The Big Knockover: Selected Stories and Short Novels by Dashiell Hammett

(pb; 1966, 1972: anthology ─ Edited and with an introduction by Lillian Hellman)

Overall review

Knockover is a mixed bag. Hellman, a close friend, writes a detailed and moving introduction about Hammett. It might well be the best piece of writing in this anthology.

Some stories and novellas worked (e.g., “The Gutting of Couffignal,” “Fly Paper” and “The Scorched Face”), others did not (“Tulip,” “$106,000 Blood Money”). Overall, I would recommend this anthology if it is bought at a discounted price or borrowed from the library.

Stories and novellas

“The Gutting of Couffignal”: An investigator for the Continental Detective Agency tries to prevent the escape of bold, explosives-using thieves after they rob the wedding of a wealthy family on a remote island. This is a fun, not-difficult-to-figure-out-who’s-who heist-adventure tale.

“Fly Paper”: A ransom payoff goes awry when the kidnappers turn out to be less than advertised, and related-to-the-case corpses are discovered─another fun, sharp-wit-dialogue and -characters tale that entertains in a major way.

“The Scorched Face”: When two sisters disappear, an investigator─hired by their father─looks for them, uncovering an unsavory blackmail racket in the process. Good, fast-moving tale, with an excellent, stunning end-line.

“This King Business”: The Continental Op[erative] from previous stories tries extricate a naïve young man and his three million dollars from a scam masquerading as a righteous revolution in a foreign country [“Stefania, capital of Muravia”]. This is a fun, twisty and less tightly edited work, with another pulp-memorable ending sentence.

“The Gatewood Caper”: Solid, if predictable and bland, tale about a young woman’s kidnapping.

“Dead Yellow Women”: This story with the un-P.C. title revolves around the mystery of a woman’s murdered house servants. These killings inspire an investigation in San Francisco’s Chinatown, where danger and shady characters lurk. This is an overlong, okay work, with an entertaining finish and great exit line.

“Corkscrew”: Light-hearted actioner about a Continental Operative cleaning up a wild Arizona town for his client. When two killings, enacted by an unknown person or persons, happen, it turns into an investigation. This is a fun, lively western mystery with lots of gunplay and brawling.

“Tulip”: Could not get into this rambling, where-the-heck-is-it-going, extended-conversation drama piece.

“The Big Knockover”: A bold multibank heist sends Continental Operatives scrambling around San Francisco to catch at least some of the robbers─the ones that aren’t being killed in large numbers. The operatives also seek to retrieve the stolen money.

This chatty, entertaining tale has a lot of colorful characters, running around and concise, slam-bang action.

“$106,000 Blood Money”: Tom-Tom Carey, brother of Paddy the Mex─killed in “The Big Knockover”─seeks his brother’s brother’s murderer, not for revenge but the titular reward. This killer (Papadopolous) is, of course, difficult to locate, resulting in another chatty, full-of-colorful-characters work. This time out, though, this just feels like a rambling, overly complex mess. It feels empty, Hammett-by-the-numbers at best.