pThe three classic novels published here in one volume are rich with the crisp prose, subtle characters, and intricate plots that made Dashiell Hammett one of the most admired writers of the twentieth century.pp ppA one-time detective and a master of deft understatement, Hammett virtually invented the hard-boiled crime novel. In iThe Maltese Falconi, Sam Spade, a private eye with his own solitary code of ethics, tangles with a beautiful and treacherous woman whose loyalties shift at the drop of a dime. iThe Thin Mani introduces Hammett's wittiest creations, Nick and Nora Charles, who solve homicides in between wisecracks and martinis. And in iRed Harvesti, Hammett's anonymous tough-guy detective, the Continental Op, takes on the entire town of Poisonville in a deadly war against corruption.pp ppDashiell Hammett is a master of the detective novel, yes, but also one hell of a writer.--iBoston Globeipp ppHammett was spare, hard-boiled, but he did over and over what only the best writers c