One of the first "pulp" magazines—so named because it was printed on cheap, grainy wood-pulp paper—True Detective helped pioneer the American crime story genre in the 1920s. The monthly periodical, which started life as True Detective Mysteries in 1924, was retitled True Detective with the October 1939 issue. As the name suggests, the magazine devoted itself to true crime stories, making full use of the manners and language of the United States. The "hardboiled" investigators featured in its pages represented a break with the European "Great Detective" tradition. Dashiell Hammett, creator of Sam Spade, was among the crime writers whose work appeared in the pages of True Detective.

Further Reading:

Goodstone, Tony. The Pulps. New York, Chelsea House, 1970.

Winn, Dilys. Murder Ink. New York, Workman, 1984.