Millie Mack's Blog

In a previous blog we discussed pulp magazines as an important publishing outlet for many writers and especially writers of mystery and detective stories. In this blog let’s focus on one of the more popular of these magazines–Black Mask.

H.L. Mencken

The Black Mask was launched in 1920 by H.L. Mencken and George Jean Nathan with an investment of five hundred dollars. I’m fond of this magazine for two reasons:  first, I live near the city of Baltimore and one of the founders, H.L. Mencken, a writer with the Baltimore Sun, remains a journalistic idol. Second, it’s the magazine that published the stories of Daly, Hammett, Gardner and Chandler and was known for developing the hard-boiled detective.

The magazine was started by the founders to generate dollars to support their literary magazine Smart Set which did not make money. Originally, The Black Mask was not dedicated to crime fiction but actually five magazines in one. According to the publishers the magazine offered the best available of adventure stories, mystery and detective stories, romance stories, love stories and the best stories of the occult.

New Ownership Brings More Crime

After producing just eight issues, Mencken and Nathan sold the magazine for $12,500 to Eltinge “Pop” Warner and Eugene Crowe, the publisher’s of both The Black Mask and Smart Set magazines. They published the magazine for two decades and during their ownership they moved the focus to hard-boiled stories filled with action.  

Editor Joseph “Cap” Shaw

Joseph Shaw was appointed editor in 1926 and promptly dropped “The” changing the magazine’s name to Black Mask. Shaw was an excellent editor but he was also known for his ability as a great writing coach and for seeking out new writers for the publication.  Although the magazine continued to publish some adventures and westerns, Shaw began to feature less of these genres and more and more of mystery, crime and detective stories.

Additionally Shaw often wrote editorials for the magazine on crime related topics like the jury system and gun control. He believed crime fiction had a moral responsibility. He held that criminals were always caught and that villains always received just punishment.

The detective stories appearing in Black Mask were more violent than other magazines. The detectives were wise-cracking and hard-boiled who often imposed their own version of justice on the criminals.

By December 1933 the magazine was publishing only crime stories. Its circulation had risen from 66,000 to over 103,000 per issue with a cover price of twenty cents.

1935 – The Next Phase

The magazine now had lots of competitors and circulation by 1935 had dropped back to 63,000. The owners wanted to cut the writer’s pay to offset the loss of subscribers. Shaw objected to this move and when the feud escalated he was fired. Many of the writers he recruited went with him when he left.

The first issue of 1937, after Shaw’s departure, listed F. Ellsworth as editor. The “F” stood for Fanny. Unlike Shaw who favored the hard-boiled detective, she wanted a softer and more emotional detective. These were the depression years and the action detective was replaced by a crime fighter who was often powerless against forces beyond his control but persevered to search for the truth. Even with this new approach the magazine continued to lose circulation and was sold to its competitor Dime Detective in 1940.

The End of Black Mask

Another editor was brought in who tried to return the magazine to the hard-boiled detective days of the past. During World War II the owners featured stories on spies and sabotage, designed covers with more sex and violence, reduced the size, raised the price and lowered the numbers of issues published annually. But like all pulp magazines they were up against the change in the reader’s habits. Readers now listened to radio, went to movies, read comics and bought cheap paperbacks. The magazine struggled through the 40’s and eventually ceased publication in 1951.

In 1985 there was an attempt to revive the magazine under the name The New Black Mask and featured noted crime writers like James Ellroy, Michael Collins and Sara Paretsky. The magazine also reprinted the original stories of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. However, the magazine stopped publication in 1987 when they faced legal issues concerning the use of the name.

The First Crime Writers

One of the early contributors to the magazine was Carroll John Daly. Although Daly is best known for his character Race Williams, considered the first hard-boiled detective, Daly’s first “tough” detective story was Three Gun Terry featuring Terry Mack. Daly along with Dashiell Hammett is considered the writer of the original hard-boiled detective story. Hammett’s first published story in Black Mask in 1922 was The Road Home, although he published it using the pseudonym Peter Collinson.  Erle Stanley Gardner’s first story, The Shrieking Skeleton was also published under the pen name of Charles M. Green and Raymond Chandler’s first story Blackmailers Don’t Shoot was published in 1933. The magazine also featured complete novels serialized over several issues starting with the September issue of 1929 featuring the first installment of The Maltese Falcon.

The Importance of Black Mask

Black Mask had an important role in the history of detective stories. It was an incubator for the development of the detective genre but it was also an outlet for many of the best crime writers to get their stories before the reader. During its existence over 600 authors were published in Black Mask and readers were entertained with more than 2,500 stories.

Aside from the movie of the same name what was Pulp Fiction and more importantly what was its influence on the mystery genre?

Pulp Fiction

Pulp fiction refers to stories that were published in magazines from 1896 through the 1950’s.  The magazines were sized at 7 x 10 and contained over 100 pages of stories. They were named “Pulp” because the magazines were printed on cheap paper with ragged, untrimmed edges. The paper contained more wood pulp and these fiber flecks could be seen in the off-white sheets. This paper was not refined or polished like the type used in the more expensive magazines called “Slicks.”

The First Pulp Magazine

The first Pulp was Frank Munsey’s Argosy magazine published in 1896. Argosy represented the true pulp format with almost 200 pages on cheap paper with no illustrations inside and no art on the cover. It provided affordable entertainment for the working class. The stories included adventure, sports, crime, war, spicy, science fiction, westerns, romance and other themes not found in most Slicks but yet very attractive to this new readership.  Within six years Argosy’s circulation grew from a few thousand to a half million in subscriptions

The Popular Magazine

The next major Pulp magazine was from Street and Smith. They saw the success of Argosy and launched their own Pulp called The Popular Magazine in 1903. They also made some notable changes to Pulp magazines. The first change was the addition of color covers designed by distinguished artists and illustrations on the inside pages. They also offered stories that were serialized over several issues which kept the readers coming back. After the success of their first magazine they added individual magazines dedicated to specific genres like mystery, romance and science fiction.

Sensational Covers

Of course once these two magazines established the standards many more followed. Pulps became known for their edgy exploitative stories. Covers were now printed on slick paper while the inside text continued to be printed on cheap pulp paper. Covers were sensational and known for their half dressed damsels in distress. Sometimes covers were designed first and then the author was asked to write material to match the cover art.

Pulp Pricing

The first Pulp magazines sold for ten cents each. This price was much lower than the up-scale Slick magazines which generally sold for twenty-five cents. The lower prices made it affordable entertainment for the working class and were filled with stories they found interesting.

Pulps kept their cost down by paying the writers less than the going rate for stories. However, they paid the writer upon acceptance. This kept many starving writers from having to wait until their stories were published before they received money for their work.

The Writers

Pulps were a good outlet for new writers who wanted to get published because the Pulps needed lots of stories. In fact some new writers, liked Upton Sinclair before his novel fame, worked full time for the Pulps churning out story after story. Many writers used multiple pseudonyms in order to have more than one story appear in the same issue.

Well-known writers also benefitted from the Pulps which helped to keep their names before the public in between major works. At their peak in the 1920’s and 30’s the most successful pulp magazines were selling 1 million copies per issue providing great visibility for the writer.

The End of Pulp Fiction

World War II impacted the Pulps due to the rising cost of paper as a result of wartime shortages. Starting in 1941 because of paper shortages well known Pulps like Ellery Queen’s Mystery magazine switched to a smaller digest size. This new size with glossy covers and better inside paper were now considered slicks.

The Pulps continued to decline due to the publication of new men’s adventure magazines, television and comic books. In fact many of today’s comic books are the result of the Pulp magazine era.

Additionally many of the Pulp magazine companies became paperback publishers and began to offer “dime” novels.  Some of these novels were based on expanding stories previously published in their Pulp magazines.

The Importance of Pulps

Pulp magazines were important for writers because they were the largest single outlet for the publication of short stories and helped launched many writers’ careers. And for the mystery genre Pulp magazines established and fostered a place for the hard-boiled detective and many other mystery stories.

For those of you who regularly follow the Dark and Stormy Night Mysteries blog —you are aware that I took a few weeks off from my blog postings. But I had a good reason—I was finalizing the details of publishing my first mystery book—Take a Dive for Murder.

I’m not going to tell you it wasn’t hard work to complete the book, but I will tell you it was also lots of fun.

I grew up in a family that loved mysteries. My mother was known for reading the ending of mystery books first to see whodunit and then reading the rest of the book to make sure all the clues were provided.

So that was my special challenge to make sure all the clues were there for you to find and to solve the crime. But be aware there may also be a couple of red herrings thrown in for good measure.

While I was writing the book I was often asked how I developed my ideas. Let me share with you how a few of the ideas ended up in the book.

First, how did I create my fictional town of Tri-City? I basically took three cities from my past–Philadelphia, Washington and Baltimore and put them together. As a result, you may spot streets or sites from any one of these three great cities.

Second, how did I create some of the characters? Way back in my college days I worked on the school newspaper. When I created Jamie, the murder victim, I based him on some of the experiences from that period of my life.

I also created two amateur detectives, Carrie Kingsford and Charles Faraday. When I first started writing the book I originally had Carrie as the only detective. But as the book developed and the plot and motive began to take shape Charles emerged as a central character. By adding his detecting skills to those of Carrie I suddenly had a team instead of a single detective.

And speaking of the plot let me tell you about the murder. Relax, no need for a spoiler alert I won’t give away the solution. In fact there was a long period of time when I couldn’t have given away the solution. I’ll tell you a secret. I was about two thirds through writing the book and I still didn’t have a motive for the murder.

I had the murder, was developing the characters but had no idea why the murder occurred. Then one morning I was reading my local newspaper and there was a story about an incident at the docks in Baltimore. Bingo—there was the motive I had been searching for.

As for the murderer, I was originally focusing on a particular character for this role. However, when I finally had the motive for the murder the writing took over and the real murderer began to emerge. As many writers will attest characters have a way of influencing the outcome of the story and not always in the direction originally planned by the author.

So there you have –a little bit of insight about the book. For more information about the plot click on the book cover on the home page of this web site.

I hope you like my two characters Carrie and Charles because they’ll be back. I’m currently working on the next book in series.

What comes to mind when I say the word hard-boiled. Yup, for me too –I think of hardboiled eggs. What? You say you think of one of the mystery genres. Of course you are absolutely correct, but let’s talk about eggs for a moment. A hard-boiled egg is one that has been thoroughly cooked with a tough exterior and no gooey center. Sounds like a hard-boiled detective to me.

The start of the hard-boiled detective is credited to Carroll John Daly who first introduced this type of detective in the mid 20’s. Then Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler are acknowledged as polishing the genre over the next decade. The heyday for hardboiled detective fiction was the 1930’s through the 1950’s.

Pulp Fiction

Initially, hardboiled detective stories were published in pulp magazines like Black Mask, Dime Detective and Detective Fiction Weekly. These magazines were printed on cheap (pulp) paper with ragged, untrimmed edges. Later as the genre developed into novels they were referred to as “Pulp” fiction because of their early history in these magazines.

Hard-Boiled Mysteries

Even with their Pulp Fiction moniker hard-boiled stories do resemble other mysteries. We meet the detective. Then a crime is committed and the detective starts an investigation. We follow the investigation through to a solution where the criminal is revealed, caught and punished. But make no mistake hard-boiled stories are different.

Other Mysteries vs. Hard-boiled Mysteries

In amateur sleuth mysteries we find ourselves in the better part of suburbia or the lovely country side.  People are hard working, ordinary white collar, middle or upper class residents of the community.

In comparison the hard-boiled detective’s office is often in a run-down, half empty building in the seedier side of town. The detective moves from these outskirts and confronts people from the higher levels of society. The detective comes across as blue collar versus the white collar clients he is helping. He represents the ordinary man who is confronted with decisions often beyond the realm of normal everyday life.

Let’s use The Maltese Falcon as our example of a hard-boiled detective story.

While the detective operates on the edge of society some of the characters in the story also appear to be on the fringe of what is normal. For example, Joel Cairo uses a lavender scent on his handkerchiefs and business cards and Kasper Gutman is so large he is known as the “Fat Man.”

Another difference between hard-boiled detectives and other sleuths is that this detective in addition to solving the crime is also faced with some sort of personal choice.  Sam Spade has to decide whether to turn over the murderer of his partner to the police or save them from serving a jail sentence.

Failure or Rebel

The detective’s way of life may seem a failure but in fact it may be more of a rebellion. Although the rich and powerful try to draw him into their world he refuses to join them. Their world is filled with corruption and violence and only by remaining on the outside is the detective able to stay true to his beliefs.  Spade will interface with the characters but refuses to join them in their criminal activities and in their search for the elusive black bird.

Violence

There is much more violence in a hard-boiled story than the original murder and this violence is often directed at the detective. He might be beaten, drugged, or even shot. In one scene Spade is drugged so Gutman can steal back his money.

His client might try to bribe him to end his investigation. He might also be threatened with the loss of his license as he interacts with law enforcement and the members of society.

The detective has a relationship with law enforcement on a dual level. On the one hand he is respected and even admired because he gets results, but on the other hand law enforcement knows he often gets those results through practices outside of the law. And as part of this relationship with the law the hard-boiled detective often finds himself a suspect in the crime. Sam Spade is suspected of his partner’s murder because of the affair he was having with Miles wife.

The Case is Always Changing

There are constant changes to the case. The detective is often hired to do something unrelated to what ultimately becomes the crime in the case. For instance Spade’s detective agency is hired initially to find Wonderly’s sister. The case starts with looking for the sister, but quickly becomes the solving his partner’s murder and of course the search for the falcon. The bird clouds the picture even more.

The Story Gets Personal

The hard boiled story has a personal element. The victim is often a friend of or known by the detective. For Spade it’s his partner Miles who is killed. And there is almost always the fem fatale, like Bridgette O’Shaughnessy, who challenges the detective to make the right decision.

The Hard-Boiled Conclusion

As with all mysteries the story ends with a confrontation between the detective and the criminal. For the hard-boiled detective the satisfaction is not with catching the criminal but making the right personal and moral choice in the end.  Keeping this in mind the hard-boiled detective is often both the judge and the executioner making sure his brand of justice and morality is satisfied.

Don’t ignore this genre of mystery. It may be tough, violent and hard-boiled but it offers a  great story.

You can’t talk about the mystery genre, especially hard-boiled detectives, without a discussion about Dashiell Hammett. He continues to be revered as one of America’s finest mystery writers, not to mention he is credited with being instrumental in introducing the hardboiled detective into the genre. First, a little bit about Dashiell Hammett.

Hammett’s Bio

Samuel Dashiell Hammett was born in St Mary’s County Maryland in 1894. He left school at the age of 13 and after several jobs began working at the Pinkerton Detective Agency between 1915 and 1922. He took time off from the agency to serve in World War I in the ambulance corp. During the war he contracted the Spanish Flu and later developed tuberculosis. The tuberculosis continued to affect him the rest of his life.

While he was being treated for his tuberculosis he met and married a nurse Josephine Dolan. They settled in San Francisco and many of Hammett’s stories take place on the streets of this city. While waiting for the birth of their second daughter it was suggested that Hammett not live with the family because of his TB. They continued to reside in San Francisco but in separated residences. With these living arrangements the couple eventually split and Hammett moved down to Hollywood.

In Hollywood Hammett’s new found writing success gave him the opportunity to move in circles with the Hollywood elite. Hammett was a heavy drinker and his lifestyle during this period only added to his alcoholism. Aside from the movie crowd he met other writers like Hemingway and playwright Lillian Hellman. Hammett and Hellman moved in together and this relationship, while sometimes rocky, lasted for thirty years.

During World War II he re-enlisted and served as a sergeant in the Aleutian Islands where he edited the Army newspaper.  During this service he developed emphysema. After the war Hammett taught writing at a Marxist school and became a political activist.

Hammett’s writing came to slow crawl once he became involved in political issues. As a result of his political activities Hammett was called before Congress and took the fifth. He refused to provide the government with information about his activities especially the names of people contributing the CRC (Civil Rights Congress) bail fund which he managed. He was black listed and sentenced for contempt of Congress. He served jail time in the West Virginia penitentiary which only made his tuberculosis worse. When he left prison he found the IRS had attached his income and royalties for back taxes.

He spent the last years of his life secluded in a small cottage in Katonah, NY. Between his health and his heavy drinking his days as a writer were over. In the last months of his life he battled lung cancer and died in January 1961. Because of his war service he was buried in Arlington Cemetery.

Hammett as Writer

Hammett’s work with the Pinkerton Detective Agency provided him with the inspiration for his detectives, villains and plots.

Hammett wrote over 80 stories, an original radio series called The Fat Man and even a comic strip. He worked on numerous Hollywood movies because of his ability to write crisp dialogue. However, other writers crafted scripts for his books and The Thin Man movie series.

While Hammett did have a story published in an upscale society magazine his hardboiled type of detective stories fared better in pulp magazines like the Black Mask. In one of the Black Mask stories he introduced a character with no name referred to only as “the Continental Op.”  The Op was a detective from the Continental Detective Agency. In his first novel Red Harvest he also featured this character. This detective exhibits the characteristics that later developed into the standard for the hard-boiled detective.

He now had a following for his writing and published a second book featuring the Continental Op called The Dain Curse. For his next book Hammett further honed the characteristics of the hardboiled detective when he introduced Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon. He called the detective Sam based on his first name Samuel. The year after The Maltese Falcon he published The Glass Key. And finally and unfortunately The Thin Man was his last novel, although he continued writing stories and radio scripts into the 40’s.

Hammett’s 5 novels

Red Harvest (1929)–narrated by the Continental Op detective this character led the way for the development of the hardboiled detectives that would follow. The story concerns a labor dispute involving local gangs with a few murders along the way.

The Dain Curse (1929)–the Continental Op detective investigates a theft of diamonds. As the detective untangles a series of robberies, lies and murder, he also reveals the skeletons in the family closet.

The Maltese Falcon (1930)–the quintessential and most famous private eye is introduced in the character of Sam Spade. Sam Spade is an independent man who operates on the fringes of society and just outside the law.

The Glass Key (1931)–the story of Ned Beaumont, a gambler not a detective, who is dedicated to a crooked political boss. This is an understated crime in a political setting and was Hammett’s favorite book.

The Thin Man (1934)–introduces a very tough, former private detective, Nick Charles, and his wealthy socialite wife, Nora. The story, along with solving the crime, has lots of witty dialogue that reveals a comedy of social manners between the couple. Many believe the characters of Nick and Nora reflect the personalities of Hammett and Hellman.

(Look for more about hard-boiled detectives in an upcoming blog)

We generally associate suspense with thrillers. It’s the cliff-hanger format in thrillers that leaves the reader on edge as to what will happen next. However, a little suspense never hurt a good mystery.

What is Suspense

Here is how the dictionary defines suspense:

Suspense is a state or condition of mental uncertainty, usually accompanied by a degree of apprehension, anxiety or excitement about the outcome of certain actions and situations.

Aristotle in his book Poetics states that suspense is an important part of literature. It consists of having real danger looming and a ray of hope that the danger will be avoided.

Suspense Is Tension

Suspense is based on tension and this tension is felt by the reader. Tension is created when the reader knows something bad is about to happen in the story and they are powerless to do anything about it. Suspense is not hearing the first shoe drop but the uncertainty of not knowing when the second shoe will drop. For the reader it’s this inability to control the situation and the inability to know what the actual outcome will be that causes tension.

Suspense is Anxiety

Suspense is also created when the reader experiences anxiety. Anxiety is built upon fear; fear of the unknown, and the uneasiness created by this fear. On the positive side it results in the reader continuing to turn page after page and making statements like “I can’t put this book down.”  On the negative side it’s the possibility that something really awful is about to occur.

Suspense and Senses

We are creatures of our senses. We want to see, hear, touch, smell, taste and feel what is happening. When the character in the book says that it is so dark he can’t see his hand in front of him one of our sense has been removed. This creates suspense in fearing what may be beyond that hand.

When the character says he is straining to hear the sounds of creaking on the stairway outside his room or he is aware suddenly of the faint smell of perfume in an unoccupied room we become part of that character’s senses.  We find that we are straining to hear the next sound and we can almost smell that same fragrance. We rely on the characters to provide our senses with what they need so we become part of the story.

Suspense Builds

Suspense is about the conflict that keeps our hero from reaching his goal. As the mystery draws closer to the conclusion the detective and/or one of the main characters finds they are in more and more danger. And as the hero gets closer to his goal of solving the crime the suspense from the danger continues to build and build.  It builds until the final solution is reached and there is ultimately relief from the tension and anxiety.

A Little Suspense Never Hurt a Mystery

Suspense is that sense of worry that the writer creates for us about what may or may not happen within the story.

Suspense is an essential element to keep the plot moving forward and keep the reader turning the pages regardless of how late the hour.

Suspense may be associated with thrillers but a little suspense adds to a good mystery.

In the last several blogs we’ve discussed Edgar Allan Poe and his contributions to the mystery genre including being credited as the “father” of the detective story. However, this accolade is not without controversy. Many scholars want the credit for writing the first detective story to go to Wilkie Collins and not to Poe.

Collins like Poe is credited with creating several firsts within the genre. He is recognized as starting the “sensation novel” which was considered the precursor to the detective novel. The sensation novel used subject matter that was quite shocking for the Victorian period such as adultery, insanity, bigamy, theft of both personal items and identity, seduction and of course murder to name a few. It combines the sense of the Gothic with real life experiences found in a normal setting. It’s a little bit Gothic, a little bit romance and a little bit mystery.

Charles Dickens

Collins and Dickens were lifelong friends and Collins contributed to Dickens publications All the Year Round and Household Words. In fact The Woman in White was serialized in All the Year Round from November 1859 to August 1860. And perhaps because the stories were serialized, Collins is also considered a master of creating suspense between the episodes.

The story was very successful for the magazine and at the end of the serialization it was published as a novel. By November of the same year it was already in its eighth edition. Unlike Poe, Collins achieved both financial and literary success. And unlike Poe’s three stories Collin’s offerings are full length books. Some critics feel this gives him the upper hand when being credited with writing the first detective story.

The Woman in White and The Moonstone also have a unique structure where sections in the book have different narrators, each with a distinct narrative voice. From each of the narrator’s accounts we learn individual aspects of the story that lead or mislead to solving the mystery.

The Moonstone

The Moonstone is a story about a large diamond stolen by a corrupt British officer from the head of a sacred statue in India where it has a significant religious history. It is said three Hindu priests have dedicated their lives to recovering the gem.

The stone is inherited by Rachel Verinder when she turns eighteen. She wears the diamond to her birthday party and later that night it is stolen. To add to the mystery a group of Indian jugglers performed at the party and continue to stay nearby watching and waiting.

Well known detective, Sergeant Cuff is called in to solve the crime. He is faced with clues that don’t seem to make sense, false suspects and a time line that doesn’t map. Cuff uses rational logic with step-by-step processes to sift through the clues and separate the relevant facts from the misleading information.

Cousin Blake, who also attended the party, is concerned that Rachel thinks he is connected with the theft and confronts her about the events which occurred on night of the party. Blake employs many of the techniques of today’s modern detectives by reenacting what happened at the party. With the information he learns from the reenactment he moves forward to solve the crime and finally tracks down the diamond and the culprit.

The Women in White

Like The Moonstone, The Women in White also starts with a single event. When Walter Hartright, is walking to Limmeridge House where he has been employed as a drawing teacher, he encounters a mysterious woman. The woman, later identified as Anne Catherick, is dressed in white and is need of assistance. Hartright helps her to get to London, but later learns she has escaped from an asylum.

This woman bears an uncanny resemblance to Laura Fairlie the niece of the owner of the house where Hartright is teaching. Hartright immediately falls in love with Laura and this starts the mystery of the relationship of Anne Catherick to Limmeridge house.

The story is about identity theft and family secrets which are eventually solved by following a series of clues until all is revealed about the family’s history.

Who Deserves the Title of “First”

In fairness to Poe, I should mention that the Collins works were published after Poe’s mysteries. The Murders in the Rue Morgue first appeared in 1841. As mentioned above the first installment of The Women in White appeared in 1859 and The Moonstone was published in 1868

Each man has his supporters as to who rightfully holds the title of creating the first detective story. But truth be told they have both had an impact and have contributed to the mystery genre. I think there is plenty of room to credit both men with “firsts” in mysteries.

Take time to dust off your copy of The Moonstone or The Women in White and read one of the original mysteries from the genre we all love.

Quotes in Support of Collins:
Dorothy L Sayers — “Probably the very finest detective story ever written.
T. S. Eliot— “the first, the longest, and the best of modern English detective novels…in a genre invented by Collins and not by Poe,”
G.K. Chesterton–“Probably the best detective tale in the world.”

I don’t know where you went to school but at my school discussions about the works of Edgar Allen Poe were very structured and limited.  The emphasis was always on his poetry which Poe would appreciate since poetry was his first love. In the more advanced courses you might be lucky enough to read some of his stories.

However, the writings that were overlooked were Poe’s mystery stories. I think they were left off the reading list because mysteries were viewed as not representative of good
literature.  This was unfortunate for the student because there was much to learn from these stories plus they would have been a fun read for the class.

So forget your English lit classes from the past, here is our opportunity to view Poe as the “Father” of the detective story from a mystery lover’s perspective. And more importantly for mystery readers Poe was responsible for so many firsts in the genre.

Poe wrote only three stories classified as true mysteries:

• The Murders in the Rue Morgue–which for the first time featured a locked room and used forensic evidence found on the body of the victim to solve the crime.
• The Mystery of Marie Roget—was based on the true crime murder of Mary Rogers whose body was found floating in the Hudson River.
• The Purloined Letter—where the evidence is hidden in plain sight.

Poe is called the “Father” of the Detective Story because he was the first writer to use an amateur detective to solve a crime that baffles the local police. We’ve talked about the Golden Age Mysteries and the rules that those books follow. But before that age Poe was the first to start the rule book. Poe felt that the detective had to play fair with no hidden secrets or clues and he felt that the story should be readable. Not an essay but an enjoyable piece of fiction.

Let’s take a closer look at Poe’s detective, C. Auguste Dupin who was featured in these three stories. Dupin was once from a wealthy family but in the stories we find him living a more humble life. However, he certainly has the style of the gentleman detective used later by other writers in their mystery stories. He lives in Paris with a close friend who is the anonymous narrator of the story.  It’s also a first to have the associate tell the story.

Dupin practices what Poe refers to as ratiocination which is his detective’s way of
using rational logic and putting himself into the criminal’s mind. We see this technique in the Purloined letter when Dupin is able deduce that the letter must still be in the criminal’s apartment based on his behavior. This is the first time where evidence is hidden in plain sight and we see this element employed in many mystery stories since Poe’s introduction.

Poe’s detective is logical and bases his deductions on analyzing what he learns from the facts and clues presented. But he then combines this with keen observations picking up on casual remarks or gestures that others miss.

Does this method remind you of other detectives? Watson in A Study in Scarlet compares Holmes to Dupin although Holmes does not feel this is a compliment.  However Arthur Conan Doyle was much more complimentary when he stated “where was the detective story until Poe breathed the breath of life into it?” The methods of Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot when he relies on “his little gray cells” are certainly similar to Dupin’s. And don’t forget the fictional detective Poirot writes a book about Poe. Obviously both of these writers recognized Poe’s contributions to the field.

Dupin also conducts interviews to gather his facts and summarizes the results of the
case. This is for the reader’s benefit in case they missed a clue. This methodology is yet another example of Poe establishing something that has continued throughout the years within the mystery genre.

While Poe may have only written three detective stories, these stories offer so many firsts that are used over and over again within the genre. I’ve only mentioned a few of the firsts. If you have the opportunity, read some of Poe’s Dupin stories and see what other firsts you can discover.

Note: The Mystery Writers of America present an annual award known as The Edgar Award for distinguished work in the mystery genre. What a nice honor for the man who created so many firsts for mysteries.

I live near the city of Baltimore and the people of Baltimore love their sports teams. Mention the word raven and a cheer goes up for the Super Bowl champs. Go Ravens!

And if you weren’t aware unlike other NFL teams the Baltimore Ravens have three team
mascots all dressed as ravens. Their names are Edgar, Allan and of course Poe. The team name comes from the poem The Raven and honors one of Baltimore’s legends–Edgar Allan Poe.

Poe was born in Boston on January 19, 1809 and spent much of his life in the city of Richmond which he called home. However his father was born in Baltimore and his
grandparents and much of the Poe clan were residents of the city. His wife and her family were from Baltimore and Poe died and was buried in the city, so we consider him one of our own. Aside from his lasting influence on the city let’s look at Poe’s life and writings?

Poe’s parents were divorced and his mother died in 1811 when he was only two. Her three children were split between different families and Poe was adopted by Mr. and Mrs. John Allan. John Allan was well off and at the age of 6 Poe was sent to England for schooling for five years. At 17 Poe attended the University of Virginia, but his father gave him only a portion of the amount of money he needed for college expenses. He began to drink heavily, fell into debt and had to leave school.

With no money and no education Poe joined the army and during his military time he
did well and attained the rank of sergeant major. He was accepted at West Point, but once again with no money for expenses he didn’t stay long. Poe continued to ask his father for financial support, but received nothing and when John Allan died Poe was not mentioned in the will.

In 1831 Poe was in New York City where he had some luck with publishing his poetry, but his stories continued to be rejected. Finally in 1835 Poe got a job as an editor based on winning a contest with his story The Manuscript Found in a Bottle. With his new found job he married his cousin Virginia and brought her and his mother in law, Mrs. Clemm, to live with him in Virginia.

Poe did a good job with the Southern Literary Messenger, but in 1837 he left sighting money concerns and returned to New York. He then moved to Philadelphia and published his first volume of short stories in 1839 –Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque. He received copies of the book, the copyright, but no money. In 1840, Poe worked as editor for Graham’s Magazine and during the two years he worked for this magazine he wrote The Murders in the Rue Morgue.

Throughout his life Poe was successful as an editor. In each of his editing jobs he
increased the circulation for the publications. Even his story The Gold Bug achieved a circulation of 300,000. However, even with his achievements as an editor and writer he was unable to make enough money to support his family. He continued to drink heavily.

The next major event in Poe’s life concerned his beloved wife, Virginia. Her health was failing and in 1847 she died. Her death had a profound effect on Poe and he collapsed as a result. He gradually recovered his health over the next year and in 1849 joined “The Sons of Temperance” to help curb his drinking.

In September Poe left Richmond for New York but stopped off with a friend in Philadelphia. After the visit instead of catching the train to New York, by mistake, he ended up on a train heading south to Baltimore.  On October 3^rd, Poe was at Gunner’s Hall, a public house, and later was discovered wandering the streets delirious and wearing mis-matched clothes. He was taken to Washington College Hospital. Poe was in and out of consciousness and his cousin Neilson Poe was told the patient was too excitable for visitors. On October 5^th his cousin was told Poe was improving and sent him a change of linens. But on October 7th Poe passed away.

Poe’s body was placed in the hospital’s rotunda for viewing by many of the city’s dignitaries. He was buried in his grandfather’s lot at Westminster Burying Ground in Baltimore.

How appropriate as part Poe’s legacy his actual cause of death remains a total mystery. Theories include that he was mugged since his clothes were replaced with worn garments that did not fit. Others believe since he was previously diagnosed with a weak heart he suffered a heart attack. Also early in 1849 Poe was in Philadelphia during a major cholera outbreak and became ill, so was his collapse a recurrence of this disease. Recently a test on a lock of Poe’s hair show high concentrations of both lead and mercury so did he die of exposure to these elements. Other theories include  diabetes, epilepsy and even rabies. Although alcoholism plagued Poe all of his adult life the doctors denied that he was drunk on the day he was brought to the hospital. In the end according to the attending physician, the official cause of death was listed as congestion of the brain which today would be Meningitis.

But wait there is yet another mystery surrounding Poe—starting in 1949 on the 100^th
anniversary of Poe’s passing a mysterious figure known as the “Toaster” visits Poe’s grave on his birthday and leaves three roses and a partial bottle of cognac. While it is not known why cognac was selected as the liquor, it is thought that the three roses represent Poe, his wife Virginia and his mother-in-law Mrs. Clemm who are buried in the same grave site.

Poe died at the age of 40 and we can’t help but wonder what other great works Poe might have penned had he lived beyond this young age. In his short lifetime we have hundreds of poems and stories he wrote for our enjoyment.

Next blog we’ll take a look at the influence Poe had on the mystery genre.

I’m constantly being asked what mysteries I’m reading. As a result, I thought I would share my list from last month.

Fer de Lance (Nero Wolfe Mysteries) by Rex Stout

It’s been a while since I read a Nero Wolfe mystery. I wanted to refresh my memory for a recent blog I was preparing. So I selected this Wolfe novel.

What does the murder of a poor immigrant and a wealthy college president have in common? That’s the secret Wolfe and Archie need to uncover in order to solve this murder.

Fer de Lance is one of the world’s deadliest snakes and when Nero Wolfe finds one in his desk drawer he knows he has annoyed the murderer and is on the right track.

This is the first book in a long list of Wolfe mysteries from Rex Stout. In this book we are introduced to Wolfe’s habits and eccentricities. Plus we get to meet most of the main characters that reappear throughout the series including Archie Goodwin, his assistant and narrator of the stories; Fritz his gourmet chef; Theodore who assists Wolfe in the orchid greenhouse; and people like Orrie Cather, Saul Panzer, and Fred Durkin who aid in solving the crimes.

If you want to read a Nero Wolfe mystery this is the book you want to read first.

Chapter and Hearse (A Booktown Mystery) by Lorna Barrett

I’m a big fan of Lorna Barrett’s amateur detective Tricia Miles. The stories take place in the fictional town of Stoneham, NH also known as Booktown, because the main shopping district features different types of book stores. Tricia owns a mystery book store called Haven’t Got a Clue and the store’s book shelves are watched over by a cat named Miss Marple.

You would expect that a town with so many book stores would be a quiet place to live, but somehow Tricia is always solving a real life murder. This time a gas explosion has injured Tricia’s sister boyfriend, Bob Kelly, and killed the owner of the town’s history bookstore. Bob refuses to talk about what happened and the mother of the dead man seems pleased her son has departed. To make matters more complicated Tricia’s sister, Angelica, seems to be the next target of the killer.

Now it’s personal and Tricia needs to find out what is happening before someone else is injured or killed.

The books are nicely paced and its added fun that the amateur detective is the owner of a mystery book store.

Nice Weekend for a Murder (A Mallory Mystery) by Max Allan Collins

This was my first Collins mystery but it won’t be the last. I really enjoy his style.

The murder takes place during a mystery weekend at Mohonk Mountain House an isolated resort located in upstate New York. Participants are asked to solve the murder of a fictional mystery book critic. Real mystery writers are playing the part of the suspects and a real critic, Kirk Rath, is playing the victim. Yup, you guessed it! The tables are turned when the Kirk is murdered.

Mallory one of the mystery writers believes he witnessed the killing of the critic. However, the conference leader, hotel staff and his peers try to convince Mallory what he saw was nothing more than a prank from some of the participants. However, later when Mallory finds Kirk Rath’s body he feels a duty to solve the crime.

In addition to all the clues and plot twists there are wonderful references to mystery writers like Chandler and Hammett. The Movies being shown for the participants include a Charlie Chan film fest and Mickey Spillane in a Mike Hammer film.

If one mystery isn’t enough for you to solve this book is a perfect fit. Try to solve both the mystery weekend crime and the actual murder of the critic.

Aside from a great story this is a fun book for mystery readers because of all the references to other mystery books, authors and films.

Dying for Danish (A Lexy Baker Bakery Cozy Mystery) by Leighann Dobbs

Lexy Baker owns a catering business, pastry shop and a dog named Sprinkles. Her shop is doing well and she just bought all new kitchen equipment based on the big check she is about to receive for catering an upcoming wedding for a wealthy family.  However, when Lexy discovers the body of the bride-to-be her plans come to a screeching halt.

Lexy needs to find the killer so she gets paid for the job. She enlists the aid of her amateur detective grandmother and her friends from the local retirement village who use their iPads to provide her with information about the suspects. Add Lexy’s best friend, her good looking police detective neighbor and even her dog and you have quite a team out to solve the case and save Lexy’s business.

In addition to a good mystery you get a great recipe for Danish pastry.

Morning Cup of Murder (A Lacy Steele Mystery) by Vanessa Gray Bartal

I love coffee so I was attracted by the title of the book. Lacy Steele our amateur detective spends each morning at the local coffee shop as she tries to re-establish her career as a journalist and her personal life. After trying to make it in New York she returns to her tiny hometown and is living with her grandmother. When grandmother is arrested for the murder of an old school chum Lacy sets out to solve the case and clear her grandmother.

Grandmother’s defense for the time of the murder was that she was baking her famous prune cake for Lacy. Because the cake takes several hours to prepare Lacy knows she couldn’t have committed the murder. However, the police aren’t buying the cake as an alibi, and Lacy needs to find some hard evidence.

With the help of a high school friend, Jason, who is now a member of the police department and some amateur sleuthing on her part she discovers more and more about the murdered woman and eventually the killer.

Warning–don’t read while hungry there are many references to the delicious prune cake throughout the book.

A Man Lay Dead: Inspector Roderick Alleyn by Nagio Marsh

While Agatha Christie may have the title of Queen of mysteries, Nagio Marsh is the empress of the Golden Age Mysteries. Following one of the Golden Age characteristics this book opens with a party at a country house. As part of the weekend activities the host, Sir Hubert Handesley, has planned a murder game to entertain his guests. When the game turns deadly Inspector Roderick Alleyn of Scotland Yard is called in to find the murderer.

Inspector Alleyn keeps all the facts of the case in his notebook and it would be nice to have a look at what he is writing. But keeping with the rules of Golden mysteries we are included for all of the questioning and discovery of the clues—so we should be able to write the same things in our notebook and solve the case.

If you like Christie you’ll like Marsh, so give this one a try.

Crunch Time by Diane Mott Davidson

Diane Mott Davidson continues to produce wonderful Goldy Schultz mysteries. I’ve been reading these books for years but somehow missed this one. So this was a catch-up read.

As you probably know Goldy Schultz is a caterer but in addition to whipping of delightful recipes she also manages to always cook up a great murder. This time she is helping a friend and fellow chef Yolanda Garcia. When Yolanda’s house is destroyed by arson, she and her irascible aunt Ferdinanda move in with former cop and PI Ernest McLeod.  But when Ernest is murder Goldy finds herself with some unexpected house guests.

It doesn’t make it any easier for Goldy that her husband Tom is a police detective and Yolanda is a prime suspect for the murder of Ernest. After a break-in by an unknown intruder and a second murder the heat is turned up on the case. Now it’s crunch time to catch the killer before he gets to Goldy and her friend Yolanda.

The delicious recipes mentioned in the book are always included.

We have chatted about Seconds before, but I must admit that Archie Goodwin is my personal favorite. As mentioned in a previous blog Archie is the Second to the Rex Stout’s
incomparable Nero Wolfe and I think Archie in his own way is unique.

How did Archie and Wolfe get together? Archie mentions that he met Wolfe after “the only girl I had ever been really soft on had found another bargain she liked better.” So after that incident Archie begins working for Wolfe. He lives in Wolfe’s Brownstone, manages the accounts, pays the bills and works as a partner on their cases.

As with all Seconds Archie is opposite of Wolfe in so many ways and here are a few examples. Archie is young, active and embraces the outside world of New York. Archie drives their roadster and on the rare occasions when Wolfe goes out in the car he holds on for dear life in the back seat. Archie is interested in women and enjoys a long standing
relationship with Lilly Rowan. Wolfe has no time for women because he feels they are too emotional. Wolfe is a gourmet and spends hours discussing and enjoying the recipes from his chef Fritz Brenner. Archie enjoys these meals but also enjoys stopping by local eateries to get a corn beef sandwich or a plate of liver and onions. While Wolfe’s consumes numerous bottles of beer after dinner each night, Archie’s drink of choice is milk.

Archie also has one difference from other mystery book Seconds. He is a licensed private detective and acts as the legman for Wolfe’s cases.  He is the one out on the street conducting interviews and gathering information that he brings back for Wolfe to review. When he conducts interviews we get his opinions and a totally different perspective.  Here is his description from an interview in the District Attorney’s Office.

“I just simply didn’t like that man. I couldn’t even have any fun with him, to speak of, because whatever it was disagreeable about him, his face and his manner, was so deep and primitive that the only possible way to get any real satisfaction would have been to haul off and plug him in the nose.”

While we may not get a clue from this exchange we do get a different viewpoint about one of the people involved in the case. So in addition to Wolfe’s office chair perspective we get a second “street smart” opinion from Archie.

And Wolfe trusts Archie to ask the right questions that advance the case. There are times when Wolfe gives Archie no specific instructions or as Archie says he is left “Fancy Free.”
Wolfe’s favorite saying when he leaves Archie to his own devices is “any spoke will lead the ant to the hub.”

As readers, we also have the opportunity to learn as Archie learns and decide along with him if the information is important to solving the case. Like Archie we want to see if our conclusion is the same one Wolfe will pick. Along with Archie we are in the competition to solve the puzzle before Wolfe. And just like Archie we hate it when Wolfe beats us to the punch. Here’s a comment from Archie’s when this happens.

“I was a little sore, of course; I always was when I knew that he had tied up a nice neat bundle right in front of me without my even being able to see what was going in it.”

We are provided with all the same information and clues that Wolfe has. But it is annoying to Archie and to the reader when some little piece slips past us. But these little bits and pieces don’t slip past Wolfe.

Archie like other Seconds is the narrator of the mysteries and a superb storyteller. Archie’s style of writing is light and sometimes even flip. Below is an example when he is  interviewing Susan Barstow.

And may I say without offense, you’re looking swell. I was thinking when you came in, I’d like to pinch your cheeks.

“What!” she stared, then she laughed. “That’s a compliment.”

It sure is. If you know how many cheeks there are I wouldn’t bother to pinch.

Archie has fun with the potential suspects and likes to push them as far as he can. Sometimes this pushing causes the suspect to reveal something important.

Last but not least Archie is often responsible for carrying out the final act that will reveal and capture the killer. With the next quote we get insight into how Archie feels when the case is in its final stage.

I was pretty well on edge. I always am when I’m really on my way for a man; there never seems to be quite enough air for me; I breathe quicker and everything I touch–the steering wheel, for instance–seems to be alive with blood going in it. I don’t like the feeling much but I always have it.

Regardless of Archie’s nerves the murderer is revealed and captured. And if we didn’t have the solution prior to the capture all the details are filled in for us by Archie and Wolfe at the end.

Nero Wolfe mysteries like many books from the Golden Age are a little dated. Archie makes phone calls from the phone booth at the drug store and drives a roadster or thinks people are swell. But the style is light and fun to read and the plots are always intricate. It’s a good puzzle and a challenge to solve the murder. What do you think of Archie Goodwin?

(Note: Quotes are from the first Wolfe novel Fer-de-Lance –1934)