Hi Mike,
Yes, Hammett's "Thin Man" is terrific! I also highly
recommend "The Lady in the Lake" by Chandler, since you've
not given it a look. His other, shorter novels ("The Little
Sister" and "the High Window" come to mind) are good, but not
on a level commensurate with that of "The Lady in the
Lake."
Soeaking of Hammett, I just picked up a collection of his
short stories entitled either "Nightmare Town" or "Murder
Town", can't recal which, seeing as I'm at work and the
book's at home. Once I've cracked it, I'll give it a review
here. I'm about 2/3 through "The Big Heat," btw. Terrific
read.
All the Best,
Brian
>
>
>
> I've been working my way through Herbert Ruhm's
HARDBOILED DETECTIVE, a
> collection of Black Mask stories. Chandler's
"Goldfish" (1936) was
> excellent. The only other things I've read by him
are THE BIG SLEEP and THE
> LONG GOODBYE and I thought this story was as good as
the novels. One thing
> that surprised me was that, although the two novels
seem to revel in bumping
> elbows with the upper crust, the short story's
setting was decidedly
> low-rent, with a matching cast of sleazy characters.
I liked it. Chandler
> wasn't shy about laying on the sleaze, either. The
protagonist is Carmady,
> who I understand is the prototype for Marlowe. The
story involves the
> recovery of some pearls stolen many years
earlier.
>
> Lester Dent's "Angelfish" (1936) was good, too. It's
set in the Florida
> Keys. A woman asks Sail to help her protect some
pictures from being
> stolen. A hurricane gets closer and closer as the
story progresses. The
> change of scenery from the typical mean streets to
dangerous waters was
> welcome. This is the first thing I've read by Dent.
I understand he wrote
> a bunch of the Doc Savage series.
>
> Erle Stanley Gardner's "Legman" (1938) was good, but
I think Gardner is
> something of an acquired taste which I'm just not
warming up to. He's
> obviously a skilled writer. From this story and his
first Perry Mason novel
> THE CASE OF THE VELVET CLAWS I gather that he pretty
much had his own style
> and resisted some of the corny excesses that
characterizes some pulp
> writers, like Carroll John Daly. I've got a late 30s
Perry Mason novel THE
> CASE OF THE PERJURED PARROT sitting on the shelf
waiting on me. I think
> this might be one that Jim Doherty said had a good
courtroom scene. I'll
> have to read it in full sunlight. The pages are a
nasty yellow-brown color.
>
> I also liked Norbert Davis's "Kansas City Flash"
(1933). The story is told
> in third person and involves professional
troubleshooter Mark Hull searching
> for a kidnapped actress. This is back when Hollywood
was still
> Hollywoodland. I think this is the earliest
hardboiled I've read that has a
> Hollywood slant to it. It precedes McCoy's THEY
SHOOT HORSES, DON'T THEY?
> by a couple years.
>
> I could take Nebel's "Take It And Like It" (1934),
but I didn't like it.
> The humor in the dialogue has not aged gracefully.
The story is told third
> person and alternates between the cops and a
newspaper reporter suspected of
> murder. Every time I read older hardboiled with
supposedly witty repartee
> in it, I wonder about how it relates to Hammett's
THIN MAN, which I haven't
> read but obviously need to.
>
> miker
>
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