• How Dashiell Hammett's Contintental Op Became a Depression-Era Icon

    After an era of gentleman detectives, Hammett brought the world a detective grounded in (and ground down by) hard-edged reality.



    Read More

    The Joys of Mystery Fiction's Most Enduring Tropes

    The tropes of the murder mystery genre are familiar and widely parodied. My personal favorite is the remote island location:...