If you’re a fan of detective novels and you’ve never heard of Dashiell Hammett, it’s high time that you were introduced to one of the true masters for both mystery novels and post-WWII noir. Perhaps most famous his character Sam Spade, a San Francisco detective who appear in several classic mystery novels including The Maltese Falcon, Hammett had his own detective agency in San Francisco before he began writing mysteries.
In addition to Sam Spade, Hammett also created my favorite husband and wife detective team, Nick and Nora Charles. I recently read this edition of The Thin Man, the first detective novel featuring the booze-swilling socialite detective team who do nothing but order in food, mix drinks, go to parties and solve mysteries. A fun, fast read.
Also, a bit of trivia–the cover photograph is actually a picture of Hammett posing as his title character, The Thin Man.
marguerite darlington 