The Continental Op

This collection brings together short stories about the Continental Op, the unnamed, stocky operative of a San Francisco detective agency. Originally written for pulp magazines in the 1920s, the stories follow him through robberies, murders, blackmail and local scandals, always solved by patience and shrewd observation rather than glamour. The Op is modest in looks but tough in mind, and the tales are a good way to see Hammett's realistic, unadorned style as it developed before his novels.