I wish there was a better image of this 1931 Detective Story cover online, especially because I don't really have anything to say about the contents of the issue. The cover is a thing of beauty, unmarred by any sort of promo copy. There are no story titles, no authors' names. The newspaper copy may refer to a story inside, but you couldn't guess which unless you read the issue. The profile shadow is obviously suggestive of The Shadow, the still-new hero pulp spun off from the Detective Story radio program, yet is not so obviously the longer-nosed profile to be an advertisement, however subtle. I can only presume that some brave cover editor so enjoyed this piece of art that it was allowed to stand on its own on the assumption that it could attract readers on aesthetic grounds alone. I wonder what the sales figures were.
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