Steeger Books will be premiering ten new titles at the Windy City Pulp & Paper Convention in April. Headlining these are the first six books in the Black Mask Library, with each featuring a novel or series character which is rare or never-before reprinted. The releases also featuring Volume 4 of the Super Detective Jim Anthony series, as well as three more installments in the H. Bedford-Jones Library, including the long-awaited novel, The Seal of John Solomon.
If you are attending the convention, these releases (and more) can be purchased as the Mike Chomko, Books booth.
Here are the details on all of these releases:
Dead and Done For: The Complete Black Mask Cases of Cellini Smith
By Robert Reeves, introduction by Kenneth S. White, cover by Rafael DeSoto
Long considered one of the best of the Black Mask authors, author Robert Reeves’s longest-running detective character actually first appeared in the 1939 novel, Dead and Done For. Cellini Smith, accountant for a New York City pinball gangster, must clear his boss’s name after being accused of murder. Featuring an introduction by Black Mask editor Kenneth S. White, and a cover illustration by the great Rafael de Soto.
$19.95 softcover | $29.95 hardcover
Murder Costs Money: The Complete Black Mask Cases of Rex Sackler
By D.L. Champion, introduction by Ed Hulse, illustrated by Peter Kuhlhoff, cover by Rafael DeSoto
Author D.L. Champion’s knack for penning quirky series characters reached a new height with his stories of skinflint shamus Rex Sackler, one of Black Mask’s longest-running and most beloved series. Already a reader favorite for his Inspector Allhoff stories in Black Mask’s companion title, Dime Detective, Champion chronicled the offbeat cases of Rex Sackler, the greedy gumshoe who “could squeeze a nickel till the buffalo cried uncle.”
The Rex Sackler series allowed Champion to display his talent for sardonic wit and humor in more than two dozen frequently hilarious novelettes published in Black Mask during the 1940s. This volume collects the first eight stories. With an all-new introduction by Ed Hulse.
$24.95 softcover | $34.95 hardcover
Let the Dead Alone: The Complete Black Mask Cases of Luther McGavock
By Merle Constiner, introduction by Evan Lewis, illustrated by Peter Kuhlhoff, cover by Rafael DeSoto
The Luther McGavock stories are not your garden variety hardboiled detective yarns. These Black Mask stories are so rich in place and detail that they almost seem a travelogue of small-town life in the Deep South.
Having bounced around to just about every major agency in the country, Luther McGavock finally settled in the Atherton Browne Agency in Memphis, and his cases take him to small towns in the Tennessee hill-country. As an outsider, McGavock is our tour guide to this odd world of the Deep South.
Written by one of the most polished writers to see print in Black Mask, author Merle Constiner’s writing is vivid, his characters complex, and his mysteries deep. This edition collects the first four stories in the series. Includes an all-new introduction by Evan Lewis.
$24.95 softcover | $34.95 hardcover
Dead Evidence: The Complete Black Mask Cases of Harrigan
By Ed Lybeck, introduction by Will Murray, illustrated by Arthur Rodman Bowker, cover by Jes Schlaikjer
Quite likely one of the most hyped—and most mysterious—Black Mask authors to ever appear in its pages, Ed Lybeck made his debut as one of editor Joesph Shaw’s new faces in the wake of Dashiell Hammett’s departure. For Black Mask, Lybeck penned the hard-boiled stories of Francis St. Xavier Harrigan, a former gunman-turned-reporter for the New York Leader.
Though his duration as a Black Mask author was brief, his status as one of its greatest alums was certified by his inclusion in the historic retrospective of Black Mask, The Hard-boiled Omnibus. This edition collects—for the first time—the entirety of Lybeck’s Black Mask output. Includes an all-new introduction by pulp historian Will Murray.
$16.95 softcover | $29.95 hardcover
Boomerang Dice: The Complete Black Mask Cases of Johnny Hi Gear
By Stewart Sterling, introduction by Will Murray, illustrated by Arthur Rodman Bowker, cover by Jes Schlaikjer
One of the most talented authors to be recruited to write for Black Mask Magazine following the departure of Dashiell Hammett, Stewart Sterling made a lasting impression on readers with his initial series character, Johnny Hi Gear: undercover police agent K-Five who battled gambling rackets during the Great Depression.
Never before reprinted, this popular series jump-started Sterling’s writing career which covered spans of time in radio, TV, and hardcovers, along with writing some of pulpdom’s most popular heroes, the Black Bat and The Spider. Collecting all 8 stories, along with an all-new introduction by Will Murray.
$16.95 softcover | $29.95 hardcover
Blood on the Curb
By Joseph T. Shaw, cover by Stockton Mulford
Joseph T. Shaw, the editor of Black Mask Magazine, has written one of the most exciting adventure mysteries of 1936.
Blood on the Curb is the dramatic story of the New York Police Department’s bloody battle to wipe out the famous “Black Hand” gang which terrorized the Lower East Side.
Newly-recruited Paul Cardine is placed in charge of a special squad of officers—all of Italian decent—to find the man at the top of what appears to be a consolidated conglomerate of crime families.
Never before reprinted, Blood on the Curb is one of Shaw’s rarest hardcovers, and it contains all the hallmarks of his hard-boiled novels that saw publication in Black Mask Magazine.
$19.95 softcover | $29.95 hardcover
Super-Detective Jim Anthony: The Complete Series, Volume 4
By Victor Rousseau and Edwin Truett Long, illustrated by Joseph Szokoli, cover by H.J. Ward
The complete reprinting of the greatest of the Doc Savage pastiches continues! Volume Four contains the next five adventures of Jim Anthony: “Spies of Destiny,” “I.O.U. Murder,” “Cold Turkey,” “Mrs. Big,” and “Needle’s Eye.”
$29.95 softcover | $39.95 hardcover
The Seal of John Solomon: The Adventures of John Solomon, Volume 4 (The H. Bedford-Jones Library)
By H. Bedford-Jones, cover by Modest Stein
John Solomon returns! In this classic thriller from the pages of Argosy Magazine, the mysterious ship’s chandler encounters a lost race of Crusaders deep in the Sahara. Continue the story of John Solomon, author H. Bedford-Jones’ longest-running series character, with this next book in the series.
$19.95 softcover | $29.95 hardcover
Pirates Ain’t All Dead Yet: The Complete Adventures of Captain Struthers (The H. Bedford-Jones Library)
By H. Bedford-Jones, illustrated by Roger B. Morrison, cover by Modest Stein
A story of modern-day seafaring by the “King of the Pulps”—H. Bedford-Jones—the whimsical Captain Struthers series is reminiscent of his popular Pinky Jenkins adventures. Never before reprinted, this edition also includes another of Bedford-Jones’ sea stories as a bonus.
$16.95 softcover | $29.95 hardcover
The Jewels of Ling Ti (The H. Bedford-Jones Library)
By H. Bedford-Jones, illustrated by Charles L. Wrenn
Captain Jim Hanecy, agent and dealer in antiques, was no stranger to intrigue, but he and his partner, Toptit, soon found more than they bargained for in the ancient city of Cheng-tu. Never before reprinted in its entirely, The Jewels of Ling Ti is a classic adventure of the Orient by the “King of the Pulps”—H. Bedford-Jones— written at the height of his popularity.
$16.95 softcover | $29.95 hardcover