Dashiell Hammett was an American author of hard-boiled detective novels
and short stories, a screenplay writer, and political activist. Among
his enduring character creations are Sam Spade, Nick and Nora Charles,
the Continental Op, and P. I. Rush, introduced in this book, who is
ugly, mean, focused, and "works for pa." Hammett is 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." Ths short novellette is a crime story with
an intricate plot and characters, and a surprise twist at the end.