The
Continental
Op is a
short,
squat, and
utterly
unsentimental
tank of a
private
detective.
He is
assigned the
case of the
Leggett
diamond
robbery.
While
investigating,
he becomes
acquainted
with Miss
Gabrielle
Dain Leggett
-- 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.
$18.00
Dustjacket
Only
Glass Key,
The
Paul Madvig
was a
cheerfully
corrupt
ward-heeler
who aspired
to something
better: the
daughter of
Senator
Ralph
Bancroft
Henry, the
heiress to a
dynasty of
political
purebreds.
Did he want
her badly
enough to
commit
murder? And
if Madvig
was
innocent,
which of his
dozens of
enemies was
doing an
awfully good
job of
framing him?
D ashiell
Hammett's
tour de
force of
detective
fiction
combines an
airtight
plot,
authentically
venal
characters,
and writing
of
telegraphic
crispness.
$18.00
Dustjacket
Only
Maltese
Falcon, The
The story
introduces
detective
Sam Spade, a
man of few
words who
displays
little
emotion.
Hired by a
woman - Miss
Wonderly -
to locate
her sister,
Spade gives
the
assignment
to his
partner
Miles
Archer.
Archer tails
the missing
sister's
companion,
and within a
single
evening both
Archer and
the man have
been shot
dead. As
Spade
pursues the
mystery of
his
partner's
death, he is
drawn into a
circle of
colorful
characters:
Miss
Wonderly,
who lies
prettily and
pathologically
about
everything;
a fat,
well-dressed
man named
Gutman; a
jumpy man
named Cairo;
and an
extremely
stupid,
impulsive
gunman. All
of them are
in
competition
to find the
legendary,
jewel-encrusted
Maltese
Falcon,
hidden for
many
centuries.
As they get
closer and
closer to
the statue,
Spade gets
closer and
closer to
identifying
the person
who murdered
his partner.
$18.00
Dustjacket
Only
Red Harvest
The
Continental
Op, hero of
this
mystery, is
a cool,
experienced
employee of
the
Continental
Detective
Agency.
Client
Donald
Wilson has
been killed,
and the Op
must track
down his
murderer.
Personville,
better known
as
Poisonville,
is an
unattractive
company
town, owned
by Donald's
father,
Elihu, but
controlled
by several
competing
gangs.
Alienated by
the local
turf wars,
the Op
finagles
Elihu into
paying for a
second job,
"cleaning up
Poisonville."
Confused
yet? This is
only the
beginning of
an
incredibly
convoluted
plot.
Hammett's
exquisitely
defined
characters--the
shabby,
charming,
and
completely
mercenary
lady-of-the-evening;
the lazy,
humorous yet
cold and
avaricious
police
chief; and
especially
the tautly
written,
gradual
disintegration
of the Op's
detached
personality
-- make this
a compelling
read.
$18.00
Dustjacket
Only
Thin Man,
The
Nick and
Nora Charles
are
Hammett's
most
enchanting
creations, a
rich,
glamorous
couple who
solve
homicides in
between
wisecracks
and
martinis.
This tells
the story of
Nick
Charles,
ex-detective,
as true and
vivid a
character as
the famous
Sam Spade of
"The Maltese
Falcon."
It tells of
the three
murders
which
involved him
willy-nilly
with the
Wynant
family -- a
half-mad
father, a
lying
lecherous
mother, a
bewildered
daughter,
and a
neurotic son
-- and with
a half a
dozen of New
York's
toughest
citizens,
and with a
full gallery
of other
characters,
ranging from
Aunt Alice,
who couldn't
remember
names, to
Harrison
Quinn, who
drank to
forget that
his wife
disapproved
of drinking.
At once
knowing and
unabashedly
romantic,
The Thin Man
is a murder
mystery that
doubles as a
sophisticated
comedy of
manners.
