Pan Press Inside Detective and Front Page Detective

Pan Press was a small outfit founded shortly after the war to take advantage of the paper shortage. Their first books began appearing about five months after VE Day, drawing most of its authors from Alliance Press, which was run by the same people. Alliance published many of the same authors, including a trio of prolific pamphlet providers – most of the books being only 64-pagers – Leslie H. Fox, Michael Hervey and A. O. Pulford.

One little development of Pan Press was the publication of books in two series: Front Page Detective and Inside Detective Thriller. Both were slim (again, 64-pages) booklets with typographical covers usually promoting two of the true-crime stories inside. The collections often contained four stories reprinted from the American pulps Front Page Detective and Inside Detective, published by Dell Magazines. Inside Detective began life in March 1935, with Front Page Detective joining the ranks of true-crime magazines in August 1936.

The magazines haven't, as far as I'm aware, been indexed, so I've no way of confirming the sources of each of the stories. That said, I wouldn't be surprised to find that the lead story of "The Jig-Saw Corpse" by William F. X. Geoghagen came from Inside Detective March 1945, which advertises a story "Jigsaw Corpse in Brooklyn" on the cover. "The Oakes Case" story by Raymond C. Schindler is likely to be from the same magazine's October 1944 issue.

If anyone can fill in the gaps in the contents, please drop me a line.

Front Page Detective

Fishman, Joseph F. • Bullets for Two • (Nov 1945), 64pp, 1/6, [anon].
     • Fishman, Joseph F. * Bullets for Two * tc
     • Adams, James Taylor * The Mountain Murder * tc
     • others

Thorp, John S. • The Phantom Bandit of the Pullman • (Nov) 1945, 64pp, 1/6.
     • Thorp, John S. * The Phantom Bandit of the Pullman * tc
     • Blake, Alison * Last Date With Margaret * tc
     • others

Makris, John N. • The Mystery of Brompton Road • (Dec 1945), 64pp, 1/6, [A. O. Pulford].
     • Makris, John N. * The Mystery of Brompton Road * tc
     • Durand, Anthony * Murder of the Paris Playboy * tc
     • Fiske, Martin * Clue of the Pretty Girl's Snapshot * tc
     • Lane, Carlos * Meet Inspector King * tc
     • Stevens, Mark * Box-Car Extradition * tc

Schindler, Raymond C. • The Oakes Case • nd (Jun 1946), 62pp, 1/6.
     • Schindler, Raymond C. * The Oakes Case * tc
     • Harrell, Jack * Printed in Blood * tc
     • three others

Geoghagen, William F. X. • The Jig-Saw Corpse • (Jul 1946), 64pp, 1/6.
     • Geoghagen, William F. X. * The Jig-Saw Corpse * tc
     • Blake, Alison * Thread for a Hangman's Rope * tc
     • others

Inside Detective Thriller

Harrell, Jack • Death Comes to the Hermit [and] But Ghosts Can’t Kill by Dudley Hiller • (Mar 1946), 64pp, 1/6, [typo/Kay Furnival].
     5 • Harrell, Jack * Death Comes to the Hermit * tc
     21 • Hiller, Dudley * But Ghosts Can't Kill * tc
     31 • Murray, Bert * Mrs. Doom * tc
     47 • Tobeas, Walter S. * Cafe Society's Great Jewel Swindle * tc

Henderson, Jesse G. • She Had to Kill • nd (May 1946), 63pp, 1/6, [B.W.Farr].
     • Henderson, Jesse G. * She Had to Kill * tc
     • Makris, John N. * In Love with a Convict * tc
     • Frame, Barnabby * Death putts at the 19th Hole * tc
     • Haddock, Hugh V. Solving Missouri's Roadside Riddle * tc

Parkhill, Andy • The Queen of Spades and Robin Hood of the West by C.V. Tench • nd (Mar 1946), 64pp, 1/6, [typo/Kay Furnival].     • Parkhill, Andy * The Queen of Spades Screamed Murder! * tc
     • Tench, C. V. * Robin Hood of the West * tc
     • Durand, Anthony * Poison Plot of the Paris War Baby * tc
     • Thorp, John S. * Hide and Go Seek * tc

(* Cover images for almost the complete run of Inside Detective can be found here.)