Hammett news page A short biography The Continental Op Blood Money Red Harvest The Dain Curse The Maltese Falcon: The novel The movie The 75th anniversary The Glass Key The Thin Man Woman in the Dark The short story collections The novels in one volume Books about Hammett Interview with Hammett authority George J. "Rhino" Thompson Chronology of Hammett's fiction Hammett's army days "Dashiell Hammett Place" Hammett's Post Street apartment: A photo tour (2005) Declared a landmark (2005) The Flood Building Links to other Hammett sites Contact Mike mikehumbert.com homepage This site is dedicated to all the people like Don Herron, Bill Arney, Richard Layman, William F. Nolan, Josephine Hammett Marshall, Julie M. Rivett, Steven Marcus, Joe Gores and others who have kept 1920s San Francisco in the here and now. Special thanks to Vince Emery for his many helpful contributions to this website. Entire website copyright 2003, 2004 & 2005 by Mike Humbert.

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THE CONTINENTAL  OP

Ever heard of a writer named Carroll John Daly, or a character named Terry Mack?  Most people haven't, but Daly's "Three Gun Terry" is generally recognized as the very first hard-boiled detective story.  Debuting in the pulp pages of Black Mask in May 1923, Terry Mack was more cartoon than believable character. Using any or all of his three pistols, Terry never hesitated to blow away anyone who crossed him.  Oddly enough, this psychotic behavior never seemed to have any legal consequences. A few months later, in the October 1, 1923 issue, readers of Black Mask were introduced to a different kind of private detective: far from the ultramacho antics of Terry Mack, this detective was short, plump and middle aged, and was more interested in gathering clues than keeping the bullet manufacturers in business.  The story was called "Arson Plus," and was written by a fellow calling himself Peter Collinson. In reality "Collinson" was Dashiell Hammett, former operative of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency.  The character was an instant hit, and soon Hammett began writing under his own name.  The fat little detective's true name name was never revealed; sometimes referred to as "The Continental Detective," or "The Man from Continental," the moniker that finally stuck was "The Continental Op" (short for operative). The Op had no personal stake in his cases; he investigated for one reason only:  he'd been hired to, and he wanted to give the clients their money's worth.  Between 1923 and 1930 there were 36 Continental Op stories published, almost all in Black Mask. Four of these stories were combined and reworked to become Hammett's first hardback novel, Red Harvest. Four others were retooled to become The Dain Curse, Hammett's next novel.  Since these eight stories have never been reprinted in their original form, it would probably be more accurate to say that there are 28 stories and two full-length novels.

LOCATING THE OP STORIES TODAY

All but two of the Op's adventures are included in these three books, all of which are currently available: Complete Novels, 1999, Library of America Nightmare Town, 1999, Vintage Crime/Black Lizard Crime Stories and Other Writings, 2001, Library of America To get those last two stories, you'll have to track down these two long-out-of-print collections: The Return of the Continental Op, 1945, Dell Woman in the Dark, 1951, Spivak

These two collections are also still in print, but don't contain any Op stories that aren't in the first three books above. The Big Knockover, 1966, Vintage Crime The Continental Op, 1974, Vintage Crime/Black Lizard

A COMPLETE LIST OF THE OP STORIES

1.   “Arson Plus” (by “Peter Collinson”)  Black Mask, October 1, 1923       Crime Stories & Other Writings 2.   “Slippery Fingers” (by “Peter Collinson”) Black Mask, October 15, 1923       Crime Stories and Other Writings          3.   “Crooked Souls” Black Mask, October 15, 1923       Crime Stories and Other Writings       Also in The Big Knockover, under the title “The Gatewood Caper.”       (This is the first Op story credited to “Dashiell Hammett.”) 4.   “It”   Black Mask, November 1, 1923      Woman in the Dark, 1951, under the title       “The Black Hat That Wasn't There.” 5.   “Bodies Piled Up”  Black Mask, December 1, 1923       Nightmare Town, under the title “House Dick.” 6. “The Tenth Clew”  Black Mask, January 1, 1924       Crime Stories and Other Writings                  (Sometimes reprinted as “The Tenth Clue.”) 7.   “Night Shots” Black Mask, February 1, 1924      Nightmare Town          8.   “Zigzags of Treachery”  Black Mask, March 1, 1924       Crime Stories and Other Writings       Also Nightmare Town          9.   “One Hour” Black Mask, April 1, 1924       Nightmare Town          10.  “The House in Turk Street”  Black Mask, April 15, 1924       Crime Stories and Other Writings          11.  “The Girl with Silver Eyes”  Black Mask, June 1924       Crime Stories and Other Writings 12. “Women, Politics and Murder” Black Mask, September 1924       Crime Stories and Other Writings               Also in Nightmare Town, under the title “Death on Pine Street.” 13. “The Golden Horseshoe”  Black Mask, November 1924       Crime Stories and Other Writings          14. “Who Killed Bob Teal?” (by “Dashiell Hammett of the Continental Detective             Agency”)  True Detective Stories, November 1924       Nightmare Town         15. “Mike, Alec or Rufus?” Black Mask, January 1925      Nightmare Town, under the title “Tom, Dick or Harry?” 16. “The Whosis Kid” Black Mask, March 1925       Crime Stories and Other Writings         17. “The Scorched Face”  Black Mask, May 1925       Nightmare Town           18. “Corkscrew” Black Mask, September 1925       Nightmare Town          19. “Dead Yellow Women”  Black Mask, November 1925       Crime Stories and Other Writings          20. “The Gutting of Couffignal”  Black Mask, December 1925       Crime Stories and Other Writings 21. “Creeping Siamese” Black Mask, March 1926       Crime Stories and Other Writings          22. “The Big Knockover” Black Mask, February 1927 23. “$106,000 Blood Money” Black Mask, May 1927 (Note: These two stories, when combined, form  Blood Money, which some           consider to be Hammett's true first novel.  While two stories predate Red                Harvest by two years, they did not appear as Blood Money until 1943, nine years after Hammett's final novel. Since 1966 they have usually been presented as two related short stories, rather than as a novel.)  Crime Stories and Other Writings 24. “The Main Death”  Black Mask, June 1927       Crime Stories and Other Writings           25.  “The Cleansing of Poisonville”  Black Mask, November 1927 26. “Crime Wanted - Male or Female”  Black Mask, December 1927 (These two stories were reworked to become the first half of Red Harvest. Stories 28 and 29 make up the second half.) Complete Novels 27. “This King Business” Mystery Stories, January 1928      Crime Stories and Other Writings         28. “Dynamite”   Black Mask, January 1928 29. “The 19th Murder”  Black Mask, February 1928 (see stories 25 and 26 above.) Complete Novels          30. “Black Lives”   Black Mask, November 1928 31. “The Hollow Temple” Black Mask, December 1928 32. “Black Honeymoon” Black Mask, January 1929 33. “Black Riddle” Black Mask, February 1929 (The four stories that, in a reworked form, became The Dain Curse.) Complete Novels           34. “Fly Paper” Black Mask, August 1929       Crime Stories and Other Writings 35. “The Farewell Murder”  Black Mask, February 1930       Crime Stories and Other Writings          36. “Death and Company”  Black Mask, November 1930       Return of the Continental Op, 1945