At the height of the Jazz Age, when Prohibition was turning ordinary citizens into

criminals and ordinary criminals into celebrities, America's true crime detective

magazines were born. True Detective came first in 1924, and by 1932, when the

Great Depression had produced colorful outlaws like Machine Gun Kelly, Bonnie

and Clyde, Babyface Nelson, and John Dillinger, the magazines were so popular

cops and robbers alike vied to see themselves on the pages. Even FBI boss J. Edgar

Hoover wrote regularly for what came to be called the "Dickbooks", referring to a

popular slang term for the police. True Detective, American Detective, Inside Detective,

Real Detective, Master Detective, Startling Detective and others were at their peak in

the '30s, with gorgeous painted covers and Jim Thompson covering the crime beat.

As the decades rolled on, the magazines went through a curious metamorphosis,

however. When liquor was once more legal, the Depression over and all the flashy

criminals dead or imprisoned, the "detectives" turned to sin to make sales. Sexy bad

girls in tight sweaters, slit skirts and stiletto heels adorned every cover. Coverlines

shouted "I Was a Girl Burglar - For Kicks", "Sex Habits of Women Killers," "Bride of

Sin!," "She Played Me for a Sucker," and most succinctly, "Bad Woman."