One Hour - a Continental Op Short Story - #9

The Continental Op

by Dashiell Hammett

Here's the introduction in Black Mask for this short story when it was first published in 1924: "Like all of Mr. Hammett's detective stories, this tale starts with a very ordinary police case, and just as you think you have it all figured out, it takes several unexpected turns and ends up with a bang."

But it's up to you to find out how the title fits the story. Neither Black Mask nor The Big Book of the Continental Op provides another clue.

Librarian's note #1: this entry is for the story, One Hour. Entries for collections of short stories and the other individual stories can be found elsewhere on Goodreads. There are a total of 28 short stories plus one incomplete; they can all be found by searching Goodreads for: a Continental Op Short Story.

Librarian's note #2: there are also two Continental Op novels, Red Harvest (also known as The Cleansing of Poisonville), and The Dain Curse.

Genres: Crime, Short Stories, Mystery, Fiction

ebook

First published April 1, 1924

About the author

Also wrote as Peter Collinson, Daghull Hammett, Samuel Dashiell, Mary Jane Hammett

Dashiell Hammett, an American, wrote highly acclaimed detective fiction, including The Maltese Falcon (1930) and The Thin Man (1934).

Samuel Dashiell Hammett authored hardboiled novels and short stories. He created Sam Spade (The Maltese Falcon), Nick and Nora Charles (The Thin Man), and the Continental Op (Red Harvest and The Dain Curse) among the enduring characters. In addition to the significant influence his novels and stories had on film, Hammett "is now widely regarded as one of the finest mystery writers of all time" and was called, in his obituary in the New York Times, "the dean of the... 'hard-boiled' school of detective fiction."

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dashiell...

Reviews

[Jack Heath · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Stars. On Goodreads, this is only the second review of One Hour. In the premier entry, Michelle said it was "A little bit too short." My exact assessment. At eight pages, it's almost a flash story. The 1924 short is part of a 2017 collection, The Big Book of the Continental Op. Like most of them, it first appeared in Black Mask. How much of the meat on the bones of a story can be absent before there's nothing left? The premise is not bad. It opens with our private investigator at an attorney's office. Vance Richmond's client needs the Op's help to find out who stole his Hudson machine, aka a car, which he left idling on the street. It was found near by, but not before it had been used in a hit and run resulting in the death of a man named Newhouse. Unfortunately the client, Mr. Chrostwaite, a self-admitted drunk of the first order, had been driving a few days earlier when he struck another person with the same car! Didn't kill him, but Richmond doesn't want the deadly incident to surface during his client's trial for the first. It's short and sweet. Watch for an appearance by the infamous Wobblies, the IWW, the Industrial Workers of the World union. (No2020/Jun2026)

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. A super short story about a super short case, but the details of the criminals' scheming and a big fight scene keep it interesting.

[Glen Engel-Cox · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really fun story of the Continental Op, where he is faced with a seemingly impossible task and yet comes through quite successfully. To say any more takes away the pleasure of the plot. Aside from that, there’s also a bit of social commentary here about the wealthy and how they can’t be bothered by little things, like DWI and jail.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5: a little bit too short as shorts go but a good one none the less

[Juergen John Roscher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Can you solve a murder case in one hour? Dashiell Hammett can with lot of good luck and some foolish villians. Good, but not great murder mystery.

[L J Field · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’d bet that some inspired to be private detectives gobbled up these stories to improve their deductive reasoning. This story, as the title says, is resolved in one hour from the moment of being hired.