raymond j. brown – SMB Noir

April 1, 1923 issue

April 1, 1923 issue

~ Eustace Hale Ball, “The Trail of the Scarlet Fox”, last of 6 parts with various subtitles, 6th of 13 appearances in BM

~ Raymond J. Brown, “Phantom Bullets”, part 1 of 5, only work in BM

~ Robert Clay, “The Man Who Hated Worms”, author’ only appearance in BM

~ David Dart, “The Held Up Hold-Up”, 2^nd and last story in BM

~ Arthur Floyd Henderson, “A Matter of Gallantry”, author’s only appearance in BM

~ Francis James, “Spark of Death”, Prentice [(?) Hagemann includes question mark], 7th of 20 appearances in BM

~ William Rollins, Jr., “Schuydenehome”, 1st of 23 stories in BM

~ Charles Somerville, “By Wire”, 5th of 47 articles in the ‘Manhunter’ series, 5^th of 49 total articles in BM

~ Joe Taylor and G[eorge] W. Sutton, Jr., “Burnt Hands”, part 1 of 2, ‘GWS was then editor of BM’, 1^st of 2 appearances by this team in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

April 15, 1923 issue ~ cover art by John Decker

April 15, 1923 issue

cover art by John Decker

better image than previously posted

~ Raymond J. Brown, “Phantom Bullets”, part 2 of 5, only work in BM

~ Ray Cummings and Gabrielle [2^nd wife], “Haunted”, only story by this pair in BM

~ Carroll John Daly, “It’s All in the Game”, ‘1^st-person narrator, preying on “leading lights of the underworld” e.g., Ed, The Killer’, 3rd of 71 appearances in BM

~ Drayton Dunster, “The Fruit of the Tomb”, ‘A Cemetery Tale’, 5^th of 9 stories in BM

~ H.M. Hamilton, “Vanishing Gold”, 2nd of 2 stories in BM

~ Charles Somerville, “The Vengeance of the Dead”, 6th of 47 articles in the ‘Manhunter’ series, 6^th of 49 total articles in BM

~ Joe Taylor, “The Meanest Thief”, ‘brief-brief’, 7^th piece of 13 tales in BM

~ Joe Taylor and G[eorge] W. Sutton, Jr., “Burnt Hands”, part 2 of 2 (subtitled, “A Splinter of Steel”), ‘GWS was then editor of BM’, 2nd of 2 appearances by this team in BM

~ Juliette Van, “At the Dragon’s Dip”, ‘Billed as “A Complete Double-Length Detective Mystery Novelette”’, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Harold Ward, “The Turning of the Worm”, last of 29 stories under this name in BM [last of 46 stories in BM under three different names – Ward Sterling and H.W. Starr]

~ J.A. Young, “The Meanest Thief”, ‘brief-brief’, author’s sole appearance in BM

June 1, 1923 series ~ cover art by L.L. Balcom

June 1, 1923 Special KKK issue

cover art by L.L. Balcom

better image than previously posted

~ Raymond J. Brown, “Phantom Bullets”, last of 5 parts, only works in BM

~ Richard Connell, “The Color of Honor”, KKK story, ‘see p. 127 for data on RC’, reprinted in The Black Lizard Big Book of Black Mask Stories (Vintage, 2010), only story in BM

~ Ray(mond King) Cummings, “T. McGuirk – Klansman”, ‘3rd of 14 McGuirk stories, billed as “the quaintest character in the Underworld” & honest, more of less’, ‘alleged to be a ‘humorous tale’, 3^rd of 15 stories in BM

~ Carroll John Daly, “Knights of the Open Palm”, ‘Debut of Race Williams…see p. 127 for letter from CJD on story, 1^st of 53 RW stories, reprinted in The Great American Detective (1978)’, in The Arbor House Treasury of Detective & Mystery Stories from the Great Pulps (1983), in Them That Lives By Their Guns: The Collected Hard-Boiled Stories of Race Williams, Vol. 1 (Altus Press, 2015), 5th of 71 appearances in BM [historically considered to be the first ever ‘hard-boiled’ story]

~ N. Bryllion Fagin, “Mrs. Frye Captures a Highwayman”, author’s sole story in BM

~ Henry Clay Foster, “The Klan As It Was”, article ‘Who started it and Why’, author’s only appearance in BM

~ Robert Lee Heiser, “’Devil Dan’ Hewett”, KKK story, ‘see p.128 for Data of RLH & his stories’, numerous appearances but little fiction – 1^st of 3 stories in BM

~ George Jean Nathan, “Remarks on the Klan”, ‘brief article on KKK, reprinted from “Smart Set”, March 1923’, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Herman Petersen, “Call Out the Clan”, ‘KKK yarn’, 8th of 20 stories in BM

~ Harford Powel, Jr., “The Other Immortals”, ‘fantasy short-short featuring Leon F. Czolgosz, John Wilkes Booth & Judas’, 4^th of 6 appearances in BM

~ Christopher Sandstone, “The Knights of the Ku Klux Klan”, ‘article; “the case for”’, writer’s sole appearance in BM

~ Charles Somerville, “The Ku Klux and Crime”, ‘the case against’, 8th of 47 articles in the ‘Manhunter’ series

~ Herbert Elisha Stover, “The Guillotine”, ‘not a KKK piece; see p. 128 for letter from HES’, 1^st of 3 pieces in BM

[This post is in no way supporting the evil and hate of white supremacy. At the time this magazine issue was published, the KKK was in resurgence. It was just as relevant an issue then as now. Plus, due to the Daly story, it’s important in American literature.]