Diary Review: BLACK MASK — June 1940

# What this review covers A diary-style review of the June 1940 issue of Black Mask, edited by K. S. White with cover art by Rafael DeSoto. The reviewer gives a blunt overall assessment and rates each piece on a simple scale. Below are the story summaries, the reviewer's ratings, and a short evaluation of what the issue offers to a reader of classic pulp crime fiction.

# Quick verdict Overall rating: 1/2 star. The issue contains one stronger piece and several routine or predictable contributions. It's useful for readers tracing recurring pulp characters or studying period genre conventions, but it's not a consistently strong issue.

# What's in the issue (story-by-story)

• ERLE STANLEY GARDNER — "Tong Trouble" (Ed Jenkins). Novelette. The Phantom Crook Ed Jenkins intervenes on behalf of Chinese acquaintances to prevent a tong war triggered by an unsolved murder. The piece is told in Gardner's familiar style and includes incidental material—advice on panhandling and some commentary about Chinese people. Reviewer rating: 3.

• ROGER TORREY — "Too Many Angles" (Donovan). Novelette. Private detective Donovan takes a patent-attorney case that escalates into multiple murders and a finding that implicates his client in government sabotage. Violent. Reviewer rating: 2.

• JOHN LAWRENCE — "Body of Evidence" (Broadway Squad). Short. Hackett of the Broadway Squad reluctantly supplies an alibi for a released prisoner who then threatens those responsible for his conviction. Reviewer rating: 3.

• PAUL ALEXANDER — "Overseer of the Poor." Short story (three pages). Built around an obscure upstate New York law. Reviewer rating: 2.

• H. H. STINSON — "Clamp Down" (Ken O'Hara). Novelette. O'Hara of the L.A. Tribune is tasked with covering up political blackmail tied to a favored candidate. The plot touches on white slave trafficking and rivalry with a San Francisco reporter. Reviewer rating: 3.

# How the reviewer framed the issue The reviewer treats each piece as a discrete entry and assigns a short numeric rating in parentheses. The strongest pieces, by Gardner and the Broadway Squad entry, get middling praise (3), while several items earn lower marks for predictability or brevity. The overall impression is that the issue contains familiar pulp motifs: investigators whose loyalties complicate cases, murders that connect to wider criminal plots, and short items built around single conceits.

# Who might read this review

• Collectors and researchers tracing storylines or recurring pulp-character appearances (Ed Jenkins among them).
• Readers studying how pulp magazines handled topical subjects like tongs, political blackmail, and obscure legal oddities.
• Casual fans of period crime fiction who want a quick read to decide whether to seek out this issue.

# Bottom line