roger torrey – Page 3

May 1938 issue ~ cover art by H.L. Parkhurst

May 1938

cover art by H.L. Parkhurst

May 1943 issue

May 1943

cover art attributed to Allen Anderson

better image than previously posted

August 1938 issue ~ cover art by Don Creigh

August 1938 issue

cover art by Don Creigh

better image than previously posted

~ William E. Brandon, “Handout”, ‘panhandler in trouble’, 1^st of 7 stories in BM

~ Frederick C. Davis, “Seven Knocks at My Door”, ‘Dr. Joel Perry’, 4th of 16 stories in BM

~ Frank Gruber, “The Ring and the Finger”, ‘1^st-person narrator’, 8th of 14 stories in BM

~ John Lawrence, “Deed of Gift”, 2nd of 2 stories with ‘Barron Hargraft & boxing in Detroit & NYC’, 4^th of 14 stories in BM

~ William Tanquery, “At Stillson’s”, ‘newspaper reporter; Stillson’s – a bar’, 1^st of 2 stories in BM

~ Roger Torrey, “Death Plays Tag”, ‘8th (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’, 35th of 50 appearances in BM

~ Donald Wandrei, “Make Me a Death Mask”, ‘young artist’, 3rd of 6 stories in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

[cover updated 10/27/25]

cover art by Delos Palmer x 2

December 1936

cover art by Delos Palmer

October 1939

better image than previously posted

December 1942 issue ~ cover art by H.J. Ward

December 1942

cover art by H.J. Ward

better image than previously posted

February 1937 issue ~ cover art by John Drew

February 1937 issue

cover art by John Drew

~ Baynard H(ardwick) Kendrick, “Fish to Fry”, 1^st of 14 stories with Mikes Standish (Stan) Rice, ‘The Hungry’[?], all set in Florida, author’s debut in BM

~ John Onslow, “The Damned Rookie”, ‘Larry Brogan, rookie cop’, 2^nd of 2 stories in BM

~ H.H. Stinson, “Lay Off, O’Hara”, 4th of 14 with ‘Ken O’Hara, fighting reporter on Los Angeles Tribune’, 5th of 27 stories in BM

~ MacAllister Street, “$1000 a Day”, ‘Hade, private ‘tec’, only appearance in BM

~ Roger Torrey, “Murder’s Never Funny”, ‘3rd (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’, 25th of 50 appearances in BM

~ Donald Wandrei, “The Rod and the Staff”, ‘short-short’, 1^st of 6 stories in BM

~ Cornell Woolrich, “Murder on the Night Boat”, ‘police dick on honeymoon; Sergeant James Q. Bradford’, 2nd of 24 (22 original) stories to appear in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

October 1936 issue ~ cover art by John Drew

October 1936 issue

cover art by John Drew

better image than previously posted

~ Russell Bender, “Heat Target”, ‘mayor of a small Maryland town’, 1^st of 3 stories in BM

~ John K. Butler, “No Rest for Soldiers”, ‘WWI vets, bonuses & Russ McGregor’, 5^th of 11 stories in BM

~ Lester Dent, “Sail”, 1^st Oscar Sale story, set in Miami, 1^st of 2 stories in BM, reprinted The Hard-Boiled Detective (1977), earlier version of this story reprinted in The Black Lizard Big Book of Black Mask Stories (Vintage, 2010) as “Luck”. “Sail” and “Luck” reprinted in Luck: The Complete Black Mask Cases of Oscar Sail (Steeger Books, 2021).

~ Roger Torrey, “Jail Bait”, ‘1st (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’, 21st of 50 appearances in BM