‘Little fat detective . . .'

Press, 2 June 1984, Page 20

‘Little fat detective . . .'

The Continental Op. By Dashiell Hammett. Collins/Picador, 1984. 255 pp. $8.95 (paperback). The “operator” for the Continental Detective Agency could claim to be one of the very first of the fictional “private eyes,” just as Hammett, his creator, could claim to have been virtually the first writer of such stories — a man who started a vast industry. In one of these seven tales, the villain, the “girl with the silver eyes,” refers to the “op” as, “little fat detective whose name I don’t know.” Neither does the reader, for this is a nameless hero. From 60 years ago the detective reminds us: “The idea in this detective business is to catch crooks, not to put on heroics”; and “Detecting is a hard business, you use whatever tools come to hand.” In each story, through a fog of deception and at least one startling

twist, the crooks are caught. Usually they are hung, a refreshing and welcome change from finding they have merely been put on probation. Hammett still has an unmatched skill for crisp writing. ‘The face she made at me was probably meant for a smile. Whatever it was, it beat me. I was afraid she’d do it again, so I surrendered.” The little fat detective sees a sign, high on the wall behind a bar in Mexico: “Only genuine pre-war American and British whiskeys served here,” and he reflects, “I was trying to count how many lies could be found in those nine words and had reached four, with promise of more Above all, these are still refreshing, fast-moving stories from a world where cars, telephones, and lifts were technical novelties. They deserve to be back in print. — Naylor Hillary.