Dashiell Hammett

With its high stakes and uncertain outcome, the mystery tale is the most popular form of fiction in the United States. Crime Classics presents spellbinding works by such masters as Edgar Allan Poe, Arthur Conan Doyle, Dashiell Hammett, Dorothy Sayers, and Agatha Christie, as well as delightful gems from less familiar writers like Cornell Woolrich and intriguing tales by authors not usually associated with mystery writing- Flannery O'Connor, Jorge Louis Borges, and William Faulkner. Burns and Sullivan introduce the anthology by tracing the history of the genre and providing a biography of each author. Mystery stories demand superb craftsmanship and attention to detail; these enticing pieces combine fine writing, inventive plots, and challenges that readers will find irresistible. Contents: The Murders in the Rue Morgue (1841) by Edgar Allan Poe [Purloined Letter]( (1845) by Edgar Allan Poe [A Scandal in Bohemia]( (1891) by Arthur Conan Doyle [The Adventure of the Speckled Band]( (1892) by Arthur Conan Doyle The Problem of Cell 13 (1905) by Jacques Futrelle The Invisible Man (1911) by G.K. Chesterton A Jury of Her Peers (1917) by Susan Glaspell The House in Turk Street (1924) by Dashiell Hammett The Adventurous Exploit of the Cave of Ali Baba (1928) by Dorothy L. Sayers The Blue Geranium (1929) by Agatha Christie Murder at the Automat (1937) by Cornell Woolrich Hand Upon the Waters (1939) by William Faulkner Death and the Compass (1945) by Jorge Luís Borges; trans. by Anthony Kerrigan The Adventure of Abraham Lincoln’s Clue (1965) by Ellery Queen The Comforts of Home (1960) by Flannery O’Connor The Sleeping Dog (1965) by Ross Macdonald Sadie When She Died (1973) by Ed McBain

"In the stories and novellas he wrote for Black Mask and other pulp magazines in the 1920s and 1930s, Dashiell Hammett took the detective story and turned in into a medium for capturing the jarring textures and revved-up cadences of modern American life. In this volume, The Library of America collects the finest of these stories: 24 in all, along with some revealing essays and an earlier version of his novel The Thin Man."--BOOK JACKET.

The Continental Op is a short, squat, and utterly unsentimental tank of a private detective. Miss Gabrielle Dain Leggett is young, wealthy, and a devotee of morphine and religious cults. She has an unfortunate effect on the people around her: they have a habit of dying violently. Is Gabrielle the victim of a family curse? Or is the truth about her weirder and infinitely more dangerous? The Dain Curse is one of the Continental Op's most bizarre cases, and a tautly crafted masterpiece of suspense.

Short fictional works by the modern American writer explore the world of crime and violence, mysterious women, and hard-hitting private detectives.

A collection of stories about Hammett's famous detective.

An anthology of eighteen short stories includes a number of previously unpublished pieces as well as early screen treatments for "On the Make" and "The Kiss-Off."

Empruntant son titre au livre de Dashiell Hammett, pionnier du roman noir américain, Red Harvest de Marguerite Bornhauser est le prolongement du travail initié et présenté à la Maison Européenne de la Photographie. « Dans le roman de Dashiell Hammett, les détails chromatiques pourraient être perçus de manière anecdotique, comme des apartés atmosphériques destinés à sublimer la puissance immersive de la fiction. Mais dans Red Harvest, les corps brûlés par le soleil, les eaux trop lumineuses, les cieux embrasés et les ombres brisées produisent autre chose. Plutôt que de proposer une fausse réalité dans laquelle nous pourrions nous perdre, ces éléments nous extraient de la vie telle qu’elle est vécue, ou tout du moins comme nous la vivons habituellement en surface, pour nous entraîner profondément dans une vérité alternative hyper-présente et super-saturée. Les couleurs ne sont ici jamais purement ou simplement symboliques, elles ne signifient rien de spécifique ou de précisément défini. Au contraire, la couleur elle-même signifie, par sa présence et son apparence, sa variété et son intensité, son organisation et sa disposition, que nous sommes ici dans un monde original, et que nous le voyons différemment. » Simon Baker

Each novel is distinct in mood and structure. Red Harvest (1929) epitomizes the violence and momentum of his Black Mask stories about the anonymous detective the Continental Op, in a raucous and nightmarish evocation of political corruption and gang warfare in a western mining town. In The Dain Curse (1929) the Op returns in a more melodramatic tale involving jewel theft, drugs, and a religious cult. With The Maltese Falcon (1930) and its protagonist Sam Spade, Hammett achieved his most enduring popular success, a tightly constructed quest story shot through with a sense of disillusionment and the arbitrariness of personal destiny. The Glass Key (1931) is a further exploration of city politics at their most scurrilous. His last novel was The Thin Man (1934), a ruefully comic tale paying homage to the traditional mystery form and featuring Nick and Nora Charles, the sophisticated inebriates who would enjoy a long afterlife in the movies.

A compilation of works by one of the most popular writers of American, hard-boiled crime fiction features the tough, antihero detective, the Continental Op, who narrates four linked stories and the novel, "The Dain Curse."

Lost Stories rescues 21 long-unavailable Dashiell Hammett stories from the first fiction he wrote to the last, each with an explanation of how the author's life shaped his story and how the story fits in his life.

xiv, 733 pages ; 24 cm

A frightened and hurt woman appears at the door of an isolated house where she is taken in. Other strangers come looking for her with an aura of violence.

The Maltese Falcon is a gripping tale of greed, betrayal, and murder that redefined detective fiction. When hard-boiled private investigator Sam Spade takes on a case involving a missing partner and a mysterious femme fatale, he’s drawn into a deadly hunt for a priceless, jewel-encrusted falcon. As double-crosses mount and dangerous criminals close in, Spade must navigate a treacherous web of lies and deception. Packed with sharp dialogue, relentless suspense, and moral ambiguity, Dashiell Hammett’s noir masterpiece is a must-read for mystery lovers and crime fiction fans.

"In the title story, a man on a bender enters a small town and ends up unraveling the dark mystery at its heart. A woman confronts the brutal truth about her husband in the chilling story "Ruffian's Wife." "His Brother's Keeper" is a half-wit boxer's eulogy to the brother who betrayed him. "The Second-Story Angel" recounts one of the most novel cons ever devised. In seven stories, the tough and taciturn Continental Op takes on a motley collection of the deceitful, the duped, and the dead, and once again shows his uncanny ability to get at the truth. In three stories, Sam Spade confronts the darkness in the human soul while rolling his own cigarettes. And the first study for The Thin Man sends John Guild on a murder investigation in which almost every witness may be lying."--BOOK JACKET.