Sex in Detective Fiction – Do’s and Don’t
by Frank Armer, publisher of Spicy Detective magazine
1. In describing breasts of a female character, avoid anatomical descriptions.
2. If it is necessary for the story to have the girl give herself to a man, do not go too carefully into the details. You can lead up to the actual consummation, but leave the rest up to the reader’s imagination. This subject should be handled delicately and a great deal can be done by implication and suggestion.
3. Whenever possible, avoid complete nudity of the female characters. You can have a girl strip to her underwear, or transparent negligee, or nightgown, or the thin torn shred of her garments, but while the girl is alive and in contact with a man, we do not want complete nudity.
4. A nude female corpse is allowable, of course.
5. Also, a girl undressing in the privacy of her own room, but when men are in the action try to keep at least a shred of something on the girls.
6. Do not have men in underwear in scenes with women, and no nude men at all.
(Editorial guidelines published in Spicy Detective Stories, 1935).
The cover artist is Hugh Joseph Ward.