"The Dell Mysteries had the juicy cover art and a 'crime map' on the back cover to aid the reader in tracking clues and postulating their 'whodunnit' theories. I love the little 'eye in the keyhole' logo, too.
Most of the Dells in this set are from the first half of the '40's. Towards the end there's also a few Popular Library covers from the same period, with cover art in a very similar style. ..."
Cover Gallery: 1940's Paperback Mysteries, set at Flickr uploaded by jl.incrowd (via I'm Learning To Share!)
Update: Farmirin D. Dell tells us: "These books are most commonly referred to as the "Dell Mapbacks." A full history of the series is in "Putting Dell on the Map" by William Lyles. If you really love these, though, get a copy of Piet Schreuders "Dell Mapbacks," which was printed as a 1998 diary and features wonderful reproductions of the front and back covers of 52 titles. Or, if you want to see more Mapbacks (all of them, I think!) go here."
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