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
Tag Archives: Nathan Ward
Frisco Beat: A Slice of Life 1979-90
Our man on the street, Nathan Ward — keeping his eye on the New York scene — sends along his latest find: “I liked this evocation of San Francisco from 79-90 by the novelist Rachel Kushner in the current New … Continue reading
Rediscovered: CrimeReads Discovers Willeford
Nathan Ward just alerted me to the news that today CrimeReads put up an article on the late, great Charles Willeford. A little something for Willeford’s centennial year. Not a bad introduction for people who don’t know Willeford (which is to … Continue reading
Sinister Cinema: Wild Bill Hickok in Deadwood
Our pal from Brooklyn Nathan Ward is kind of going nuts with Wild West stuff recently, and naturally he watched the new Deadwood movie, which led to some somber musings about the show being juggled differently, so Keith Carradine as Will … Continue reading
Posted in Film, News
Tagged Deadwood, Garrett Dillahunt, Keith Carradine, Martha Plimpton, Nathan Ward, Raising Hope, Will Bill Hickok
Rediscovered: Dime Novel Westerns
Before Edgar Rice Burroughs created Tarzan, dime novel writers created the Wild West, or big chunks of it. Our pal Nathan Ward just did a survey of that scene, and writes: “Thought you might be amused by some of the … Continue reading
Hammett: Jeopardy! Watch
They haven’t been dropping Hammett clews on Jeopardy! recently, although I did notice another Lovecraft item with a mention of Cthulhu — could old HPL be easing out Hammett as the show’s new go-to pulp-era writer? Nathan Ward has been … Continue reading
Hammett: And Fechheimer
Got a note in from Nathan Ward commenting on the death of P.I. David Fechheimer. “Here is my Hammett-related obit that was picked up in Crimereads. “Just repaying a debt. “Too bad that guy never wrote his book. “I had … Continue reading
Hammett: The Passing of Fechheimer
Just heard from Terry Zobeck, who heard it from Larry Block, who must read the New York Times, that David Fechheimer died April 2 at the age of 76 — reportedly from complications after open heart surgery. Once again, ouch. … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Frisco, Tour
Tagged David Fechheimer, Hal Lipset, Ken Nordine, Lawrence Block, Mechanics' Library, Nathan Ward, New York Times, Terry Zobeck
Rediscovered: A Tough Guy Amidst Books
Woke up today to find Nathan Ward had dropped a link on me to his latest tidbit on CrimeReads, of which he says: “Has nothing to do with Hammett or the (newly discovered by the NY Times) Tenderloin. Thought you … Continue reading
Posted in News
Tagged Attica, Crimereads, Izzy Zimmerman, Nathan Ward, New York Times, Sing Sing, Tenderloin
Hammett: Zobeck Research Cited, Too
I whipped together a quick post the other day after noticing Mean Streets buddy and Hammett biographer Nathan Ward got some mentions in Anne Diebel’s article for Paris Review titled “Dashiell Hammett’s Strange Career.” Like I said, I gave it a casual gander, … Continue reading
Hammett: A Strange Career? You Decide!
Brian Wallace just dropped a link into my Inbox, Anne Diebel in The Paris Review ruminating on Hammett’s career as a writer — and much of it seems to be riffing off Nathan Ward’s bio The Lost Detective. Kind of like … Continue reading
