Okay that was kinda lame. Felt like a cheap sequel to Red Harvest ( )

Ho Hum ( )

The Curse: Head Spinning Confusion

Hammett’s The Dain Curse, for all of its many flaws, still bears his hallmarks that make reading him nearly ninety years after first publication fun. Here, what begins as a simple jewelry insurance investigation by the, as usual, unnamed Continental Op, expands in short order into a novel of multiple murders, dope addiction, child abuse, and religious cultism for money, not to mention criminal mastermind manipulation. The flaws, so you know them going in, are a wildly convoluted plot that even with careful reading you may find hard to follow. Regular exposition in the form of formulating theories about the crimes as they build up. (In defense, Hammett first serialized the novel in four parts in Black Mask magazine, where a recasting of the plot would have proven helpful to readers). And added to these, the typical racism and sexism of the period.

Of course, what balances out these flaws are Hammett’s crisp writing style, his Damon Runyonesque characters, his wisecracking dialogue, and his liberal use of slang, some of it now arcane. Then, too, there is his spot-on understanding of human nature, particularly the dark side; Hammett worked as a detective for the Pinkerton agency before and after his stint in the army during WWI. So, the best advice when approaching this novel is, don’t let the flaws frustrate you, appreciate it for all its good stuff (that, true, gets used to better effect in his noir classics The Maltese Falcon and The Thin Man).

Now, as to that long and winding plot, astute readers will spot the killer early on. You won’t know the why and the how, but your suspicions will be aroused and no twisting of the plot will throw you off the scent. The Op shows up at the Leggetts’ on behalf of the agency’s client to investigate some missing jewels. Leggett is a scientist and he’s taken on the assignment of purifying color flaws in diamonds; his specialty is the science of color. The Leggetts have a daughter, Gabrielle, who is very much an odd duck in appearance and behavior; additionally, she’s a morphine addict. She disappears and we learn she belongs to a local religious cult. Shortly, the Leggetts, first the husband, followed by the wife, turn up dead. A young man in love with Gabrielle tries to protect you. The diamonds reappear after a few more people get murdered. The Op is out of the case. But Gabrielle falls big time into the clutches of the cult and her estate lawyer summons the Op to figure out what’s happening to her. Meanwhile, the Op takes time to meet and dine with an acquaintance, a novelist, who has taken an interest in the ever morphing case, wherein lots of chatter happens about the psychological state of people and plot points get proposed and hashed out. With much effort and a few murders, the Op rescues Gabrielle from the cult as he destroys it.

All seems resolved, except that Gabrielle and her boyfriend run off and marry. The estate lawyer again enlists the Op’s aid. Off he goes to visit the couple at their honeymoon retreat on the California coast. He arrives to find the nice young husband dead, murdered. He becomes involved with a small army of local officials, brings in more Ops, and all set about trying to deduce what the heck is going on. You guessed it: more bodies are added to the pile. In the end, characters and readers alike find themselves in a total state of exhaustion, patience tried to the limit, while the Op helps Gabrielle kick her habit and solves the series of crime. To put a fine point on the conclusion, we have a chapter devoted to where everybody—and the cast of characters is numerous—ends of. Readers wipe their brows and take an extra dose of their blood pressure meds. ( )

The Curse: Head Spinning Confusion

Hammett’s The Dain Curse, for all of its many flaws, still bears his hallmarks that make reading him nearly ninety years after first publication fun. Here, what begins as a simple jewelry insurance investigation by the, as usual, unnamed Continental Op, expands in short order into a novel of multiple murders, dope addiction, child abuse, and religious cultism for money, not to mention criminal mastermind manipulation. The flaws, so you know them going in, are a wildly convoluted plot that even with careful reading you may find hard to follow. Regular exposition in the form of formulating theories about the crimes as they build up. (In defense, Hammett first serialized the novel in four parts in Black Mask magazine, where a recasting of the plot would have proven helpful to readers). And added to these, the typical racism and sexism of the period.

Of course, what balances out these flaws are Hammett’s crisp writing style, his Damon Runyonesque characters, his wisecracking dialogue, and his liberal use of slang, some of it now arcane. Then, too, there is his spot-on understanding of human nature, particularly the dark side; Hammett worked as a detective for the Pinkerton agency before and after his stint in the army during WWI. So, the best advice when approaching this novel is, don’t let the flaws frustrate you, appreciate it for all its good stuff (that, true, gets used to better effect in his noir classics The Maltese Falcon and The Thin Man).

Now, as to that long and winding plot, astute readers will spot the killer early on. You won’t know the why and the how, but your suspicions will be aroused and no twisting of the plot will throw you off the scent. The Op shows up at the Leggetts’ on behalf of the agency’s client to investigate some missing jewels. Leggett is a scientist and he’s taken on the assignment of purifying color flaws in diamonds; his specialty is the science of color. The Leggetts have a daughter, Gabrielle, who is very much an odd duck in appearance and behavior; additionally, she’s a morphine addict. She disappears and we learn she belongs to a local religious cult. Shortly, the Leggetts, first the husband, followed by the wife, turn up dead. A young man in love with Gabrielle tries to protect you. The diamonds reappear after a few more people get murdered. The Op is out of the case. But Gabrielle falls big time into the clutches of the cult and her estate lawyer summons the Op to figure out what’s happening to her. Meanwhile, the Op takes time to meet and dine with an acquaintance, a novelist, who has taken an interest in the ever morphing case, wherein lots of chatter happens about the psychological state of people and plot points get proposed and hashed out. With much effort and a few murders, the Op rescues Gabrielle from the cult as he destroys it.

All seems resolved, except that Gabrielle and her boyfriend run off and marry. The estate lawyer again enlists the Op’s aid. Off he goes to visit the couple at their honeymoon retreat on the California coast. He arrives to find the nice young husband dead, murdered. He becomes involved with a small army of local officials, brings in more Ops, and all set about trying to deduce what the heck is going on. You guessed it: more bodies are added to the pile. In the end, characters and readers alike find themselves in a total state of exhaustion, patience tried to the limit, while the Op helps Gabrielle kick her habit and solves the series of crime. To put a fine point on the conclusion, we have a chapter devoted to where everybody—and the cast of characters is numerous—ends of. Readers wipe their brows and take an extra dose of their blood pressure meds. ( )

Its one of those reads that goes fast, is fairly typical and the story itself isn't that good. It also very dated. I could go on about stereotypes, and how gender is portrayed, etc etc. But its par for the genre and the age. There are any number of eye rolling moments - from a secret cult, to parents with a rather tragic, murderous, backstory. Throw in a random kidnapping. ( )