raoul whitfield – SMB Noir

December 1930 issue ~ cover art by J.W. Schlaikjer

December 1930 issue

cover art by J.W. Schlaikjer

~ Ramon Decolta (Raoul Whitfield), “The Caleso Murders”, 1st story by RFW in this issue, 8^th of 24 Jo Gar stories in BM, reprinted in West of Guam: The Complete Cases of Jo Bar (Altus Press, 2013)

~ Nels Leroy Jorgensen, “Racketeers’ Reef”, last of 3 with Rio Kennedy of the Customs Service in Santo Domingo, 20th of 39 stories in BM

~ Horace McCoy, “The Mailed Fist”, 8th of 14 Frost stories ’Capt. Jerry Frost, Texas (Air) Ranger & Stepsons have a go at ‘The Big Shot’, 9^th of 17 stories in BM

~ Frederick L. Nebel, “The Red-Hots”, 2nd of 15 stories with ‘tough dick Donahue of Interstate’, reprinted in Tough as Nails (2012, Altus), 27 of 67 stories in BM

~ James P. Olsen, “Honor of the Show”, ‘deformed sideshow owner, Price Eco, and murder’, 3rd of 6 Western stories in BM

~ Bertrand W(illiam) Sinclair, “Rope’s End”, ‘Western; Bill Stokes’, 1^st of 3 stories in BM

~ Raoul [Fauconnier] Whitfield, “Murder in the Ring”, ‘boxing, gamblers, racketeers, with Primo-Carnera-like boxer’; reprinted in May ’51 issue, 2^nd story in this issue, 44th of 67 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta]

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

The Virgin Kills x 3

WHITFIELD, Raoul (1897?-1945). The Virgin Kills. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1932.

8o. Original canary yellow cloth; pictorial dust jacket by J.V.W. Oliver (very minor chipping to ends of spine panel; short tear to lower edge of back panel).

FIRST EDITION, in the scarce dust jacket. “Death went up the river with the Virgin, Eric Vennell’s yacht, when that millionaire gambler sailed for the Regatta at Poughkeepsie with his oddly assorted guests” (dust jacket). Illustration on page 56.

better image than previously posted

1986 Quill paperback reissue of his 1932 hardcover

Apparently, the novel was not serialized in any magazine before publication

March 14, 2013

1988 No Exit Press from the UK

cover photo by Weegee

May 1937 issue ~ cover art by Fred Craft

May 1927 issue

cover art by Fred Craft

better image than previously posted

~ 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, an anagram of Wilber Wheeler

~ 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

December 1929 issue x 2

December 1929 issue #1

December 1929 issue #2

both better images than previously posted

cover art by J.W. Schlaikjer

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “Triple Treachery”, 30th of 73 stories with Ed Jenkins, with his wife Helen Chadwick, in LA, 2nd half of story with Ramsey, from previous issue, 47th of 99 stories in BM

~ Dashiell Hammett, “The Maltese Falcon”, part 4 of 5 serialized parts before hardcover publication (1931), reprinted in The Black Lizard Big Book of Black Mask Stories (Vintage, 2010), 38^th of 45 stories in BM

~ Horace McCoy, “Renegades of the Rio”, 3^rd of 14 stories with ‘Capt. Jerry Frost, Texas (Air) Ranger’, 4th of 17 stories in BM

~ Lester Reynard, “Saving the Double-Cross”, 4th of 5 stories in BM

~ Earl and Marion Scott, “Craleigh Comes to Life”, 2nd of 6 stories with ‘Phil Craleigh, once brilliant lawyer, now a drunk, given to bouts of reform’, 10th of 17 stories in BM as a couple

~ L.R. Sherman, “Reading Sign on the Sagebrush Kid”, Western, last of 3 stories in BM

~ Raoul [Fauconnier] Whitfield, “Outside”, ‘Mal Ourney; part 1 (of 5), ‘The Crime Breeders’, presented as separate stories rather than conventional serial’, pub. in hardcover in 1930 by Knopf as Green Ice, 35th of 67 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta]

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

Temple Field aka Raoul Whitfield

Field, Temple (pseudonym of Raoul Whitfield). FIVE. New York: Farrar & Rinehart, Incorporated Publishers, [1931]. Octavo, pp. [1-6] [1-2] 3-270 [271-274: blank], publisher’s light orange cloth stamped in brown, top edge stained light, other edges untrimmed. First edition. First of the two novels by Whitfield published in book form under the pseudonym “Temple Field.” First published in BLACK MASK in nine parts as “The Laughing Death,” as by Raoul Whitfield, it was largely rewritten for book publication. The story’s protagonist, a World War I flying ace (Whitfield did fly in WWI but not in combat) whose father, a prosecuting attorney, has been murdered, wreaks vengeance upon the five men involved. Hubin, p. 282. Slight spine roll, mild spine fade, a very good copy in good dust jacket priced $2.00 on the front flap with wear and fraying with shallow loss along the top and bottom edges, mainly spine ends, orange ink on spine panel faded away, soiling to rear panel and water stains with light show through on outer surface. Presents better than it appears from the written description. From the library of a well-known mystery writer with his library stamp on the front paste-down.

Black Mask issues containing the “Laughing Death” series

February 1929: “On the Spot”

March 1929: “Out of the Sky”

April 1929: “The Six-Gun Showdown”

May 1929: “High Odds”

June 1929: “Within the Circle”

July 1929: “The Carnival Kill”

August 1929: “River Street Death”

September 1929: “The Squeeze”

October 1929: “Sal the Dude”

December 1933 issue ~ cover art by Fred Craft

December 1933 issue

better image than previously posted

cover art by Fred Craft

~ John L. Chambliss, “The Contact”, NYC PI Schuyler Blake, only appearance in BM

~ Raymond Chandler, “Blackmailers Don’t Shoot”, his debut in BM, his first published writing, 1^st of 2 with PI Mallory, 1^st of 11 stories in BM, first book appearance in Five Murderers (Avon digest, 1944), reprinted in Red Wind (Tower hc, 1946), The Smell of Fear (Hamish Hamilton/UK hc, 1965), Midnight Raymond Chandler (Houghton Mifflin hc, 1971), The Black Mask Boys (Morrow, 1985)

~ Eugene Cunningham, “Chalk”, 2^nd of 5 with undercover Texas Ranger Cleve Corby, 8^th of 14 stories in BM

~ Tom Curry, “Clancy Takes the Air”, Clancy, NYPD 1^st grade dick, author’s last of 39 stories in BM

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “Dead Men’s Shoes”, 53th of 73 Ed Jenkins stories, ‘The Phantom Crook’ with Ngat T’oy, 77th of 99 stories in BM

~ Raoul [Fauconnier] Whitfield, “Murder Again”, ‘L.A. County dicks; Hollywood story’, 65th of 67 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta]

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

February 1929 issue ~ cover art by F.R. Glass

February 1929

cover art by F.R. Glass

November 1927 issue ~ cover art by Fred Craft

November 1927 issue

better image than previously posted

cover art by Fred Craft

~ Tom Curry, “The Raiders”, 11^th of 23 with Macnamara (Mac), NYPD 1^st grade dick, 18^th of 39 stories in BM

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “The Wax Wagon”, 17th of 73 Ed Jenkins stories, with Helen Chadwick & Soo Hoo Duck, 27th of 99 stories in BM

~ Dashiell Hammett, “The Cleansing of Poisonville”, 1^st of 4 Continental Op stories that will go together to make up Red Harvest (published 1929), 26^th of 45 stories in BM

~ Nels Leroy Jorgensen, “Get Burton”, 8^th of 32 with Stuart “Black” Burton, ‘square-shooting gambler from the Southwest, often entangled with the law’, 10th of 39 stories in BM

~ Raymond Emery Lawrence, “Riker Accomodates” [spelling in Hagemann], ‘aviator’, 1^st of 2 stories in BM

~ John W. McCardell, “The Return of Gun Eagen”, ‘Western’, 1^st of 2 stories in BM

~ Frederick L. Nebel, “With Benefit of Law”, ’boxing & crooks’, reprinted in Street Wolf (Altus Press, 2014), 9 of 67 stories in BM

~ Everett H. Tipton, “One Bad Man”, ‘Western’, 1^st of 7 stories in BM

~ Raoul [Fauconnier] Whitfield, “Red Pearls”, ‘police dick, Lou Kyle’, 16th of 67 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta]

December 1931 issue ~ cover art by J.W. Schlaikjer

December 1931 issue

cover art by J.W. Schlaikjer

better image than previously posted

~ Ramon Decolta (Raoul Whitfield), “The Javanese Mask”, 1^st of 2 stories in this issue by RFW, Jo Gar, 17^th of 24 Gar stories in BM, reprinted in West of Guam: The Complete Cases of Jo Bar (Altus Press, 2013)

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “Strictly Personal”, 39th of 73 Ed Jenkins, ‘Jenkins’ return after death of his wife, Helen, which had broken him; out of hospital & in Chinatown with Lui Sing Fong’, [patriarchal master of Chinatown], last of 3 connected stories (7/1931 and 9/1931), 56th of 99 stories in BM

~ Ed Lybeck, “Leaded Ink”, ’debut of Francis St. Xavier Harrigan, reporter on Leader’, 1^st of 4 stories in BM

~ Frederick L. Nebel, “Some Die Young”, 16th of 37 with Captain Steve MacBride and local reporter Kennedy, reprinted in Winter Kill: Complete Cases of MacBride & Kenney, v.2 (Altus, 2013), 37 of 67 stories in BM

~ Henry Wallace Phillips, “For Sale, The Golden Queen”, ‘Western; Agamemnon Jones & Hy, 1^st-person narrator, Golden Queen is a gold mine’, 7^th of 8 with Red Saunders, 11th of 12 stories in BM

~ Stewart Stirling, (possible pseud. of Stewart Sterling?), “600 to 1”, 5^th of 8 stories with ‘Johnny Hi Gear, a.k.a. K-5, Undercover Agent’ with ‘King Collis, Negro policy king; racial slurs’

~ Raoul [Fauconnier] Whitfield, “Unfair Exchange”, ‘Alan Van Cleve, wealthy sportsman, man-about-town, 5th (of 6) segment in The Skyline Murders series; printed as separate stories rather than conventional serial’; pub. as Killer’s Carnival (1932) under pseudonym of Temple Field’, 2^nd story in this issue, 53rd of 67 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta]

October 1930 issue ~ cover art by J.W. Schlaikjer

October 1930 issue

better image than previously posted

cover art by J.W. Schlaikjer

~ Ramon Decolta (Raoul Whitfield), “Nagasaki Knives”, 2nd half of Jo Gar story, 7^th of 24 stories in BM, reprinted in West of Guam: The Complete Cases of Jo Bar (Altus Press, 2013)

~ Nels Leroy Jorgensen, “The Dark Pack”, ‘Western’, 19th of 39 stories in BM

~ James Howard Leveque, “Nigger Loon”, bayou tale, sole appearance in BM

~ James P. Olsen, “’Shot!’”, 1^st of 6 Western stories in BM

~ Lester Reynard, “Ladies Love Diamonds”, ‘San Francisco setting’, last of 5 stories in BM

~ Raoul [Fauconnier] Whitfield, “Death in a Bowl”, 2nd of 3 serialized parts, ‘Ben Jardinn, Hollywood eye, & murder in Hollywood Bowl’, ‘(originally titled The Maestro Murder)’, published in hardcover in 1931 by Knopf, 42nd of 67 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta]