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
Category Archives: News
Hammett: Mockingbird Joins Early What Could be Legions
Mark Coggins, big Hammett fan (and crime novelist, etc & etc) just dropped me a note to say: “Hammett’s probably spinning in his grave, but I joined Mr. Collins in attempting a Spade story, published at Eclectica Magazine. “Floyd Thursby’s hotel … Continue reading
Mort: McGinnis
Brian Leno has prepared himself for decades with an ever increasing stock of John Hancocks, now coming in handy to memorialize people as they fall. For this particular Autograph Hound Saturday he offers: I know I don’t get out much … Continue reading
Rediscovered: The Chandler Machine
Remember last year when a bunch of stuff that belonged to Raymond Chandler went on the block? Everything from drafts of fantasy stories to the typewriter he used during his Last Stand writing Playback? Turns out that none other than … Continue reading
Rediscovered: The Conniving Curley
Hop over to Crimereads to peruse Nathan Ward’s latest research into the flimflam and frayed borders of the legends and lives that populated the Wild West. Most recently Nathan made the Up and Down These Mean Streets scene with his … Continue reading
Hammett: After Chandler
Mark Coggins just dropped a bit on The Rap Sheet about how Raymond Chandler got to San Francisco before Hammett hit town. Check it out. Got some dates, some buildings and addresses. The elephant in the burg, though, is the … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Frisco, Lit, News
Tagged Black Mask, Eddy Street, Mark Coggins, Raymond Chandler, The Rap Sheet
Rediscovered: Is It Doc’s John Hancock? Is It the Suicide Car?
After Brian Leno’s stunning eBay coup of a signed — and seemingly previously unseen — photograph of Dr. Isaac Howard, people (you know people) are getting in on the action. Some think the signature is authentic. Some feel it can’t … Continue reading
Posted in News, REH
Tagged Autographs, Brian Leno, Doc Howard, Gary Romeo, L. Sprague de Camp, Rob Roehm, The Cimmerian, Vera Baker
Rediscovered: A Little Birthday Treat
For birthday 119 for Robert E. Howard — should he have lived so long — Brian Leno roars into Autograph Hound action once more, pulling an original photo of REH’s father, actually signed by Doc Howard, from the time-lost ruins … Continue reading
Posted in News, REH
Tagged Autographs, Baker Kids, Brian Leno, Doc Howard, Famous Someday, L. Sprague de Camp, Vera Baker
Tour: 45 Years — 1977-2022
Man, it would have been swell to get to the 50 Year mark leading the Dashiell Hammett Tour, but I guess I started in just a little too late. The gumshoes are willing but years weigh heavy. And I can’t … Continue reading
Hammett: Who Is?
Jeopardy! October 22, 2024. S41 E32. In the Final Jeopardy round the category Detective Authors. “For much of the 1920s, he lived on Eddy in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district.” “Who is I had fun,” responded one contender. “Who is Mosley?” … Continue reading
