The
Adventures of Sam Spade and Other Stories (1944).
By
Dashiell Hammett.
Published
by Must Have Books.
Paperback.
ISBN-10:
1773237772
ISBN-13:
978-1773237770
Description:
Sam
Spade is the tall, tough, smart private detective made famous by Dashiell
Hammett in his superb detective novel, The Maltese Falcon. His appearance in
the three short stories which make up The Adventures of Sam Spade is good news
for his admirers and even better news for those who have yet to meet him. As
Sam says, “There ought to be a law making criminals give themselves up…” but
since there isn’t one is better qualified than he to take the place of that
law. He’s not a fictional detective, not given to elaborate analysis of the
crime nor to elaborate restaging of it in front of all the suspects in the hope
that one will break down; he’s an honest-to-God detective, astute and
industrious enough to find out everything possible and then figure the angles
from what he knows.
In
addition to the three Adventures of Sam Spade, Dashiell Hammett has included
here four brilliant short stories, each one terse, masculine, and eminently
readable, yet one different in theme and handling. The Assistant Murderer tells
of a complicated case neatly solved by Alexander Rush, the detective who is so ugly that people just naturally think he is crooked. Night Shade is a vivid
sketch with an O. Henry Ending. The Judge Laughed Last is a story so funny that
you’ll be laughing even when the judge is through. And His Brother’s Keeper is
a fine prize fight tale told by a tough, dumb, honest and likable fighter.
Contents:
Too Many Have Lived; They Can Only Hang You Once; A Man Called Spade; The
Assistant Murderer; Night Shade; The Judge Laughed Last; His Brother's Keeper.