March 1947 issue ~ cover art by Robert Stanley

March 1947 issue

cover art by Robert Stanley

better image than previously posted

Francis K. Allan, “What Makes Sammy Kill?”

Thorne Lee, “It’s in the Bag!”

Jimmy Nichols, “Cops Are Born”

Robert Turner, “Party to Murder!”

John D. FitzGerald, “Too Mean to Live!”

Arthur Leo Zagat,“Death-Dance of the Broken Dolls”

Talmage Powell, “Blood in Your Eye!”

Cyril Plunkett, “Deadly Is My Sleep”

Wilbur S. Peacock, “Copperhead”

Dale Clark, “Corpses, Incorporated” (Socrates Bean)

Jhan Robbins, “The Waxwork Wake”

November 1, 1923 issue ~ cover art by L.L. Balcom

November 1, 1923 issue

cover art by L.L. Balcom

~ John Ayotte, “White Tents”, ‘Col. Edwards’, 7th of 10 stories in BM

~ Frank Conly, “The Man Who Was Not”, ‘Can the dead be brought back to life?’, 1st of 2 in BM

~ Henry W. Fisher, “Executioners I Have Met”, ‘1st of 6 ‘true’ articles with various subtitles’

~ Dashiell Hammett, “It”, ‘private detective, 1st-person narrator, not an Op tale’ according to Hagemann but 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), 6th of 51 stories in BM

~ George C. Henderson, “Who Shot?” ‘Complete Novelette’, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Stanley R. Hofflund, “The Third Rider”, ‘yarn set in Mexico’, author’s only story in BM

~ Margaret Alison Johansen, “Mrs. Vandam’s Diamonds”, author’s only appearance in BM

~ Herman Petersen, “One Dried Head”, 1st of 3 parts, South Seas; issue also has brief article, “The Gentle Art of Drying Heads”, relates to “One Dry Head”, 11th and 12th of 20 pieces in BM

~ Charles Somerville, “The Hand of God”, 18th of 47 articles in the ‘Manhunter’ series, 19th of 49 total articles in BM

[note: at this time, Hammett does not yet merit mention on the cover]

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

June 18, 2015

Lie Down, Killer x 6

1952 Lion paperback original

1956 Crest edition – cover art by James Meese

better image than previously posted

1957 Crest reprint

1958 Crest – cover art by Darcy (Ernest Chiriacka)

1961 Gold Medal reissue – cover art by Barye Phillips

better image than previously posted

undated Fawcett Gold Medal reissue – cover art by Robert McGinnis

Dark Interlude or The Terrible Night x 7 +

1947 UK hardcover from Collins and US hardcover from Dodd Mead

1949 Bantam reissue – cover art by C.C. Beall

sketch for the cover by Sam Peffer

1957 Pan reissue

1959 Avon edition – cover art by Darcy

1960 UK paperback reissue – cover art by Sam Peffer

1962 Fontana reissue – cover art by John L. Baker

1965 Fontana UK reissue – cover art by Renato Fratini.