The Continental Op first heard Personville called Poisonville by Hickey Dewey. But since Dickey also called a shirt a shoit, he didn't think anything of it. Until he went there and his client, the only honest man in Poisonville, was murdered. Then the Op decided to stay on to punish the guilty. And that meant taking on the entire town . . .
Dashiell Hammett's ground-breaking first novel is not only a superb piece of crime fiction, it is a classic exploration of corruption and violence.
'Crime Masterworks' is a library of the greatest crime fiction ever written, chosen with the help of today's leading crimewriters and critics. However, they are categorised - hard-boiled, suspense, police procedural - all books in the series are the best of their kind.
