Dashiell Hammett. The Creeping Siamese (1950) 127 pp.
Contents: *The Creeping Siamese; *The Man Who Killed Dan Odams; *The Nails in Mr. Cayterer; *The Joke on Eloise Morey; Tom, Dick or Harry; *This King Business.
Three Continental Op stories, one Thin story, and two non-series stories. When a man steps into the San Francisco offices of the Continental Detective Agency, then falls over dead of a stab wound, the Op and Sergeant O’Gar investigate, leading them to an old cache of stolen Burmese jewels in “The Creeping Siamese.” In “The Nails in Mr. Cayterer,” San Francisco detective Robin Thin and his poetry-writing son Robin Thin, Jr. work together to find a blackmailer. In “Tom, Dick or Harry,” the Op poses as an insurance investigator to uncover a cross-dressing jewelry thief. “This King Business” is the Op abroad—taking place in the fictional Balkan country of Muravia (one of only three Hammett stories to take place outside the United States).

*1st book publication

Baird & Greenwood 1032
Layman A17.1