w.t. ballard – SMB Noir

February 1935 issue ~ cover art by Fred Craft

February 1935 issue

cover art by Fred Craft

~ Dwight V. Babcock, “Murder After Midnight”, ‘Al, bodyguard, 2^nd story in series’, 4^th of 21 stories in BM

~ W.T. Ballard, “Confessions Means Death”, 1^st of 2 with radio host/”people’s pal” Jimmy DeHaven, 12^th of 43 stories in BM

~ Clue Club, “Clue Club Mystery Story Contest”, ‘short-lived contest sponsored by Warner Bros & BM with prizes, etc.; not indexed beyond this issue’

~ George Harmon Coxe, “Casey – Detective”, 8^th of 27 with Flashgun Casey, 8^th of 31 stories in BM

~ Raymond Jae Moffatt, “Dunnigan of the Morning Call”, ‘cub reporter & cops’, 2nd of 2 stories in BM

~ Frederick L. Nebel, “It’s a Gag”, 29th of 37 with Captain Steve MacBride and local reporter Kennedy, reprinted in Too Young to Die: Complete Cases of MacBride & Kennedy, v.3 (Altus, 2013), 57 of 67 stories in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

November 1937 issue ~ cover art by Stockton Mulford

November 1937 issue

cover art by Stockton Mulford

better image than previously posted

~ W.T. Ballard, “Friends Sometimes Kill”, “Don Tomaso Sherman, narrator: 2^nd DTS story”, 28^th of 43 stories in BM

~ H.W. Guernsey, “Late Harvest”, ‘mushrooms, e.g. morel (nightshade)’, 2nd of 4 stories in BM

~ Baynard H(ardwick) Kendrick, “Burial Mound”, 4th of 14 stories with Mikes Standish (Stan) Rice, ‘The Hungry’[?], all set in Florida

~ Roger Torrey, “One Good Turn”, ‘Shean Connell, private peep; 3rd of 4 SC stories’, reprinted in Just Nice Girl: The Complete Black Mask Cases of Shean Connell, Vol. 1 (Steeger, 2025), 31st of 50 appearances in BM

~ Edward S. Williams, “Leave the Door Open”, ‘Peter Nelson, young MD, in the slums’, 3rd of 8 appearances in BM

~ Cornell Woolrich, “Cab, Mister?”, 7th of 24 (22 original) stories to appear in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

February 1939 issue ~ cover art by James Lunnon

February 1939 issue

cover art by James Lunnon

~ W.T. Ballard, “No Parole from Death”, 20th of 27 stories with ‘Bill Lennox, troubleshooter for Consolidated Films’, 31st of 43 stories in BM

~ Dale Clark, “Death Watch”, Scotland Yard undercover man Carr, politics and murder, 2^nd of 32 stories in BM

~ Frederick C. Davis, “Tonight I Must Die”, 7th of 16 stories in BM

~ Steve Fisher, “Flight to Paris”, 8^th of 9 stories in BM

~ Frank Gruber, “State Fair Murder”, 7th of 10 with‘Oliver Quade, The Human Encyclopedia’, 10th of 14 stories in BM

~ K. Webster, “Underwater Kill”, ‘cop goes under sea-surface to nab his man’, 1^st of 3 stories in BM

~ Edward S. Williams, “Deadly Secret”, ‘Rex Flynn, private dick’, 4^th of 8 appearances in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

March 1937 issue ~ cover art by Harry Stoner

March 1937 issue

cover art by Harry Stoner

better image than previously posted

~ W.T. Ballard, “This is Murder”, 18th of 27 stories with ‘Bill Lennox, troubleshooter for Consolidated Films’, 24th of 43 stories in BM

~ Hugh B. Cave, “Dead Dog”, ‘Pooch Hanley a cop who likes dogs’, 2^nd of 9 stories in BM

~ James Duncan, “Double Trouble”, 1st of 5 stories with ‘The Parson, who lives on a ‘mythical’ (fictional?) isle, Cariba’, set in Havana, reprinted in Murder for Pennies: The Complete Black Mask Cases of the Parson (Steeger, 2024), 6^th of 10 stories in BM

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “This Way Out”, 64^th Ed Jenkins ‘as Bob Sabin; with Ngat T’oy’, same title as 3/1927 but different story, 89th of 99 stories in BM

~ Eric Howard, “The Mugg from Frisco”, ‘Kelly, 1^st person narrator & some shady politics’, 1^st of 6 stories in BM

~ H. Randolph Peacock, “Dead Alibi”, 1^st of 3 with Otto, department store dick, making ‘$40 a week at Klineman’s‘, ‘see p. 127 for word on HRP‘, 1^st of 4 stories in BM

~ Cole Richards, “No Reprieve”, ‘short-short’, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Roger Torrey, “Always a Lady”, ‘Lieutenant Delehanty, a cop’, 26th of 50 appearances in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop