Nightmare Town

Finally, a salute to Ellery Queen is very much in order. He was a great connoisseur of the art of the mystery and the detective short story, and his belief in and publishing of Dashiell Hammett’s short works for almost twenty years is a lasting achievement.

The Editors

PUBLICATION HISTORY

House Dick, The Second-Story Angel, The Man Who Killed Dan Odams, Night Shots, Afraid of a Gun, Zigzags of Treachery, One Hour, Death on Pine Street, Tom, Dick, or Harry, and The Assistant Murderer: copyright 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926 by Pro-Distributors Company, Inc.; copyrights renewed 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954 by Popular Publications, Inc., and assigned to Lillian Hellman as successor to Dashiell Hammett. Orginally appeared in Black Mask magazine.

Who Killed Bob Teal?: copyright 1924 by New Metropolitan Fiction, Inc. Renewed 1952 by Dashiell Hammett. Originally appeared in True Detective Stories.

Nightmare Town: copyright 1924 by Frank A. Munsey Publications; copyright renewed 1952 by Popular Publications, Inc., and assigned to Lillian Hellman as successor to Dashiell Hammett. Originally appeared in Argosy All-Story Weekly.

“Ruffian’s Wife”: copyright 1925 by Dashiell Hammett; copyright renewed 1953 by Dashiell Hammett. Originally appeared in Sunset magazine.

A Man Called Spade, Too Many Have Lived, and They Can Only Hang You Once: copyright 1932 by P. F. Collier; copyrights renewed 1960 by Dashiell Hammett. Originally appeared in The American Magazine.

Two Sharp Knives and His Brother’s Keeper: copyright 1934 by P. F. Collier; copyrights renewed 1962 by Josephine Marshall and Mary Jane Miller. Originally appeared in Collier’s magazine.

A Man Called Thin: copyright 1961 by Davis Publications, Inc.; copyright renewed 1989 by Davis Publications,.Inc. Originally appeared in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine.

The First Thin Man: copyright 1975 by City Publishing Company, Inc. Reprinted here by permission of Gelfman Schneider Literary Agents, Inc., and the Literary Property Trustees under the Will of Lillian Hellman. Originally appeared in City Magazine.

A NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dashiell Hammett was born in St. Marys County, Maryland, in 1894. He grew up in Philadelphia and Baltimore. He left school at the age of fourteen and held several jobs thereafter – messenger boy, newsboy, clerk, timekeeper, yardman, machine operator, and stevedore. He finally became an operative for the Pinkerton Detective Agency.

World War I, in which he served as a sergeant, interrupted his sleuthing and injured his health. When he was finally discharged from the last of several hospitals, he resumed detective work. Subsequently, he turned to writing, and in the late 1920’s he became the unquestioned master of detective-story fiction in America. During World War II, Mr. Hammett again served in the army, this time for more than two years, most of which he spent in the Aleutians. He died in 1961.

A NOTE ABOUT THE EDITORS

Kirby McCauley is a New York literary agent who has edited six anthologies, including the award-winning Dark Forces.

Ed Gorman is a novelist and short story writer, and the editor or co-editor of many anthologies, including The Fine Art of Murder with Martin H. Greenberg. He is the recipient of the Shamus Award for best private detective short story.

Martin H. Greenberg is co-editor of The Fine Art of Murder and of numerous other anthologies. He has won awards from both the Science Fiction Writers of America and the Mystery Writers of America, including the Edgar Award for Life Achievement.

William F. Nolan is a biographer and fiction writer. He is the author of Hammett: A Life at the Edge and is at work on a new biography of Dashiell Hammett.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION BY COLIN DEXTER

INTRODUCTION BY WILLIAM F. NOLAN

NIGHTMARE TOWN

HOUSE DICK

RUFFIAN’S WIFE

THE MAN WHO KILLED DAN ODAMS

NIGHT SHOTS

ZIGZAGS OF TREACHERY

Two

Three

Four

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Eleven

Twelve

THE ASSISTANT MURDERER

HIS BROTHER’S KEEPER

TWO SHARP KNIVES

DEATH ON PINE STREET

THE SECOND-STORY ANGEL

AFRAID OF A GUN

TOM, DICK, OR HARRY

ONE HOUR

Two

Three

WHO KILLED BOB TEAL?

A MAN CALLED SPADE

TOO MANY HAVE LIVED

THEY CAN ONLY HANG YOU ONCE

A MAN NAMED THIN

THE FIRST THIN MAN

Two

Three

Four

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

A NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHOR