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]

September 1940 issue ~ cover art by Rafael DeSoto

September 1940 issue

cover art by Rafael DeSoto

~ Cleve Adams, “That Certain Feeling”, ‘Engelhardt & Dewey, Car 97, LA setting’, 2nd of 6 stories in BM

~ W.T. Ballard, “Pictures for Murder”, 22nd of 27 stories with ‘Bill Lennox, troubleshooter for Consolidated Films’, 34th of 43 stories in BM

~ William E. Brandon, “Danny, Once the Rat”, ‘police-stoolie & Nazi spies’, 3rd of 7 stories in BM

~ Dale Clark, “Killer in the Wind”, 2nd of 28 with house dick Mike O’Hanna story, at San Alpa Resort hotel, 4th of 32 stories in BM

~ John Lawrence, “Death in the Pluperfect”, 1st of 2 stories with ‘Ace McGuire, Broadway squad, 1st-person narrator’, 7th of 14 stories in BM

~ Robert Reeves, “Dog Eat Dog”, Cellini Smith and RR’s debut, 1st of 3 parts that will be published as the novel No Love Lost in 1941, reprinted in Dead and Done For: The Complete Black Mask Cases of Cellini Smith (Steeger, 2020), 1st of 12 appearances in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

November 1943 issue ~ cover art by Rafael DeSoto

November 1943 issue

cover art by Rafael DeSoto

~ William E. Brandon, “It’s So Peaceful in the Country”, ‘Horse Luvnik, ex-con goes to work for academic types, reprinted in The Hard-Boiled Detective (1977)’, last of 7 stories in BM

~ Merle Constiner, “Kill One, Skip One” ‘Luther McGavock, private detective; he works Atherton Browne who heads a Memphis-based agency, 5th of 11 of the McG stories; usually rural setting’, reprinted in Let the Dead Alone: The Complete Black Mask Cases of Luther McGavock (Steeger, 2020), 5th of 12 stories in BM

~ C.P. Donnel, Jr., “So Red the Ruby”, ‘Privates Maguire & Caldwell on a 3-day leave in NYC’, 16th of 20 stories in BM

~ Julius Long, “The Devil’s Jack-Pot”, ‘Addison Secore, criminal lawyer, is villain‘, 4th of 23 stories in BM

~ H.H. Stinson, “Two Rings for Murder”, ‘Sam South, loan company proprietor, & Nazi spies’, 18th of 27 stories in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

February 1942 issue ~ cover art by Rafael DeSoto

February 1942 issue

cover art by Rafael DeSoto

better image than previously posted

~ W.T. Ballard, “The Colt and the Killer”, 26th of 27 stories with ‘Bill Lennox, troubleshooter for Consolidated Films’, 39th of 43 stories in BM

~ William E. Brandon, “Wake Up and Give!”, ‘skullduggery & a college bequest’, 4th of 7 stories in BM

~ John Lawrence, “Murder, Maestro, Please”, ‘Jamie Harrod, ‘Maestro of Swing’, 1st -person narrator, framed for murder; set in Detroit’, 11th of 14 stories in BM

~ Peter Paige, “The Night You Shot Hitler”, ’Murder of an RAF pilot in NYC’, 10th of 12 stories in BM

~ C.G. Tahney, [pseud of Charles Green, not to be confused with Charles M. Green], “And a Little Child Shall Bleed Them”, Nickie and Uncle Pat, 3rd of 5 stories in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop












©Seattle Mystery Bookshop



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