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The Continental Op #2.1
The Continental Op: Short Story Collection
'He is master of the detective novel, yes, but also one hell of a writer' Boston Globe
Dashiell Hammett is the true inventor of modern detective fiction and the creator of the private eye, the isolated hero in a world where treachery is the norm.
THE CONTINENTAL OP was his great first contribution to the genre and these seven stories, which first appeared in the magazine Black Mask, are the best examples of Hammett's early writing, in which his formidable literary and moral imagination is already operating at full strength. THE CONTINENAL OP is the dispassionate fat man working for the Continental Detective Agency, modelled on the Pinkerton Agency, whose only interest is in doing his job in a world of violence, passion, desperate action and great excitement.
230 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1930
76 people are currently reading
4462 people want to read
About the author
Dashiell Hammett
660 books2,897 followersAlso wrote as Peter Collinson, Daghull Hammett, Samuel Dashiell, Mary Jane Hammett
Dashiell Hammett, an American, wrote highly acclaimed detective fiction, including The Maltese Falcon (1930) and The Thin Man (1934).
Samuel Dashiell Hammett authored hardboiled novels and short stories. He created Sam Spade (The Maltese Falcon), Nick and Nora Charles (The Thin Man), and the Continental Op (Red Harvest and The Dain Curse) among the enduring characters. In addition to the significant influence his novels and stories had on film, Hammett "is now widely regarded as one of the finest mystery writers of all time" and was called, in his obituary in the New York Times, "the dean of the... 'hard-boiled' school of detective fiction."
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dashiell...
Dashiell Hammett, an American, wrote highly acclaimed detective fiction, including The Maltese Falcon (1930) and The Thin Man (1934).
Samuel Dashiell Hammett authored hardboiled novels and short stories. He created Sam Spade (The Maltese Falcon), Nick and Nora Charles (The Thin Man), and the Continental Op (Red Harvest and The Dain Curse) among the enduring characters. In addition to the significant influence his novels and stories had on film, Hammett "is now widely regarded as one of the finest mystery writers of all time" and was called, in his obituary in the New York Times, "the dean of the... 'hard-boiled' school of detective fiction."
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dashiell...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 271 reviews
August 17, 2020
Demasiados conejos saliendo de la chistera.
September 25, 2024
This paperback collection of Dashiell Hammett's Continental Op short stories.
As usual with sort stories it is hard to write many words without giving too much of the story away, but I will have a go!
I like the Continental Op - for those who don't know, he is the central character in each story, always the same guy, un-named. He isn't your classic detective character - self confessed, short and fat, but he makes up for it in analytic ability. The number of times I will need to write Continental Op, I will shorten to the uncomfortable "CO".
The Tenth Clew
The CO has a meeting set up with a prospective client at his residence. Leopold Gantvoort has indicated he has been threatened and shot at, and he doesn't show up for the meeting. As the CO is about to leave a phone call announces that Leopold has been found murdered. With the CO on hand he works with the police to figure out who the murderer is and why. 4/5
The Golden Horseshoe
Named after a bar in Tijuana central to this story in which the CO is hired to seek out the estranged husband of a woman who pays him a monthly stipend, and desperately wants him back. The CO traces him to Mexico and then his client is brutally murdered, but the man was with him the whole time. The twist at the end is a good one. 4/5
The House in Turk Street
The CO is knocking on doors in Turk St looking for a man, but the situation he bursts in on gives him another whole problem to unravel, but those involved believe he knows the whole situation. 4/5
The Girl with the Silver Eyes
The CO takes a job with an artist as his client, whose fiancé has disappeared, but after a few days his client has disappeared too, and the mans brother-in-law becomes the client. He wants the story kept quiet... There is a clever cross-over to an earlier short story here, but I can say no more. 4/5
The Whosis Kid
The CO spots a felon he had a previous connection with, and starts tailing him to see what he is doing in San Fransciso. This leads to him being wrapped up trying to untangle a web of crossing, double crossing and triple crossing between a group of heisters. Slower than the other stories. 3.5/5
The Main Death An art dealer is murdered and a sum of money stolen, and the CO is called in by the art dealer's business partner to solve the murder. The business partners wife, her maid and a couple of crims are all tied into a complex web. 3/5
The Farewell Murder A town called Farewell is the location of the story - the CO is called in to prevent the patriarch of a family from being murdered. The man knows who will murder him, and why, but can the CO stop it from happening? 3.5/5
Averages out to 4 stars
As usual with sort stories it is hard to write many words without giving too much of the story away, but I will have a go!
I like the Continental Op - for those who don't know, he is the central character in each story, always the same guy, un-named. He isn't your classic detective character - self confessed, short and fat, but he makes up for it in analytic ability. The number of times I will need to write Continental Op, I will shorten to the uncomfortable "CO".
The Tenth Clew
The CO has a meeting set up with a prospective client at his residence. Leopold Gantvoort has indicated he has been threatened and shot at, and he doesn't show up for the meeting. As the CO is about to leave a phone call announces that Leopold has been found murdered. With the CO on hand he works with the police to figure out who the murderer is and why. 4/5
The Golden Horseshoe
Named after a bar in Tijuana central to this story in which the CO is hired to seek out the estranged husband of a woman who pays him a monthly stipend, and desperately wants him back. The CO traces him to Mexico and then his client is brutally murdered, but the man was with him the whole time. The twist at the end is a good one. 4/5
The House in Turk Street
The CO is knocking on doors in Turk St looking for a man, but the situation he bursts in on gives him another whole problem to unravel, but those involved believe he knows the whole situation. 4/5
The Girl with the Silver Eyes
The CO takes a job with an artist as his client, whose fiancé has disappeared, but after a few days his client has disappeared too, and the mans brother-in-law becomes the client. He wants the story kept quiet... There is a clever cross-over to an earlier short story here, but I can say no more. 4/5
The Whosis Kid
The CO spots a felon he had a previous connection with, and starts tailing him to see what he is doing in San Fransciso. This leads to him being wrapped up trying to untangle a web of crossing, double crossing and triple crossing between a group of heisters. Slower than the other stories. 3.5/5
The Main Death An art dealer is murdered and a sum of money stolen, and the CO is called in by the art dealer's business partner to solve the murder. The business partners wife, her maid and a couple of crims are all tied into a complex web. 3/5
The Farewell Murder A town called Farewell is the location of the story - the CO is called in to prevent the patriarch of a family from being murdered. The man knows who will murder him, and why, but can the CO stop it from happening? 3.5/5
Averages out to 4 stars
April 4, 2012
The Continental Op is a collection of short stories starring Dashiell Hammett's detective character, The Continental Op. Here are just some of the tales contained within.
The Tenth Clew: Millionaire Leopold Gantvoort is found dead and signs point to the mysterious Emil Bonfils. But what of the more obvious suspect, Gantvoort's 23 year old wife to be?
Not a bad way to start the collection. I've never read a story where someone had their head bashed in with a typewriter before. The mystery was pretty good, though I had some idea what was going on about halfway through.
The Golden Horseshoe: The Op goes to Mexico to bring back a rich woman's husband and gets more than he bargained for...
This story nicely illustrates The Continental Op's place in Matthew Scudder's ancestry as the Op bends the law to get a man put away.
The Girl with the Silver Eyes: A poet hires the Continental Pop to find his missing lover. Too bad she isn't who she pretends to be...
This one was a lot more complex than it first seemed and the Op demonstrated his ability quite well, both in detection and in violence. My favorit part, however, was how the poet was exasperating the Op at the beginning of the case.
The Whosis Kid: The Op crosses paths with a two-gun stickup man while on the trial of stolen jewels.
The op thinks his way out of a nasty situation when he gets caught between some double-crossing criminals. I love that the Op isn't afraid to fight dirty and knows he's no knight in shining armor.
In conclusion, The Continental Op is a collection of detective stories that are still influential even today. For it's historical value, it should be a must read for pulp detective fans.
The Tenth Clew: Millionaire Leopold Gantvoort is found dead and signs point to the mysterious Emil Bonfils. But what of the more obvious suspect, Gantvoort's 23 year old wife to be?
Not a bad way to start the collection. I've never read a story where someone had their head bashed in with a typewriter before. The mystery was pretty good, though I had some idea what was going on about halfway through.
The Golden Horseshoe: The Op goes to Mexico to bring back a rich woman's husband and gets more than he bargained for...
This story nicely illustrates The Continental Op's place in Matthew Scudder's ancestry as the Op bends the law to get a man put away.
The Girl with the Silver Eyes: A poet hires the Continental Pop to find his missing lover. Too bad she isn't who she pretends to be...
This one was a lot more complex than it first seemed and the Op demonstrated his ability quite well, both in detection and in violence. My favorit part, however, was how the poet was exasperating the Op at the beginning of the case.
The Whosis Kid: The Op crosses paths with a two-gun stickup man while on the trial of stolen jewels.
The op thinks his way out of a nasty situation when he gets caught between some double-crossing criminals. I love that the Op isn't afraid to fight dirty and knows he's no knight in shining armor.
In conclusion, The Continental Op is a collection of detective stories that are still influential even today. For it's historical value, it should be a must read for pulp detective fans.
November 27, 2021
CRITIQUE:
Exercises in Style
Dashiell Hammett wrote 37 short stories (if you count the unfinished story, "Three Dimes") featuring the unnamed Continental Op(erative). All of them are featured in "The Big Book of the Continental Op", but only seven appear in the earlier volume that I read (and am reviewing here).
Fortunately, this incompleteness didn't reduce my enjoyment of this volume.
In the Introduction, Steven Marcus reminds us that Hammett wanted to combine the values of literary fiction with the appeal of hard-boiled crime fiction.
Often, when an aspiring novelist resorts to the short story format at the beginning of their career, they're consciously developing a writing style. Their experiments are "exercises in style".
While this might or might not have been the case with Dashiell Hammett, these seven stories show that Hammett had already developed a fully-fledged literary style that didn't detract or distract from the essence of crime fiction.
Exercises in Substance
If anything, Hammett's exercises in style seem to have been focussed on developing story-lines that appealed to readers. Thus, each story reveals Hammett trying his hand at telling a particular type of story.
I haven't tried to investigate whether any of these story lines were unique to Hammett (I would guess not, given the sheer bulk and diversity of crime fiction), but my gut reaction is that Hammett was successful in the seven exercises in style and substance in this collection. The stories all stand alone, and appear to be well constructed and complete. They don't seem to lack anything that might have tempted Hammett to cannibalise them and rewrite them into one of his later novels (as he did with the novels "Red Harvest" and "The Dain Curse").
Teasers and Trailers
Below is a short (hopefully spoiler-free) impressionistic teaser/summary of the story line of each of these stories:
The Tenth Clew
Two people who are said to be a brother and sister (but really aren't) try to blackmail a wealthy retired businessman (they're "working a fancy sort of badger-game" on him), but the "sister" develops a genuine affection for him and the scheme collapses. The list of nine clues (apart from the victim's name and address) is phony - they're "nine bum steers". The investigation has to proceed on the basis that all of the evidence has been faked.
The Golden Horseshoe
A man assumes the identity of another man (who is now deceased) and becomes responsible for a crime he has committed, when he destroys a letter that contained his alibi.
The House in Turk Street
A gang of thieves is caught when they mistakenly believe that the Continental Op is on their trail (when in fact he is investigating another crime altogether).
The Girl with the Silver Eyes
The Continental Op unravels a crime as it is happening, when he recognises a beautiful femme fatale from the previous story. "You’re beautiful as all hell!" he exclaims, under pressure, but he still makes sure she goes to prison.
The Whosis Kid
A femme fatale creates a sweet mess when she attempts a double crossing (or is it a quadruple crossing or a sextuple crossing?) of her criminal accomplices. She was just too greedy to share a cut.
The Main Death
A maid passes on information about her mistress' affair with her husband's employee to some crooks who rob him of a large sum of money belonging to the husband.
The Farewell Murder
A carefully constructed alibi exonerates the most likely suspect in the murder of the patriarch of a family, while most of the family seem to have a motive for killing him.
Stories About a Detective Attacking a Puzzle
This is how Hammett described his writing goal:
Source
The story-lines are Hammett's test of his short, fat op, all of which he passes admirably.
SOUNDTRACK:
Exercises in Style
Dashiell Hammett wrote 37 short stories (if you count the unfinished story, "Three Dimes") featuring the unnamed Continental Op(erative). All of them are featured in "The Big Book of the Continental Op", but only seven appear in the earlier volume that I read (and am reviewing here).
Fortunately, this incompleteness didn't reduce my enjoyment of this volume.
In the Introduction, Steven Marcus reminds us that Hammett wanted to combine the values of literary fiction with the appeal of hard-boiled crime fiction.
Often, when an aspiring novelist resorts to the short story format at the beginning of their career, they're consciously developing a writing style. Their experiments are "exercises in style".
While this might or might not have been the case with Dashiell Hammett, these seven stories show that Hammett had already developed a fully-fledged literary style that didn't detract or distract from the essence of crime fiction.
Exercises in Substance
If anything, Hammett's exercises in style seem to have been focussed on developing story-lines that appealed to readers. Thus, each story reveals Hammett trying his hand at telling a particular type of story.
I haven't tried to investigate whether any of these story lines were unique to Hammett (I would guess not, given the sheer bulk and diversity of crime fiction), but my gut reaction is that Hammett was successful in the seven exercises in style and substance in this collection. The stories all stand alone, and appear to be well constructed and complete. They don't seem to lack anything that might have tempted Hammett to cannibalise them and rewrite them into one of his later novels (as he did with the novels "Red Harvest" and "The Dain Curse").
Teasers and Trailers
Below is a short (hopefully spoiler-free) impressionistic teaser/summary of the story line of each of these stories:
The Tenth Clew
Two people who are said to be a brother and sister (but really aren't) try to blackmail a wealthy retired businessman (they're "working a fancy sort of badger-game" on him), but the "sister" develops a genuine affection for him and the scheme collapses. The list of nine clues (apart from the victim's name and address) is phony - they're "nine bum steers". The investigation has to proceed on the basis that all of the evidence has been faked.
The Golden Horseshoe
A man assumes the identity of another man (who is now deceased) and becomes responsible for a crime he has committed, when he destroys a letter that contained his alibi.
The House in Turk Street
A gang of thieves is caught when they mistakenly believe that the Continental Op is on their trail (when in fact he is investigating another crime altogether).
The Girl with the Silver Eyes
The Continental Op unravels a crime as it is happening, when he recognises a beautiful femme fatale from the previous story. "You’re beautiful as all hell!" he exclaims, under pressure, but he still makes sure she goes to prison.
The Whosis Kid
A femme fatale creates a sweet mess when she attempts a double crossing (or is it a quadruple crossing or a sextuple crossing?) of her criminal accomplices. She was just too greedy to share a cut.
The Main Death
A maid passes on information about her mistress' affair with her husband's employee to some crooks who rob him of a large sum of money belonging to the husband.
The Farewell Murder
A carefully constructed alibi exonerates the most likely suspect in the murder of the patriarch of a family, while most of the family seem to have a motive for killing him.
Stories About a Detective Attacking a Puzzle
This is how Hammett described his writing goal:
"What I try to do is write a story about a detective rather than a detective story. Keeping the reader fooled until the last, possible moment is a good trick and I usually try to play it, but I can't attach more than secondary importance to it. The puzzle isn't so interesting to me as the behavior of the detective attacking it."
Source
The story-lines are Hammett's test of his short, fat op, all of which he passes admirably.
SOUNDTRACK:
May 28, 2022
‘Continental Op’ is collection of Hammett’s early detective stories. The emphasis there is on ‘early’. They are not as developed as his later work, but they are still a good read. Hammett played a major part in the creation of the hard boiled private investigator and the beginnings are in evidence in the stories. Enjoyed!
April 18, 2012
For a 1920s collection from the early days of hardboiled PI stories this collection has several brilliant stories. Also a main character in the OP whose narrative is so interesting that he could carry many collections/books more on his own.
The OP is so different from other hardboiled PI's and not only in his looks. He is much more in control of his emotions,actions and only cares about doing his job. The stories are darker, more corrupt world than the latter more traditional detective stories that Marlowe and co is involved in.
Hammett is also after more than just writing entertaining detective stories, his world view at the time he wrote the stories is presented in the stories. A moral detective who cant be bought working in a corrupt society full of white collar crime,organized crime. The stories are more literary than usual detective stories because he tried to portray his world view through The OP and not only because his prose style is very literary strong. The stories in this collection like most of his other writing show clearly he was a detective who wrote what he knew about in his fiction. Other than his writing ability, that his stories feel more real than any other PI stories is what i rate highly.
The OP is really more like a cop or hardboiled FBI agent than what PI heroes became later. He likes working with cops unlike Spade,Marlowe. He is friends with them, he has a big detective agency at his disposal he can call for other operators to shadow people for him. He works in a mundane chase the evidence, look past lies kind of way. His character is very hardboiled PI pioneer but his methods is very different from other famous PI's. Maybe because Hammett Pinkerton, real world crime experience. His stories are not as often clever PI games.
The OP is so different from other hardboiled PI's and not only in his looks. He is much more in control of his emotions,actions and only cares about doing his job. The stories are darker, more corrupt world than the latter more traditional detective stories that Marlowe and co is involved in.
Hammett is also after more than just writing entertaining detective stories, his world view at the time he wrote the stories is presented in the stories. A moral detective who cant be bought working in a corrupt society full of white collar crime,organized crime. The stories are more literary than usual detective stories because he tried to portray his world view through The OP and not only because his prose style is very literary strong. The stories in this collection like most of his other writing show clearly he was a detective who wrote what he knew about in his fiction. Other than his writing ability, that his stories feel more real than any other PI stories is what i rate highly.
The OP is really more like a cop or hardboiled FBI agent than what PI heroes became later. He likes working with cops unlike Spade,Marlowe. He is friends with them, he has a big detective agency at his disposal he can call for other operators to shadow people for him. He works in a mundane chase the evidence, look past lies kind of way. His character is very hardboiled PI pioneer but his methods is very different from other famous PI's. Maybe because Hammett Pinkerton, real world crime experience. His stories are not as often clever PI games.
April 9, 2012
Say, listen. You don’t know me and I don’t know you, but we have an "acquaintance," shall we say, in common. It’s that bird over at the Continental Detective Agency. You know who I mean. Short, pudgy fall. Stubborn as a mule. You know him ‘cause some other bird name of Hammett wrote up some of his cases and published it under the moniker “The Continental Op.” I know ‘im ‘cause he’s the lout what put me here in Alcatraz.
Yeah, I read 'is book. Read in about a day and a half. (What else do I have to do for the next six years?) This Op sure leads a charmed life, if you can believe this lout Hammett. Outsmarts the smartest, toughest hombres in the San Fran Bay area. Solved the Gantvoort case when the police couldn’t make heads or tails of it. Faced up to the Whosis Kid and lived to tell the tale. Stumbled into the affair at Turk Street by accident, for cryin’ out loud!
But that isn’t why I hate him. No, not because of his lucky streak with guys like me or the fact that he got Hammett to write about ‘im or that the book is sellin’ like hotcakes. No, the reason I hate him is on account of the story of my arrest ain’t even in the book! What am I, chopped liver?
By the way, do you know that Op's name? He never gave it up and that idiot Hammett never mentions it! Not in the entire book! How'm I supposed to look this guy up in six years if I don't got his name?!?
Yeah, I read 'is book. Read in about a day and a half. (What else do I have to do for the next six years?) This Op sure leads a charmed life, if you can believe this lout Hammett. Outsmarts the smartest, toughest hombres in the San Fran Bay area. Solved the Gantvoort case when the police couldn’t make heads or tails of it. Faced up to the Whosis Kid and lived to tell the tale. Stumbled into the affair at Turk Street by accident, for cryin’ out loud!
But that isn’t why I hate him. No, not because of his lucky streak with guys like me or the fact that he got Hammett to write about ‘im or that the book is sellin’ like hotcakes. No, the reason I hate him is on account of the story of my arrest ain’t even in the book! What am I, chopped liver?
By the way, do you know that Op's name? He never gave it up and that idiot Hammett never mentions it! Not in the entire book! How'm I supposed to look this guy up in six years if I don't got his name?!?
April 19, 2012
Extended review to follow. I've got some catching up to do. I'll just start by saying "Thanks" to goodreads group "Pulp Fiction" for selecting this one as April's read. Hammett is a favorite of mine. However, I had not read the Continental Op short fiction. These are gems.
At first impression, these stories may seem to come across as a little on the old fashioned side. The lingo is clearly from an earlier time. But the contemporary reader of hard-boiled fiction wouldn't have so much on the shelf if it hadn't been for Hammett who single handedly created the genre.
The man with no name, but operates with a strict code of honor and ethics, is a force to be reckoned with. For this reader, the Op is Spade's equal. The tragedy of Hammett is his writing career ended in an act of self immolation, espousing the wrong politics. Hammett had a lot left in him by the time he was blackballed during the McCarthy Era. It's a good thing he had the good fortune to have the love and support of a good woman, Lillian Hellman. And, never for a minute think there's not some Hammett that shines through the plays of Lillian Hellman. Imagine--friend, lover and editor all rolled into one. That's quite a combination.
At first impression, these stories may seem to come across as a little on the old fashioned side. The lingo is clearly from an earlier time. But the contemporary reader of hard-boiled fiction wouldn't have so much on the shelf if it hadn't been for Hammett who single handedly created the genre.
The man with no name, but operates with a strict code of honor and ethics, is a force to be reckoned with. For this reader, the Op is Spade's equal. The tragedy of Hammett is his writing career ended in an act of self immolation, espousing the wrong politics. Hammett had a lot left in him by the time he was blackballed during the McCarthy Era. It's a good thing he had the good fortune to have the love and support of a good woman, Lillian Hellman. And, never for a minute think there's not some Hammett that shines through the plays of Lillian Hellman. Imagine--friend, lover and editor all rolled into one. That's quite a combination.
June 27, 2007
Hammett’s Continental Op could easily be called the Anti-Sam Spade. Anonymous, overweight, and absolutely loyal to his employer, the Op is one of the finest first-person narrators in all of hardboiled literature, and this collection of short stories bristles with ‘30s slang, droll humor, and plenty of Bay-Area verisimilitude.
April 9, 2012
I’ve been on a crime novel kick recently and the latest is one of the Dashiell Hammett books I haven’t read The Continental Op. It is a collection of stories-some interlocking about the detective agency unnamed continental operative. There’s a very good introduction written by Steve Marcus who makes some good observations about Hammett. For example, he summarizes Hammett’s philosophy that “..how despite everything we have learned and everything we know, men will persist in behaving and trying to behave sanely, rationally, sensibly and responsibly.” He also points out that Hammett runs on a principal that is direct opposite of that postulated by Erik Erikson as the fundamental and enabling condition for human existence is that society and social relations are dominated by the principle of basic mistrust. He continues stating that Hammett’s depiction of modern society shows that violence is the decisive means along with fraud, deceit, treachery, betrayal, and general endemic unscrupulousness. This is clearly evident in works like the engaging Red Harvest. I must say that aside from his dark world view I enjoyed his prose style especially the dialogue. All in all, a very entertaining collection of stories.
May 13, 2008
Hammett's Continental Op picked up where he left off (or began) in the “Red Harvest”. Here he created the prototype ‘gumshoe’ for future detective novels with this of the tough, emotionally hardened, surly character. This compilation brings the Continental Operative to various cities and different missions. There are about six or seven stories ranging between 40 – 60 pages. Each piece of pulp fiction presents a charming dialogue and a razor sharp - machine gun driven plot. Someone said brevity is the heart of wit and with poetic fragments like "I stepped into a triangular slice of the night” and “ the girl with eyes the color of polished silver” sandwiched in between bloody corpses, gun shells and jealous lovers- Hammett bared the bones of wit. These stories each generate the final “twist or snap” we as readers come to expect from ‘shorts’.
April 23, 2017
This gets the full five stars. Prototype hard boiled detective stuff that holds up well eighty some years after being written. It's a collection of short stories that would work as a tv series in the present. The continental oop was Hammett's precursor for Sam Spade. Most of the CO stories are available in three anthologies so I'll be obtaining the other two. I'll probably explore some Raymond Chandler also.
March 9, 2019
Situazioni Hard Boiled
Hammett ha la capacità di essere sintetico e diretto, di saper condire le sue storie di detective con degni comprimari e renderle vivaci, mai pesanti, e nei 7 racconti qui raccolti ci riesce con la leggerezza del Gigante qual era.
Hammett ha la capacità di essere sintetico e diretto, di saper condire le sue storie di detective con degni comprimari e renderle vivaci, mai pesanti, e nei 7 racconti qui raccolti ci riesce con la leggerezza del Gigante qual era.
May 2, 2022
This was an enjoyable collection of short stories featuring Hammett's never-named detective, or operative, who works for the Continental Detective Agency. Hammett himself was a Pinkerton Agent, and I have always assumed that he based the way the Continental folks work on how the Pinkertons worked, which is a lot of fun. Cuz the Pinkertons kind of fascinate me.
Anyway, I didn't particularly love any of the seven stories in this, but I had a great time reading them. My favorites were "The Golden Horseshoe," "The House on Turk Street," "The Whosis Kid," and "The Farewell Murder."
I found it interesting that the Op tended to follow hunches and let events play out around him, not taking an active role until toward the end of the story most of the time. It was almost like he was as much an observer as the readers, which is a unique way to handle a detective story, especially a hardboiled one.
I also liked that you get to see the Op working with other Continental operatives as part of an organization. It's really different from the usual lone private investigator so many hardboiled mysteries feature.
Anyway, I didn't particularly love any of the seven stories in this, but I had a great time reading them. My favorites were "The Golden Horseshoe," "The House on Turk Street," "The Whosis Kid," and "The Farewell Murder."
I found it interesting that the Op tended to follow hunches and let events play out around him, not taking an active role until toward the end of the story most of the time. It was almost like he was as much an observer as the readers, which is a unique way to handle a detective story, especially a hardboiled one.
I also liked that you get to see the Op working with other Continental operatives as part of an organization. It's really different from the usual lone private investigator so many hardboiled mysteries feature.
August 13, 2025
Nagyon elfogult vagyok, mert egyrészt Hammett az egyik kedvenc szerzőm, másrészt ebben a kötetben jelent meg először fordításom. Érdekes volt most viszonylag sok év után újraolvasni a történeteket, kicsit már kritikusabb szemmel. A saját szövegeimben és Varga Bálint fordításaiban is javítanék mai fejjel ezt-azt, kisebb-nagyobb hibákat. A történetek közül is volt, amibe bele tudnék kötni (A tizedik nyom című novellában miért nem reflektálnak arra a végén, hogy a bűnös egy rakás hamis bizonyítékot gyártott?), de összességében nagyon rendben vannak a novellák, sokszor kifejezetten viccesek is, bár a lezárása némelyiknek kissé suta. Kedvenceim A ház a Turk Streeten és A szürke szemű lány, de például Az Aranypatkónak is nagyon emlékezetes pillanatai vannak.
A kötet végén helyet kapott egy esszé, amelyből először a szerző életrajzát ismerhetjük meg (igen érdekfeszítő), majd belemegy Hammett írói világának és karaktereinek elemzésébe. Itt már nekem sokszor túlzásnak és erőltetettnek érződik az irodalomtudományi szakkifejezésekkel és filozófusok nevével való dobálózás, de azért összességében nagy erénye a könyvnek, hogy ez az utószó is belekerült még, mindenképp érdemes elolvasni ezt is.
A kötet végén helyet kapott egy esszé, amelyből először a szerző életrajzát ismerhetjük meg (igen érdekfeszítő), majd belemegy Hammett írói világának és karaktereinek elemzésébe. Itt már nekem sokszor túlzásnak és erőltetettnek érződik az irodalomtudományi szakkifejezésekkel és filozófusok nevével való dobálózás, de azért összességében nagy erénye a könyvnek, hogy ez az utószó is belekerült még, mindenképp érdemes elolvasni ezt is.
May 6, 2012
Hammett’s The Continental Op is series of short stories with the detective with no name, a sort of blueprint for the tough minded, gritty, street-smart detective we would see in future books and films. In many ways, the Op is the antithesis to the likes of a Marlowe or Spade; he is short, doesn’t have the charm or handsome appearance that these detectives have, yet the Op seems more authentic to his job. He has a grittiness and toughness that keeps him indifferent to anything he experiences. He often sees the worst actions in people and barely blinks. Even though he isn’t afraid to get help from other operatives, to him solving a case is an art form, a quest. His wry humor is grounded and subtle; he doesn’t have to solve a crime with style as long as he gets the job done, and sometimes this involves breaking the rules, or doing things to gain an advantage over the bad guys. Therefore, he has no qualms about bringing help in to get him through.
The Op has a habit of stumbling right into the middle of a serious jam, using his instincts to lead him out of trouble and to get his man or woman. Frequently he is called to solve a case, only to find this case take on a life of its own (for example, “The House on Turk Street”), being more complex and complicated than anticipated. False names and cover ups are commonplace in these stories, as well as dangerous dames trying to distract or bring down our protagonist. And, of course, there are plenty of seedy characters, criminals, degenerates, backstabbers, and other thuggish types.
Anyone who is a fan of the classic, hard-boiled noir will enjoy this collection of short stories. All of the stories are entertaining, but one of my favorites was “The House on Turk Street”, which has the Op kidnapped by a trio of thieves, one of which is a dangerous woman who the Op reads instantly as being the most lethal of the group. I also enjoyed “The Whosis Kid”, where the Op has to deal with a notorious criminal.
It’s too bad that these stories are so hard to find in print.
Great collection!
The Op has a habit of stumbling right into the middle of a serious jam, using his instincts to lead him out of trouble and to get his man or woman. Frequently he is called to solve a case, only to find this case take on a life of its own (for example, “The House on Turk Street”), being more complex and complicated than anticipated. False names and cover ups are commonplace in these stories, as well as dangerous dames trying to distract or bring down our protagonist. And, of course, there are plenty of seedy characters, criminals, degenerates, backstabbers, and other thuggish types.
Anyone who is a fan of the classic, hard-boiled noir will enjoy this collection of short stories. All of the stories are entertaining, but one of my favorites was “The House on Turk Street”, which has the Op kidnapped by a trio of thieves, one of which is a dangerous woman who the Op reads instantly as being the most lethal of the group. I also enjoyed “The Whosis Kid”, where the Op has to deal with a notorious criminal.
It’s too bad that these stories are so hard to find in print.
Great collection!
May 18, 2018
This is one of five collections of stories featuring the 'CO' agent who first appeared in the pulp magazine 'Black Mask' in the 1920s. This volume has seven stories - all of them rather razor-sharp, packed with pulpy punch.
What's most interesting about Hammett's P.I. is that (along with his entertaining cynicism) he has a kind of playful habit of intentionally throwing criminals off when he's entwined with them. As he says, he "stirs things up" - not because he knows where he's going with the deceit but because he's more likely to get the results he wants if he's keeping his 'company' on their toes.
This is a volume of solid storytelling and a quick read. I was particularly amused when, at the end of a few of the stories, one of the main culprits - while confessing - would give us a rather thorough wrap-up rundown of not only motivation but step-by-step playbacks of everything we didn't get to see while each case was heating up.
What's most interesting about Hammett's P.I. is that (along with his entertaining cynicism) he has a kind of playful habit of intentionally throwing criminals off when he's entwined with them. As he says, he "stirs things up" - not because he knows where he's going with the deceit but because he's more likely to get the results he wants if he's keeping his 'company' on their toes.
This is a volume of solid storytelling and a quick read. I was particularly amused when, at the end of a few of the stories, one of the main culprits - while confessing - would give us a rather thorough wrap-up rundown of not only motivation but step-by-step playbacks of everything we didn't get to see while each case was heating up.
September 27, 2010
As you can see I read this years and years ago (when the vintage series came out with these nice reprints of Hammett's works).
I don't consider this his best work, but like all of his books it is well-crafted and very enjoyable. The "Continental" Op (operative) is based on experiences that Hammett himself experienced as a Pinkerton detective or heard from other Pinkerton agents.
The Op is nothing like Sam Spade or Nick Charles, but if you like mystery and hard-boiled, American detective fiction, you should pick this up and treat yourself.
I don't consider this his best work, but like all of his books it is well-crafted and very enjoyable. The "Continental" Op (operative) is based on experiences that Hammett himself experienced as a Pinkerton detective or heard from other Pinkerton agents.
The Op is nothing like Sam Spade or Nick Charles, but if you like mystery and hard-boiled, American detective fiction, you should pick this up and treat yourself.
November 10, 2022
Per gli amanti del genere poliziesco; quello d'un tempo, attento ai dettagli, dai tempi lunghi ma non noiosi o banali. Il lettore si tuffa negli anni '20 del secolo scorso e assapora un mondo che non c'è più, fatto di telegrammi, attese di altri telegrammi, telefonate dalle cabine telefoniche agli angoli delle strade, donne affascinanti dai misteriosi passati, uomini altrettanto affascinanti e misteriosi. Per coloro che amano le buone letture d'un tempo, abbandonando la frenesia delle scritture contemporanee.
July 13, 2016
One of the best ways to begin exploring classic 1930s pulp detective fiction. Newbies, start here.
October 7, 2018
The Word for this book (or the short stories I read from a different book that isn't on Good reads and thus had to use this one) is: Economical.
My detective kick continues with the first PI detective fiction ever written. There's no qualifier there, it legit was the first in 1923 in the Black Mask magazine. The Narrator is unnamed and it's a good mechanic. It could be any agent from the Continental Agency and this anonymity isn't annoying. It's not over stated, everyone knows who the Narrator is and we really don't have a lot of questions about his identity.
The reason I use the word Economical is that the usual fluff of a PI detective novel, the instant sharp descriptions of characters when introduced, the sensations of the fight broken down into the minutia and the specifics of how a PI works are used very seldomly but precisely.
I love this story because its a huge middle finger to the british mental and not physical crime novel. Agatha Christie would be aghast at the simplicity of the plot, and how inflected the story is by the voice of the OP. It wasn't the first one published, but what it does is set the stage for all things to come. This is the American PI story, a new invention and different on a fundamental level.
That being said the things I like the most about these stories are their descriptions and the things I mentioned earlier. So in that way the earlier stuff was a bit of a let down. Also, as I've been mentioning this in all my other previous PI reviews, Dashiell Hammett is very not racist, sexist, excetera. I mean people are described in terms of their race (i.e. dark filipino eyes) which is unsettling, but it's just a descriptor usually and in no way judges their character like Chandler or Macdonald.
Also I can see how this author improves over time, I'm currently working on "The Maltese Falcon" and can safely say it's got the descriptors I love in abounds.
My detective kick continues with the first PI detective fiction ever written. There's no qualifier there, it legit was the first in 1923 in the Black Mask magazine. The Narrator is unnamed and it's a good mechanic. It could be any agent from the Continental Agency and this anonymity isn't annoying. It's not over stated, everyone knows who the Narrator is and we really don't have a lot of questions about his identity.
The reason I use the word Economical is that the usual fluff of a PI detective novel, the instant sharp descriptions of characters when introduced, the sensations of the fight broken down into the minutia and the specifics of how a PI works are used very seldomly but precisely.
I love this story because its a huge middle finger to the british mental and not physical crime novel. Agatha Christie would be aghast at the simplicity of the plot, and how inflected the story is by the voice of the OP. It wasn't the first one published, but what it does is set the stage for all things to come. This is the American PI story, a new invention and different on a fundamental level.
That being said the things I like the most about these stories are their descriptions and the things I mentioned earlier. So in that way the earlier stuff was a bit of a let down. Also, as I've been mentioning this in all my other previous PI reviews, Dashiell Hammett is very not racist, sexist, excetera. I mean people are described in terms of their race (i.e. dark filipino eyes) which is unsettling, but it's just a descriptor usually and in no way judges their character like Chandler or Macdonald.
Also I can see how this author improves over time, I'm currently working on "The Maltese Falcon" and can safely say it's got the descriptors I love in abounds.
August 24, 2024
Seven Continental Op short stories from Hammett.
I never get tired of noir private detectives.
Their rough and tumble ways, the crooks, the dames, the joints they hang out in.
And Hammett’s great descriptions of all the above:
I looked up.
Across the table a man stood glaring at me—legs apart, fists on hips. A tall, raw-boned man with wide shoulders, out of which a long, skinny, yellow neck rose to support a little round head. His eyes were black shoe-buttons stuck close together at the top of a little mashed nose.
All day I had been building up hunger. I took it into the grillroom and turned it loose. Between bites I turned the day’s events over in my mind. I didn’t think hard enough to spoil my appetite. There wasn’t that much to think about.
…He didn’t wait for an invitation. He was through the doorway before I had the door half opened. He glared at me. There was plenty of him.
A big red-faced, red-haired bale of a man—big in any direction you measured him—and none of him was fat. The skin was off his nose, one cheek was clawed, the other swollen. His hatless head was a tangled mass of red hair.
One pocket had been ripped out of his coat, and a button dangled on the end of a six-inch ribbon of torn cloth.
…We went around and around.
It was fists at first. He started it by throwing his right at my head. I went in under it and gave him all I had in a right and left to the belly. He swallowed his chew of tobacco. But he didn’t bend. Few big men are as strong as they look. Billie was.
The Op is the kind of guy you want on your side if you ever get into a jam.
I never get tired of noir private detectives.
Their rough and tumble ways, the crooks, the dames, the joints they hang out in.
And Hammett’s great descriptions of all the above:
I looked up.
Across the table a man stood glaring at me—legs apart, fists on hips. A tall, raw-boned man with wide shoulders, out of which a long, skinny, yellow neck rose to support a little round head. His eyes were black shoe-buttons stuck close together at the top of a little mashed nose.
All day I had been building up hunger. I took it into the grillroom and turned it loose. Between bites I turned the day’s events over in my mind. I didn’t think hard enough to spoil my appetite. There wasn’t that much to think about.
…He didn’t wait for an invitation. He was through the doorway before I had the door half opened. He glared at me. There was plenty of him.
A big red-faced, red-haired bale of a man—big in any direction you measured him—and none of him was fat. The skin was off his nose, one cheek was clawed, the other swollen. His hatless head was a tangled mass of red hair.
One pocket had been ripped out of his coat, and a button dangled on the end of a six-inch ribbon of torn cloth.
…We went around and around.
It was fists at first. He started it by throwing his right at my head. I went in under it and gave him all I had in a right and left to the belly. He swallowed his chew of tobacco. But he didn’t bend. Few big men are as strong as they look. Billie was.
The Op is the kind of guy you want on your side if you ever get into a jam.
April 10, 2017
When we think about hardboiled detectives, we often think of Sam Spade and The Maltese Falcon. Nothing, however, ever beats the original, and the original was The Continental Op. Most of the great crime films I have seen over the course of my lifetime were either tangentially or directly influenced by this figure: Yojimbo was the Op; The Man with No Name was the Op; even Tom Reagan was the Op. All three great characters were derived from Dashiell Hammett's detective. After all, the Op was the protagonist of the gritty and bloody Red Harvest, and he possesses an ethics that is utilitarian in nature, but ultimately good. He doesn't hesitate in manipulating evil people in order that they would murder each other, and that manifests in his final story in this collection, $106,000 Blood Money.
As regards to other stories, Dead Yellow Women was also good, albeit a bit too confusing for my tastes. Corkscrew is a throwback to the wild west, with the Op dealing his cards the best way possible whatever they were. It's a great collection, but since it's not as good as Red Harvest, my rating is as such.
As regards to other stories, Dead Yellow Women was also good, albeit a bit too confusing for my tastes. Corkscrew is a throwback to the wild west, with the Op dealing his cards the best way possible whatever they were. It's a great collection, but since it's not as good as Red Harvest, my rating is as such.
March 8, 2026
A solid collection of short stories which I found fairly enjoyable. Between them they'll hit all the PI tropes, probably because this is where they're being created. This may be a turn off for the reader if not to taste. Our detective will always catch his quarry, overcoming every scheme, mislead, and betrayal the villains can throw this way.
Descriptions are minimalist but still manage to feel decently immersive, doing enough to put you in the action without bogging down. There are also some great little flourishes, (a personal favourite is "These folks weren't made to be lied to"). It helps that the language and spelling is idiomatic enough to give it that authentic feel.
An awful lot of things are handwaved away in the name of narrative convenience (quite how the detective knows someone in every hotel in the city will not be explained, nor the vast network of fellow detectives in other cities to chase down leads and check alibis). However these things can be excused to shuffle the story along.
Person favourites are:
- The Tenth Clew, in which our detective is presented with a truly boggling case, only to cut the proverbial Gordian Knot.
- The House on Turk Street, in which a simple misunderstanding turns into a terrible day for everyone involved.
- The Main Death, in which I, a now jaded detective story reader, came to some very immediate conclusions, and was pleasantly surprised to be wrong.
In my opinion the weakest entry is The Whosis Kid, which feels like a more convoluted and incoherent rehash of The House On Turk Street.
Overall a reasonable, if not standout read.
Descriptions are minimalist but still manage to feel decently immersive, doing enough to put you in the action without bogging down. There are also some great little flourishes, (a personal favourite is "These folks weren't made to be lied to"). It helps that the language and spelling is idiomatic enough to give it that authentic feel.
An awful lot of things are handwaved away in the name of narrative convenience (quite how the detective knows someone in every hotel in the city will not be explained, nor the vast network of fellow detectives in other cities to chase down leads and check alibis). However these things can be excused to shuffle the story along.
Person favourites are:
- The Tenth Clew, in which our detective is presented with a truly boggling case, only to cut the proverbial Gordian Knot.
- The House on Turk Street, in which a simple misunderstanding turns into a terrible day for everyone involved.
- The Main Death, in which I, a now jaded detective story reader, came to some very immediate conclusions, and was pleasantly surprised to be wrong.
In my opinion the weakest entry is The Whosis Kid, which feels like a more convoluted and incoherent rehash of The House On Turk Street.
Overall a reasonable, if not standout read.
March 19, 2019
An enjoyable read as always. Years since I have read it, either wholly or in part. I did not remember all of the stories in detail. Snippets from this one or that one.
But the last story surprised me. I have watched The Thin Man movies many times so I was surprised to see the many of the words and some of the story line from Another Thin Man (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031047/...) popping out at me. Although I do notice that Hammett gets a movie credit in that the screenplay arose from an original story by him. This is the story. It is a good story and not the same as the movie. It just hit me like a bolt of the blue - this sounds so familiar.
I love that he used one character in two stories - "The House in Turk Street" and "The Girl with the Silver Eyes". And "The Tenth Clew" is a precursor to, I think, The Dain Curse, the one that the Coen Brothers turned into Miller's Crossing (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100150/...).
But the last story surprised me. I have watched The Thin Man movies many times so I was surprised to see the many of the words and some of the story line from Another Thin Man (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031047/...) popping out at me. Although I do notice that Hammett gets a movie credit in that the screenplay arose from an original story by him. This is the story. It is a good story and not the same as the movie. It just hit me like a bolt of the blue - this sounds so familiar.
I love that he used one character in two stories - "The House in Turk Street" and "The Girl with the Silver Eyes". And "The Tenth Clew" is a precursor to, I think, The Dain Curse, the one that the Coen Brothers turned into Miller's Crossing (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100150/...).
January 6, 2020
Out of the "holy trinity" of influential hardboiled fiction writers, Hammett leaves me torn. His prose is precise and evocative. His authority on the pulpy cases is without dispute (Hammett was a Pinkerton agent). But, usually, I tend lose any care about the plot as the stories plod along (which is something I never worried about with another member of the trinity, Raymond Chandler—as convoluted as the plotting was, I enjoyed everything else so much that it didn't matter).
This short fiction collection is a sampling of Hammett's character the Continental Op. The Op was an incredibly influential character for hardboiled writers—he was physically unremarkable man who never shared his name. He was capable and doggedly loyal to whoever hired his services. He had a code of honor but was, possibly, not a "good" man by most metrics. I just wish I enjoyed the stories more. I think the collection is front-loaded with the better stories, but bogs down a bit as it gets closer to the end.
This short fiction collection is a sampling of Hammett's character the Continental Op. The Op was an incredibly influential character for hardboiled writers—he was physically unremarkable man who never shared his name. He was capable and doggedly loyal to whoever hired his services. He had a code of honor but was, possibly, not a "good" man by most metrics. I just wish I enjoyed the stories more. I think the collection is front-loaded with the better stories, but bogs down a bit as it gets closer to the end.
July 23, 2019
A great collection of Hammett's short stories from 1923-1930, each with a clever twist. The Continental Op is different from what one expects from hard-boiled detective - he is fat, balding, and makes lots of mistakes. Also, as an employee of an agency, he is less of a loner than Spade or Marlowe - his relations with the police are downright cordial. But the world he lives in is pure Hammett - everyone is flawed, fallen, out for themselves. Even the kindly little old lady who invites the Op in for tea turns out to be packing.
March 28, 2025
Noir is one of my favorite genres in film. My guilty pleasure, as it were. It was only natural for me to dive into all the literature that these films built out of, and Dashiell Hammett is the perennial hardboiled detective author. His ability to convey the gritty and unglamorous work detecting requires as well as the sort of constant subterfuge from both the client and the suspects throwing wrenches in your hunches. This is a fun collection of short stories, each with a nameless detective whose perspective we share as he unravels these mysterious of disappeared loot, murder, extortion. Using deceitful tactics that are part of the same underworld he investigates to capture his suspects and relying on his sharp, been through it all, detective’s intuition to navigate shadowy motives and dangerous encounters, this is the origin of the hardboiled crime genre.
April 10, 2023
A most enjoyable read with some great short stories and novelettes. The only reason I gave it four stars is that I prefer these tales as full novels. I loved The Maltese Falcon and I am keen to read Hammett’s other novels.
August 3, 2017
Klasszikus krimi novellák Sam Spade megalkotójától. Tetszettek.
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