Spade & Archer

Acknowledgments

Always first in my acknowledgments is Dori, wife, lover, best friend, forever my first and last reader, editor, critic, and collaborator. She inspires me to write and always knows when I am going astray — and always knows how to fix it.

Henry Morrison, canny friend and adviser and my agent for over forty years, came up with countless suggestions for the book. He loved the idea of it, so he prodded and poked and cajoled and even swore to push me through to those two magic words, the end.

Rick Layman is our foremost Hammett scholar and historian. Without his friendship, enthusiasm, and expertise and his Discovering “The Maltese Falcon” and Sam Spade to use as my primary source material, I could not have written Spade & Archer.

Jo Marshall, Dashiell Hammett’s only surviving daughter, in 2006 said “Yes!” to a prequel to The Maltese Falcon. Jo gave me not only her blessings and inspiration but also the idea (and the research) for much of part III of the novel.

Vince Emory let me write the introduction to Hammett’s Lost Stories, then shared his vast knowledge of San Francisco and Hammett with me. A history of the coroner’s office from 1850 to 1960 gave me the idea for part II. Vince and Rita are rare friends.

Theresa McGovern, research librarian at the Fairfax Library, once again filled every goofy research demand I made on her. She even gave up a weekend to find out about secretaries’ salaries in the 1920s. Dori and I treasure her friendship.

Again, the entire staff at the Fairfax Library helped with the project whenever they could. Especially Shereen Ash, who found me the history of the Bohemian Club and put me in touch with the club’s historian. Librarians are wonderful people!

Jo Marshall’s children, Julie Rivett and Evan Marshall, gave me advice and information about their grandfather, Dashiell Hammett. Their enthusiasm and support for the project have been a great inspiration to me.

Sonny Mehta, chairman and editor in chief at Knopf, gave his blessing to the project. And my editors, Diana Coglianese at Knopf and Zachary Wagman at Vintage Books, did a marvelous line edit of the manuscript and had countless suggestions that made Spade & Archer a much better (and shorter!) book.

The late Matt Bruccoli, a friend of many years and our best Hemingway-Fitzgerald scholar, gave me the background for Spade’s service in World War I. Matt was wildly enthusiastic about Spade & Archer. Matt, I so wish you’d had a chance to read it.

Last, but certainly not least, Dori’s and my dear friend Bill Richardson got me unprecedented access to the Bohemian Club and walked me through everything I needed for the scenes I wanted to set there. We owe you and Betsy a great dinner, Bill!