Welcome to a hard-boiled and not without noir blog with news and reviews, occasional outbursts of maniacal Autograph Hound activity, plus archival records from the forty-five year run of The Dashiell Hammett Tour. 
The Dashiell Hammett Tour
1977-2022
Arkham House Ephemera
The Classic Years 1937–1973
Death Lit
Essays and Reviews Selected from Fifty Years of Writing 1974–2024
Willeford
The Book
Monthly Archives: January 2026
Rediscovered: Secrets of the Leno Library
In the shot yesterday of (at least a small part of) The Leno Library I noticed the top row of books by or about Robert E. Howard, this month’s birthday boy — and next row down, on left, the Gnome … Continue reading
Posted in Lit, REH
Tagged Autographs, Book Collecting, Brian Leno, Creeps by Night, Jeff Jones, Richard S. Shaver, Roads, Roy Krenkel, Seabury Quinn
Rediscovered: The Leno Library
To entertain me, Brian Leno just sent along a shot of a cabinet he set up. Nice. But kind of sad, too — I was thinking Brian had enough books he wouldn’t have to fill in vital space with a … Continue reading
Rediscovered: Another Ace from Jeopardy!’s Sam Spade Suit
Or would that be a swig from the Nick & Nora Club Martini? Tournament of Champions Quarter Final, Day Two — 1/20/26 — Jeopardy! S42E97. First round. Category: The Tale that Wags the Dog. For $800: This beloved pooch owned … Continue reading
Rediscovered: Arkham Ephemera on the Block
Check out this notice from Todd Warren on Facebook that John D. Haefele just sent my way, as we keep loose track of what prices are being asked for Arkham House ephemera — you know, the items we cover in … Continue reading
Posted in Lit, News
Tagged Arkham House Ephemera The Classic Years 1937-1973, August Derleth, Book Collecting, Facebook, John D. Haefele, Todd Warren
Rediscovered: Eph Book Now 7% Off
Today I notice that Eph Book — a.k.a. Arkham House Ephemera: The Classic Years 1937-1973 — is up on Amazon for 7% off. Yesterday it was 6% off. If we were talking pork bellies, empires would shake.
Hammett: Killer Critic
Will Murray, pulp historian and latter-day Kenneth Robeson, just sent me a link to “a biographical page about a writer who committed suicide a few months after his last book received a scathing review by Dashiell Hammett.” The bio on … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Lit, News
Tagged Doug Anderson, J. Aubrey Tyson, literary suicides, Richard Dalby, Will Murray
Hammett: Jeopardy! Won’t Leave Him Alone
The week ended with Jeopardy! invoking Hammett’s name yet again: S42E90. 1/9/26. A Champions Wildcard showdown. Double Jeopardy round, $2000 slot in the category Adapted for High School: Rian Johnson adapted what he called “the weirdly poetic style of Dashiell … Continue reading
Rediscovered: Another Maxwell Grant
Autograph Hound Saturday once more, and let’s keep the Maxwell Grant/John Hancock theme going. Brian Leno per norm supplies the signature, this time from the 1960s run of Belmont paperback originals of The Shadow ghosted by Dennis Lynds under the … Continue reading
Posted in Lit
Tagged Autographs, Book Collecting, Brian Leno, Dennis Lynds, The Shadow, Walter B. Gibson
Rediscovered: Eph Book Now 6% Off
And today I see Eph Book drops from 9% off to 6% off in my tracking of its headway on the Amazon.
