The Main Death - a Continental Op Short Story - #24

The Continental Op

by Dashiell Hammett

It's another vintage Hammett and another vintage Continental Op.

All we can say about this story is that it may not be all that it seems. Black Mask published it in June 1927; they had this to say as an introduction: "A curious tangle of a robbery, a mysterious killing and jealousy."

Jeffrey Main had been away on sales business for his employer and returned home on Sunday evening with $20,000 in hundred dollar bills in his wallet. Later that same night two men entered his apartment, shot Main, and stole the wallet. Seems simple, or is it?

Librarian's note #1: this entry is for the story, The Main Death. 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.

13 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1927

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 4 out of 5]

4 Stars. It must have been horrible for Agnes Main. Her husband Jeffrey had been in Los Angeles on business for his employer, Bruno Gungen, a dealer in rare jewellry. He had returned home to San Francisco and they were enjoying a pleasant evening. She went to bed but he stayed up reading. Perhaps a new Hercule Poirot or Sherlock Holmes he discovered on Goodreads? Oops, no GR as yet! She awakes to a commotion, finds two men wrestling with her husband, sees him shot, and faints - only to recover and find Jeffrey dead and his wallet, with the proceeds of a $20K jewellry sale, gone. The story is one of the collection in The Big Book of the Continental Op published in 2017. Both the police and the detective agency are on the job; the Op's first task is to interview Continental's client, Mr. Gungen and his wife. The theft and murder story starts to develop flaws. What is the provenance of the tiara Gungen and Main sold to their client, Nathaniel Ogilvie, in L.A.? Who were the two thugs who broke into the Main apartment? Watch as the story falls apart and the Op re-arranges the pieces! (Jun2021/Jun2026)

[Ray LaManna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good tight short story by Hammett.

[Jack Roche]

Yeah I just don’t think Hammett is for me, at least not his short stories. I’ll give him credit for the personality his writing has, even if it’s occasionally clunky. This particular story has wisps of the despair that mark the best noirs, but just wisps. It’s always quite readable, but for me, the hard-boiled narration isn’t enough to make me really feel in it. I’m also realizing that these types of “try to piece together the inconsistencies in the story” narratives ultimately aren’t that appealing to me.

[lea⊹]

read...and no idea how to describe it