The Black Mask

# Museum Catalog Note

This April 1922 issue of Black Mask magazine, subtitled "A Magazine of Mystery, Thrills and Surprise," opens with the serial "Exterior to the Evidence" by J. S. Fletcher, billed as "the greatest detective story since the appearance of Sherlock Holmes." The featured installment, titled "Youth," introduces Marston Stanbury, a fair-haired English youth of twenty-three, and Letty Etherton, dark-haired daughter of mill owner Lucas Etherton, who are secretly engaged. When Marston learns his elderly uncle, Sir Cheville Stanbury, plans to marry a French governess named Mademoiselle Zélie de Coulanges within a month, he sees opportunity for his own marriage prospects. The narrative also introduces Bradwell Pike, a pale, watchful clerk employed by Letty's father, whom Marston distrusts.

The issue contains additional mystery stories by various authors including "The Finger of Guilt" by J. J. Stagg, "Pink Ears" by Murray Leinster, and "Hankenson's Perfect Crime" by Ward Sterling, among others.