January 1940 issue ~ cover art by Edgar A. Whitney

January 1940 issue

cover art by Edgar A. Whitney

better image than previously posted

~Robert Arthur, “Too Much Static”, ‘patrol cop’, 1st of 2 appearances in BM but only original story to appear

~Maurice Beam, “Ham Strung”, small-town hardware store owner, 1st-person narrator (thought to be possibly a pseud. of Robert Leslie Bellem), 4th of 7 under this name in BM

~ Wyatt Blassingame, “Some Call It Murder”, 1st with Bishop, pegged-legged political writer for a Southern newspaper, 1st of 6 in series, 2nd of 8 stories in BM

~ Peter Paige, “Voodoo Frame”, ‘Cash Wale, 1st person narrator, employee in Moonglow, an amusement park’, 3rd of 12 stories in BM

~ William B. Rainey, “The Garden of Violent Death”, ‘Philip Dumaine, New Orleans private gumshoe & Negro sidekick, Ben Bolt’, pseudonym of Wyatt Blassingame, only appearance in BM under this name

~ H.H. Stinson, “This Murder’s On Me”, ‘Van Hogan, Worldwide Agency dick, 1st -person narrator’, 13th of 27 stories in BM

~ Roger Torrey, “Death Calls the Hand”, ‘13th (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’, ‘ see p. 81 for letter from RT on story’, 41st of 50 appearances in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

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’, 1st 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”, ‘1st-person narrator’, 8th of 14 stories in BM

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

~ William Tanquery, “At Stillson’s”, ‘newspaper reporter; Stillson’s – a bar’, 1st 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

better image than previously posted

October 1939

better image than previously posted

[updated 4/2/26]

February 1937 issue ~ cover art by John Drew

February 1937 issue

cover art by John Drew

~ Baynard H(ardwick) Kendrick, “Fish to Fry”, 1st 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’, 2nd 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’, 1st 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’, 1st of 3 stories in BM

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

~ Lester Dent, “Sail”, 1st Oscar Sale story, set in Miami, 1st 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

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop