Kastenmeier gave the best kind of editing one could ask for: exacting, insightful, and replete with good critiques and suggestions.
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
“Ruffian’s Wife”: copyright 1925 by Dashiell Hammett; copyright renewed 1953 by Dashiell Hammett. Originally appeared in Sunset 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
Ed Gorman is a novelist and short story writer, and the editor or co-editor of many anthologies, including
Martin H. Greenberg is co-editor of
William F. Nolan is a biographer and fiction writer. He is the author of
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
