Welcome to the Continental Detective Agency - we hope you like our new look! Our files explore the works and life of Samuel Dashiell Hammett, the creator of the Continental Op, author of The Maltese Falcon and the originator of the hard boiled school of detective fiction.

Hammett was much more than a successful writer. In his lifetime he worked as a strikebreaker for the Pinkertons Detective Agency, whilst incapacitated with TB he wrote advertising copy, he had a spell as a Hollywood writer, he had an intimate friendship with the playwright Lillian Hellman and was persecuted and imprisoned by Joseph McCarthy. Oh and he blew all of his substantial earnings on women and alcohol! 

We hope to bring something of all of these aspects of Hammett's career to life in the pages of these files as well as discuss his works and his legacy as writer. Click on a drawer opposite to examine our files. If you have any queries, corrections or comments please contact us using our mailform.

We have received a number of requests for information on Lillian Hellman and now include a brief biography/summary of her work.

NEW! - Just published: Dashiell Hammett: A Daughter Remembers by Jo Hammett (Carroll & Graf 2001). Jo Hammett's memoir strives to give an alternative view of her father than the standard Lillian Hellman approved version. Read our review here.

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