The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett

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The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett


Dashiell Hammett’s The Thin Man, is a hardboiled detective novel first published in Redbook Magazine in 1933, then book format in 1934. It stars the dynamic couple, Nick and Nora Charles with their dog, Asta. 

 

After a woman’s bullet-riddled body is found in a New York City apartment, Nick is reluctantly pulled in to investigate while on vacation in the Big Apple. He’s long retired from being a private eye, but his reputation precedes him and people are asking him left and right to dig into the homicide. 

 

Set at Christmas-time 1932 during Prohibition, they were anything but dry. Nick, Nora, and even the police Lieutenant, were sucking down drinks like air, and not just in speakeasys, but in the hotel, apartments, and the Lieutenant even offered Nick a drink at the station. Before breakfast Nick asks Nora “How about a drop of something to cut the phlegm?” 

 

You’d think someone so pickled wouldn’t be able to function, but Nick is a surprising specimen, where booze fuels his brain and the ends up solving the case!  

 

I enjoyed this book and did not expect the ending. Yet, I have to say, that I enjoyed The Maltese Falcon even more!  There was a lot more sass in that one. Sam Spade was arrogant and politically incorrect, talking down to women and men, snarling some tough-guy lines that I jokingly used with my husband after I read it.  Still, I I’m glad to have read The Thin Man, and ended up watching the black-and-white movie starring William Powell and Myrna Loy. 

 

Today, I celebrate not only this book, but also Hammett’s birthday, born on May 27, 1894.


Happy reading!

Annette

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