 Cover of the second issue; artwork by Jno Ruger | |
| Categories | Pulp magazine |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Techni-Craft Publishing Company |
| Founder | Hugo Gernsback |
| Founded | January 1930 |
| Final issue | 1931 |
| Country | United States |
| Based in | New York City |
| Language | English |
Scientific Detective Monthly (also known as Amazing Detective Tales and Amazing Detective Stories) was a pulp magazine that published fifteen issues beginning in January 1930. It was launched by Hugo Gernsback as part of his second venture into science-fiction magazine publishing, and was intended to focus on detective and mystery stories with a scientific element. Many of the stories involved contemporary science without any imaginative elements—for example, a story in the first issue turned on the use of a bolometer to detect a black girl blushing—but there were also one or two science fiction stories in every issue.
The title was changed to Amazing Detective Tales with the June 1930 issue, perhaps to avoid the word "scientific", which may have given readers the impression of "a sort of scientific periodical",[1] in Gernsback's words, rather than a magazine intended to entertain. At the same time, the editor—Hector Grey—was replaced by David Lasser, who was already editing Gernsback's other science-fiction magazines. The title change apparently did not make the magazine a success, and Gernsback closed it down with the October issue. He sold the title to publisher Wallace Bamber, who produced at least five more issues in 1931 under the title Amazing Detective Stories.