Argosy Library, Series XVII

On Black Friday weekend 2024, Steeger Books put out their next sets of Argosy Library volumes, Series XVI and XVII, getting closer to 200 volumes.

As always, with each series, we get 10 books of great and sometimes overlooked fiction that appeared in the early pulps. We get some stand-alone works, as well as volumes of various sub-series. This selection seems very heavy on crime and detective stories and series.

Most are taken from the pulps started by Frank A. Munsey, who converted his fiction magazines to pulp paper and reduced their price, making them more profitable. He published the well-known Argosy magazine, which got its start in the late 1800s, and several other popular magazines such as The All-Story and Flynn’s Detective Fiction Weekly.

Series XVII consists of:

• Golden River: The Complete Adventures of Ben Quorn, Vol. 1, by Talbot Mundy
• Lady of the Night Wind, by Varick Vanardy
• King of the Exiles, by Thomson Burtis
• For a Point of Honor: The Complete Cases of Riordan, Vol. 2, by Victor Maxwell
• The Dark Waters, by William Corcoran
• Murder Without Motive: The Complete Cases of Show-Me McGee, Vol. 1, by Frederick C. Davis
• Murder in the Nudist Club, by Fred MacIsaac
• Gorilla Cargo: The Complete Adventures of McNally, Vol. 1, by Richard Wormser
• Green Mamba: The Complete Cases of Daffy Dill, Vol. 2, by Richard B. Sale
• The Silencer Mystery: The Complete Cases of Gillian Hazeltine, Vol. 3, by George F. Worts

From the master of adventure, Talbot Mundy, we get the first of two volumes reprinting his short Ben Quorn series. This one has never been reprinted before. I know this volume has all six short stories from Adventure.

The fourth and final story in the Night Wind series, Lady of the Night Wind is here. Written by Varick Vanardy, this story focuses on Lady Katherine Harvard, the love of the Night Wind, in a story of mystery and intrigue set in London.

In King of the Exiles by Thomson Burtis (1896-1971), our hero must pose as a flying bandit to infiltrate a gang of aerial criminals operating on the Mexican border. Burtis mainly wrote aviation pulp stories but did do others as well. This one was cover-featured in Short Stories in 1929, the cover used for this book.

We get the second volume of stories with Sgt. Riordan in For a Point of Honor by Victor Maxwell (actually Maxwell Vietor, 1880-1950). This hard-hitting detective series ran some 80 stories in Detective Fiction Weekly from 1925 to 1939.

We get a story of dark intrigue in The Dark Waters by William Corcoran (1901-69), where bodyguard Dex Ward is escorting an enigmatic young lady, an exile from a small country, on a mission to buy weapons for her countrymen. But other forces are arrayed against the mission, including the deadly Eel. This story was noted on the cover of Argosy in 1936 when it appeared.

Frederick C. Davis is probably best known for creating Operator #5, The Moon Man, Ravenwood, and others. Here is the first of two volumes with Detective Lt. John “Show-Me” McGee, Murder Without Motive. McGee unravels baffling cases in an unknown coastal town in a series that ran in Detective Fiction Weekly in 1933 and 1934.

From Fred MacIsaac is another murder mystery in Murder in the Nudist Club. A private detective is hired by a millionaire to solve the murder of his wife. Can he do so without becoming the next victim? This one was cover-featured in Detective Fiction Weekly in 1934.

A short series from Richard Wormser stars Dave McNally, who hunts exotic animals for the entertainment series, Gorilla Cargo, contains the first five stories. This one ran in Argosy from 1936 to 1941.

We get the second collection of stories with reporter Joe “Daffy” Dill of the New York Chronicle. Green Mamba has the next six stories of this series from Richard B. Sale. This classic series of mystery and suspense with our wise-cracking reporter comes from Detective Fiction Weekly, where it ran for over 60 stories from 1934-43.

George F. Worts is probably better known as the creator of Peter the Brazen and Singapore Sammy, but another long series he has is of lawyer Gillian Hazeltine, who is considered a forerunner to Perry Mason. We get the third collection of stories in The Silencer Mystery.

It’s another good set of stories. Some I will be getting, others I might get at some point. I was hoping we’d get the second and last volumes of Mr. Strang and Barry Chase, as well as the next volumes of Jigger Masters and Madame Storey. Hopefully, next time.