The Lost Detective (27 page)

Hammett looking gaunt yet determined in a Morris chair at the Crawford Apartments, early 1920s (Julie M. Rivett)

Red Harvest
featured a fictional rendering of Butte, Montana, “an ugly city ... set in an ugly notch between two ugly mountains that had been all dirtied up by mining.” (Random House)

Jose, Mary, and Jo sent Hammett this haunting snapshot from Montana during their months-long separation around 1926. (Julie M. Rivett)

The cover for the Continental Op adventure that became
Red Harvest
: “The Cleansing of Poisonville,” in the September 1927 issue of
Black Mask
(Layman Hammett Collection, Irvin Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, University of South Carolina Libraries, Columbia, S.C.)

H. C. Murphy’s cool-under-fire cover image for the September 1929 issue of
Black Mask
was the definitive picture of Sam Spade until John Huston’s 1941 movie. (Layman Hammett Collection, Irvin Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, University of South Carolina Libraries, Columbia, S.C.)

When the novel was first published in February 1930, Gilbert Seldes wrote in the
New York Graphic
, “The detectives of fiction have been knocked into a cocked hat ... by the appearance of Sam Spade in a book called
The Maltese Falcon
.” (Random House)

The maestro at his keyboard: Hammett is pictured in his writing prime for a newspaper profile, 1934. (Harry Ransom Collection)

Nathan Ward is the author of
Dark Harbor: The War for the New York Waterfront
. He was an editor at
American Heritage
, and he has written for the
New York Times
, the
Wall Street Journal
, and other publications. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Dark Harbor: The War for the New York Waterfront

The Total Sports Illustrated Book of Boxing

(coeditor, with W. C. Heinz)

Bloomsbury USA

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First published 2015

This electronic edition published September 2015

© Nathan Ward, 2015

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers.

No responsibility for loss caused to any individual or organization acting on or refraining from action as a result of the material in this publication can be accepted by Bloomsbury or the author.

ISBN:       HB:   978-0-80277-640-2

              ePub:   978-1-63286-277-8

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Ward, Nathan, 1963–

The lost detective : becoming Dashiell Hammett / Nathan Ward.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-8027-7640-2 (hardback) / 978-1-63286-277-8 (ePub)

1. Hammett, Dashiell, 1894-1961.    2. Authors, American—20th century—Biography.    3. Detective and mystery stories, American—History and criticism.

I. Title.    II. Title: Becoming Dashiell Hammett.

PS3515.A4347Z92 2015

813′.52—dc23

[B]

2015016402

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