royce brier – SMB Noir

October 15, 1923 issue ~ cover art by Lewis Kennerly

October 15, 1923 issue

cover art by Lewis Kennerly

~ Edwin Baird, “Keep it Dark” short-short, last of 3 stories in BM

~ Eustace Hale Ball, “Little Miss Muffet – 1923”, 9^th of 13 stories in BM

~ Royce Brier, “The Thirteenth Tack”, ‘Spider Klein, criminal’, 2^nd of 5 stories in BM

~ Ray(mond King) Cummings, “T. McGuirk Tries the Luck Charms”, ‘7th of 14 McGuirk stories, billed as “the quaintest character in the Underworld” & honest, more of less’, 7^th of 15 stories in BM

~ Drayton Dunster, “Aided and Abetted by the Law”, 8^th of 9 stories in BM

~ ‘Peter Collinson’ (Hammett), “Slippery Fingers”, 1st story in this issue, ‘see p. 127 for letter by DH & discussion of story’, last of 4 stories under this name in BM, though Hagemann doesn’t note it, 2^nd of 25 Op stories reprinted in The Big Book of the Continental Op (Vintage, 2017), reprinted in Zigzags of Treachery: The Complete Black Mask Cases of the Continental Op, Vol. 1 (Steeger, 2023), though Hagemann does not list this as an Op story, 4^th of 51 total stories in BM

~ Dashiell Hammett, “Crooked Souls”, the Op [3rd of 25], 2nd of 2 stories in this issue but 5th of 51 total stories in BM, reprinted in The Big Book of the Continental Op (Vintage, 2017), reprinted in Zigzags of Treachery: The Complete Black Mask Cases of the Continental Op, Vol. 1 (Steeger, 2023)

~ Robert Lee Heiser, “Fifty Dollars a Peep”, ‘alleged to be true’

~ Jones Jones, “The Talented Burglar”, author’s sole appearance in BM [hard to believe that name is correct]

~ J. Fortune Reade, “At the Bottom of It”, ‘A Strange Detective Problem’, 2nd of 3 stories in BM

~ Charles Somerville, “The Riddle of Room 14”, 17th of 47 articles in the ‘Manhunter’ series, 18^th of 49 total articles in BM

~ J. Paul Suter, “Beyond Justice”, ‘daytime story’, 2nd of 19 appearances in BM

~ Joe Taylor, “The Doublecross”, 10th of 12 tales in ‘My Underworld’ series, 11^th of 13^th appearances in BM

~ Merlin Moore Taylor, “The Young Squirt”, ‘advertised as “A Complete Mystery Novelette”’, 4th of 8 appearances in BM

~ Edward Parrish Ware, “The Snitch”, 1^st of 9 stories in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

November 15, 1923 issue ~ cover art by L.L. Balcom

November 15, 1923 issue

cover art by L.L. Balcom

better image than previously posted

~ Royce Brier, “Hundred Thousand Cache”, 3^rd of 5 stories in BM

~ H.B. Davenport, “Triggers of Justice”, ‘set in Kentucky mountains’, 1^st of 2 stories in BM

~ Henry W. Fisher, “Executioners I Have Met”, ‘2nd of 6 ‘true’ articles with various subtitles’

~ Dashiell Hammett, “The Second-Story Angel”, reprinted in Nightmare Town (Knopf, 1999), 7th of 51 stories in BM

~ Robert Lee Heiser, “Where the Road Ends”, “A Complete Novelette”, numerous appearances but little fiction – last of 3 stories in BM

~ Clif Hill, “Water”, ‘Western’, author’s only story in BM

~ Vance Hoyt, “The Silent Law”, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Charles T. Jordan, “Felton Celebrates Egg-Day”, 2^ndof 2 stories in BM

~ Elwin J. Owens, “Lupsika of the Forest”, ‘North Woods’, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Herman Petersen, “One Dried Head”, 2nd of 3 parts, ‘South Seas‘, 13th of 20 stories in BM

~ Charles Somerville, “The ‘Cigar Box’ Mystery”, 19th of 47 articles in the ‘Manhunter’ series, 20^th of 49 total articles in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

UK edition of same issue

September 1924 UK issue ~ cover art by L.L. Balcom

September 1924 UK issue

cover art by L.L. Balcom

most contents the same as US Sept. 1924

~ C.S. Montanye (Carleton Stevens), “The Dragon Fly”, 14th of 29 stories in BM [US Jan.’23]

~ Royce Brier, “Black and Blue”, ‘set in Mexico’, last of 5 stories in BM

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “Accommodatin’ a Lady”, 1^st of 10 Bob Larkin stories, 1^st person narrator, author’s first appearance in BM under this name (see June, 1924), 2^nd of 99 stories in BM

~ Dashiell Hammett, “Women, Politics and Murder”, the Op [11^th of 25], reprinted in The Big Book of the Continental Op (Vintage, 2017), in The Girl with the Silver Eyes: The Complete Black Mask Cases of the Continental Op, vol.2 (Steeger, 2023), 18^th of 51 stories in BM

~ Francis James, “The Long Hand of Middleton”, Prentice, Harvard-trained criminologist turned policeman, 16th of 20 appearances in BM

~ Jud Pierce, “Sunrise”, ‘short-short’, author’s only appearance in BM

~ Ray Raymond, “The Curse of the Long Tooth”, ‘South Seas mystery’, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Charles Somerville, “The Rough Diamond”, 33rd of 47 articles in the ‘Manhunter’ series, 34th of 49 total articles in BM

~ George A. Wright, “The Mountain Comes to Mohammad”, author’s only appearance in BM

September 1924 US edition

[updated with US cover 5/29/26]