoff)
Alan Anderson, “Prowl the Night”
