The Assistant Murderer

by Dashiell Hammett

Book Excerpt : ...d its offices. As the morning aged and the shadows grew shorter and thicker, so, generally, did the individuals who composed this morning procession. Eight o'clock was frequently young and slender and brisk, Eight-thirty less so, Nine still less, and rear-guard Ten o'clock was preponderantly neither young nor slender, and more often sluggish than brisk.Into this rear guard, though physically he belonged to no later period than eight-thirty, a blue roadster carried Hubert Landow. His broad shoulders were blue-coated, his blond hair gray-capped, and he was alone in the roadster. With a glance around to make sure Millar's dark young man was not in sight, Alec Rush turned his coupe in the blue car's wake.They rode swiftly into the city, down into its financial centre, where Hubert Landow deserted his roadster before a Redwood Street stockbroker's office. The morning had become noon before Landow was in the street again, turning his roadster northward.When shadowed and shadower came to rest...

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Short Stories, Mystery Thriller, Detective, Crime, Audiobook

50 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 1926

About the author

Also 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...

Reviews

[Biancabbdoll · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply BRILLIANT!!! Read it aloud with my teens and it kept us guessing what would happen at the end as well as literally laughing out loud at the "ugly" descriptions. Hahaha Thorougly enjoyed this gem.

[Shane Anderson]

I like the turn of phrase, but I think I need to read Hammett on the page, rather than Audio. Nothing against the reader, who did a great job, some writing styles just dont click for me if I'm not reading it on the page.

[Joseph Hageman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written, thought provoking, brief

[William]

Entertaining listening 🎧
Another will written murder mystery adventure thriller by Dashiell Hammett about a murder of a rich man. The heir is a woman who marries a con man. The detective investiagates and solves the crime to the conclusion. I would recommend this novella to readers of murder mysteries. Enjoy the adventure of reading all kinds of novels and books. 2022

[Shawn Deal · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great little mystery by one of the great mystery writers of all time.

[Jason McCracken · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick and decent read. Women in the 20's sure were more vicious in Hammett's world than most other authors of that time.

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice little short story with quite a few twists in it to keep you interested. This one doesn’t have Spade as the lead, but a very ugly looking bloke instead. Recommended.

[Kb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Twisty as a two-flavored soft-serve cone with a red licorice chaser. Or maybe a better metaphor would be one of those dragon-themed roller coasters, since reading it was such a fun ride. Recommended

[Joseph Lal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though plot-centric, TAM took a while to set-up considering its small size. However, the ending more than made up for the slightly lopsided experience; it was clever and tied up the story's various flailing ends in a satisfying way as would be expected by a novel in this genre. At very least this book makes 'par for the course' for the private-detective/thiswouldhavemadeagoodfilmnoir genre. TAM held my attention constantly and was an enjoyable light read.

[Lucy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Private detective Alec Rush is not the typical PI in that he is not handsome, in fact he's quite ugly, and women aren't falling all over him. Definitely not in the James Bond mold. He does, however, get the job done. This is no Maltese Falcon but Alec is a grubby gumshoe in the mold of that classic.

[Nev Thomas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Short but good crime noir

[Velma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love a good classic hard-boiled detective story, and Hammett is a master at serving up all the best cliches.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too many twists and turns.

[Joe Rodeck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alec Rush is a burly, kicked off the force, ugly as hell, hard boiled private eye in a--nobody is who they appear to be--short novelette. Fun dark humor throughout.

[Cat]

never ceases to surprise me, this ending

[Vanillabean · Rating 3 out of 5]

this is a short. nothing special but worth trying more by the author.