The Master Detective was founded in 1929 by Macfadden Publication, and served as a sister publication to Macfadden’s first true crime magazine, True Detective Mysteries. Originally selling for 25c, the magazine was released monthly and featured true life crime stories. In August 1935, the name was changed to simply Master Detective. During the 1950’s the magazine was published by TD Publishing Corp, and by the 1980’s, it was under the ownership of RGH Publishing Corp. Much like True Detective magazine, Master Detective survived the decline of the magazine industry during the 1960’s, and went on to continue publication into the 1990’s.