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
Author Archives: Don
Rediscovered: Metcalfe and Gawsworth
I used to get images from Brian Leno of his recent autograph purchases. I still do, but I used to, too. Yep, it’s Autograph Hound Saturday once again — this time featuring John Hancocks and holographic scribblings from writer John … Continue reading
Posted in Lit
Tagged Arthur Machen, Autographs, Brian Leno, John Gawsworth, John Metcalfe, M. P. Shiel
Posse McMillan: A Shirt Off His Back
From time to time I’m prowling through old email archives and when I see something related to, or from, the late Dennis McMillan I’m tossing it into a new DMac file. At minimum, it’ll be fun to round up various … Continue reading
Rediscovered: The Agony and the Ecstasy
Digging through some unearthed files, I came across a contemporary review of my book Willeford — lost, I’d forgotten about it. The review should have been lost in some other piles of paper, but there it was. I had done … Continue reading
Rediscovered: The Library of Brian — Inspiration, or Warning!?!
Brain Leno has a story about when he was a kid in Bismarck, beginning to buy paperbacks. He’d sit in front of the small bookcase he shelved them on and savor his library. His father made the bookstand “out of … Continue reading
Rediscovered: The Latest Life
Our pal Morgan “The Morgman” Holmes just dropped his new review of the latest biography of Robert E. Howard on the Arkhaven Comics site. Keeping his hand in, even as he populates his own Substack site with the extensive archives … Continue reading
Rediscovered: Get Yer Shiel Here
Aha. I’ve been waiting for this book — although technically I don’t really need it. You do. Beating the likes of Random House and Little Brown and their ilk to the punch, Hippocampus Press just gathered under one set of … Continue reading
Posted in Lit, News
Tagged Arthur Machen, Book Collecting, Harold Billings, Hippocampus Press, John D. Squires, Lovecraft, M. P. Shiel, Scott Connors
Tour: By the Book
Got a note from Joe Salerno, checking to make sure I’m not actually leading the Dashiell Hammett Tour any more. Sorry, no. My big excuse — and it’s the truth — I aged out. I realized at any point something … Continue reading
Posted in Tour
Tagged 1201 California, A Man on the Inside, Book Collecting, Hammett Tour Book, Joe Salerno, Ted Danson
Rediscovered: Ex Libris Virgil Finlay
Autograph Hound Saturday. You know the drill. Another week has passed, and Autograph Hound Brian Leno has added more signatures to his collection. A thousand John Hancocks in the naked city. . . . This is the story of one. … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Lit
Tagged Autographs, Book Collecting, Brian Leno, Norman Lindsay, Seabury Quinn, Virgil Finlay
Hammett: Birthday 132
Today, Hammett’s 132nd birthday. And the guy keeps hanging in. On May 1st he cracked Jeopardy! again. S4E170. In the Double Jeopardy round. Category: Life on TCM. $800 clew: In “The Thin Man” Myrna Loy catches up to her husband … Continue reading
Posse McMillan: October 2025
Lou Boxer of NoirCon popped in this image taken at the last NoirCon, October 2025. A more recent look at the late Dennis McMillan. Pic shows Gary Phillips and DMac — you’ll remember Gary as a contributor to the shadow … Continue reading
