Includes bibliographical references.

"In a few years of extraordinary creative energy, Dashiell Hammett invented the modern American crime novel." "The five novels that Hammett published between 1929 and 1934, collected here in one volume, have become part of modern American culture, creating archetypal characters and establishing the ground rules for a whole tradition of hardboiled writing." "Each novel is distinct in mood and structure. Red Harvest (1929), a raucous and nightmarish evocation of political corruption and gang warfare in a western mining town, epitomizes the violence and momentum of Hammett's Black Mask stories about the anonymous detective the Continental Op. The Op returns, in The Dain Curse (1929), to preside over a more ornately melodramatic tale involving jewel theft, drugs, and a mysterious religious cult. With The Maltese Falcon (1930), and its protagonist Sam Spade, Hammett achieved his most enduring popular success. A tightly constructed quest story with an unforgettable cast of eccentric adventures, it is at the same time shot through with a sense of disillusionment and the arbitrariness of personal destiny." "The Glass Key (1931), an exploration of city politics at their most scurrilous, traces intricate patterns of loyalty and betrayal in scenes charged with drama." "His last novel, The Thin Man (1934), is a ruefully comic tale that pays homage to the traditional mystery form. It is best remembered for its protagonists Nick and Nora Charles, the sophisticated inebriates who would enjoy a long afterlife in the movies."--Jacket.

Also issued online.