Dashiell Hammett: Five Complete Novels: Red Harvest, The Dain Curse, The Maltese Falcon, The Glass Key, and The Thin Man

Slightest toning, else content appears as unblemished with near fine dark maroon boards in DJ displaying moderate surface/edge wear, as shown, with repaired & reinforced chipping and small open tears. However, it is still doing a good job of protecting. ;-).

This book contains brilliant crime stories by one of only a couple of wonderful early American writers on the subject.

Dashiell Hammett (1894-1961) is famous for his Sam Spade books, such as "The Maltese Falcon," his Nick and Nora Charles, in "The Thin Man," and his Continental Op in "The Dain Curse" and "Red Harvest."

The Continental Op, for example, is a short title for the operative of San Francisco's office of the Continental detective Agency. It is the name that Hammett gave to his private detectives. The stories are told in the first person without giving the name of the investigator. The Agency is run by the "old man" who is "a shell without human feelings whatsoever." The Op has feelings but is a master of deceit.

The first Op tale appeared in the pulp magazine "Black Mask," and is credited with introducing the "hard-boiled detective genre." There are 28 standalone short stories as well as another 8 that Hammett linked together to form novels.

Hammett left school when he was 13-years-old. He worked for the Pinkerton National Detective Agency from 1915 to 1922, taking off some time from the Agency to serve as a sergeant in World War I. He published his first story, a short story called "The Barber and His Wife" in 1922 when he left Pinkerton, and his hard-boiled tales which followed, including "The Maltese falcon," published in 1930, drew upon his experiences at Pinkerton. Hammett is credited for inserting dialogue into his tales which sounded authentic to the time of his books. He wrote his final novel, "The Thin Man," in 1934, over 25 years before he died. He wrote five novels in total. Many film versions were made of Hammett's novels such as two of "The Maltese Falcon," made in 1931 and 1941. The 1931 version starred Ricardo Cortez as Sam Spade, while the 1941 version featured Humphrey Bogart in the role and is credited in making him a star. In short, those people who enjoy crime novels will delight having and reading this book.

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