Today marks the 50th anniversary of the death of Dashiell Hammett, the former Black Mask writer and author of classics such as The Maltese Falcon, The Glass Key, and the Continental Op stories. Although Carroll John Daly created the first hardboiled detective – Three Gun Terry Mack – it was Hammett, a former Pinkerton operative, who became the earliest master of the genre. His lean writing style, cynical characters, and complex plots were held up as models for other writers by Black Mask editor Joseph “Cap” Shaw.
Fifty years after his death, and nearly eighty years after the publication of his last novel, The Thin Man, Dashiell Hammett’s influence endures in mystery fiction. Much of his work remains in print, retaining its freshness and vibrancy.
For over thirty years, Don Herron, a nominee for the 2010 Munsey Award, has honored the author and former Pinkerton detective by leading the Dashiell Hammett Tour through San Francisco’s “mean streets.” The longest-running literary tour in the United States, Herron’s four-hour walk visits all known Hammett residences in California’s Baghdad by the Bay, as well as many locations mentioned or suggested in The Maltese Falcon and the author’s other works.
For further information about the Dashiell Hammett Tour, please visit Up and Down These Mean Streets, the official website of Don Herron.
Our lead image is H. C. Murphy’s cover for the September 1929 number of Black Mask. The issue began the serialized version of Dashiell Hammett’s “The Maltese Falcon.” An excerpt from Murphy’s cover serves as our featured image.
