raymond s. pease – SMB Noir

May 1938 issue ~ cover art by Raymond S. Pease

May 1938 issue

cover art by Raymond S. Pease

~ William R. Cox, “Half a Crook”, murder & politics, 1^st of 2 stories in BM

~ Carroll John Daly, “I Am the Law”, ‘Meet that implacable, coldly reckless manhunter, Satan Hall’, 1^st of 2 stories (he mostly appeared in Dime Detective Magazine), 67th of 71 appearances in BM

~ James Duncan, “A Deal in Coconuts”, 4 of 5 stories with The Parson, who lives on a ‘mythical’ (fictional?) isle, Cariba, reprinted in Murder for Pennies: The Complete Black Mask Cases of the Parson (Steeger, 2024), 9^th of 10 stories in BM

~ Steve Fisher, “Wait for Me”, ‘murder & intrigue in Shanghai’, reprinted in The Black Lizard Big Book of Black Mask Stories (Vintage, 2010), 5^th of 9 stories in BM

~ Frank Gruber, “Death Sits Down”, 5th of 10 with ‘Oliver Quade, The Human Encyclopedia’, 7th of 14 stories in BM

~ Roger Torrey, “Murder Link”, ‘7th (of 14) in Pat McCarthy series, with Marge Chalmers often his “sidekick”; he is ex-NYC cop, ex-agency man (Chicago & St. Louis) who dislikes cops’, 34th of 50 appearances in BM

~ Donald Wandrei, “Game of Legs”, ‘wrestler’, 2nd of 6 stories in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

March 1938 British edition ~ cover art by Raymond S. Pease

March 1938 British edition

cover art by Raymond S. Pease

contents same as US issue:

~ Max Brand, “The Silent Witness”, short-short, 2^nd of 2 BM stories

~ Joseph Csida, “Bank Night Kill”, ‘narrated by a “contest dick”, 1^st of 2 stories in BM

~ Steve Fisher, “You’ll Always Remember Me”, ‘young punk murderer; psychopathic narrator’, reprinted in The Black Lizard Big Book of Pulps (Vintage, 2007), 4^th of 9 stories in BM

~ Frank Gruber, “Dog Show Murder”, 4th of 10 with ‘Oliver Quade, The Human Encyclopedia’, reprinted in The Hardboiled Dicks (1965), 5th of 14 stories in BM

~ H.H. Stinson, “Three Apes from the East”, ‘Kerry Thorne, detective in L.A.’, reprinted in The Black Lizard Big Book of Black Mask Stories (Vintage, 2010), 8th of 27 stories in BM

US March 1938 issue

better image than previously posted

[US cover added 6/12/26]

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

January 1938 issue ~ cover art by Raymond S. Pease

January 1938 issue

cover art by Raymond S. Pease

~ Dwight V. Babcock, “The Widow Regrets”, 1^st of 7 Beeker (“Beek”) stories, 15^th of 21 stories in BM

~ Thomas W. Duncan, “The Cat and the Corpse”, ‘Dan Macey’, author’s only story in BM

~ Steve Fisher, “No Gentleman Strangles His Wife”, ‘Kip I. Muldane, p.i. in Hawaiian’, 2^nd of 9 stories in BM

~ Nels Leroy Jorgensen, “Blood in the Fog”, 31st of 32 with Stuart “Black” Burton, ‘square-shooting gambler from the Southwest, often entangled with the law’, ‘Black Burton in London’, 38^th of 39 stories in BM

~ Roger Torrey, “Relative Trouble”, ‘Shean Connell, private peep; last of 4 SC stories’, 32nd of 50 appearances in BM

~ Cornell Woolrich, “After-Dinner Story”, 9th of 24 (22 original) stories to appear in BM

[updated 1/26/26]