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Dashiell Hammett

Page to Screen: Hammett (1982)

By Brian Greene

September 2, 2020

Think of the career of acclaimed film director Wim Wenders (1945-) and what’s the first title of his that comes to your mind? Paris, Texas (1984)? Wings of Desire (1987)? Maybe Buena Vista Social Club (1999)? The cinematic work of his I personally treasure the most is Alice in the Cities (1974). I bet you…

My Five Favorite Private Eyes

By Max Allan Collins

April 28, 2020

Sam Spade Appearing in one novel and a handful of short stories, Dashiell Hammett’s dream private eye—“he is what most of the detectives I worked with would liked to have been”—remains the prototype. As good as Hammett’s Continental Op stories are, their nameless narrator lacks the charisma and iconic appeal that Spade engenders, even without…

Marooned and in Peril: Five Crime Novels Set on Islands

By Edwin Hill

August 22, 2019

There’s something inherently interesting about a mystery set on an island. There are those that are set on small islands: ones that are remote, wind-swept, and hopefully facing a devastating storm. The threat of isolation without the possibility of outside assistance makes for great storytelling. Then there are the ones that explore those tiny close-knit…

Second Acts: The Second Novels of Six Great Crime Writers

By John Keyse-Walker

September 12, 2017

Read this exclusive guest post from John Keyse-Walker about the second novels of six of the greatest crime writers ever, then make sure to sign in and comment below for a chance to win a copy of Keyse-Walker's second novel, Beach, Breeze, Bloodshed!   I am in the happy position of having my second novel,…

Ladies’ Night: Book and Cocktail Pairings for a Night In

By kristen lepionka

April 28, 2017

A drink order says a lot about a person—that’s maybe why there are approximately a zillion online quizzes promising to reveal the secret of our personalities based on our drink of choice. And in mystery novels, a character’s favorite drink is equally as telling. A fun way to get into a protagonist’s head is to…

Take Me Down to Kickback City: The Noir of Ian Rankin and Rory Gallagher

By Thomas Pluck

January 20, 2017

I didn’t even know who Rory Gallagher was until I got a postcard from Ken Bruen. To my shame, my knowledge of Irish music is limited. I loved the Pogues but didn’t realize Van Morrison and Thin Lizzy came from the Emerald Isle until I should’ve known better. I lived a bizarrely exposed and yet…

Which Noir Character Are You?

By Crime HQ

November 29, 2016

If you’re a regular visitor of Criminal Element, then you’re probably more than a little bit familiar with film noir. But if not, then let’s give you the basic rundown. From the French term meaning “black cinema,” film noir was coined to describe a specific type of Hollywood film that portrayed a level of darkness…

Raymond Chandler Is Not Noir: Get Over It

By The Contrarian

July 15, 2016

Noir is the punk rock of the book world. It’s a niche genre that has been exploited to the point that the term it is meant to describe has been so watered down as to be unrecognizable and indistinguishable from the mainstream it rebels against. And, if Noir is punk rock, then Raymond Chandler is…

Nate Heller & Mike Hammer

By Max Allan Collins

May 25, 2016

Read this exclusive guest post from Max Allan Collins, author of Better Dead, comparing his own Nate Heller series to finishing Mickey Spillane's posthumous Mike Hammer manuscripts, and then make sure you're signed in and comment for a chance to win a copy of his newest Nate Heller thriller! I have been writing about my fictional P.I.…

The Dead Mountaineer’s Inn

By Scott Adlerberg

January 4, 2016

In the late 1960s, Boris and Arkady Strugatsky, the most popular science fiction writers in Russia, decided to write a mystery novel. The Dead Mountaineer's Inn was published in 1970, and its creation may have been motivated in part by the weariness they felt struggling with the Soviet authorities. Once writers of optimistic science fiction that…

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