A review by jackroche
Arson Plus - a Continental Op Short Story by Dashiell Hammett

Having read this and one other Continental Op, can't help but feel disappointed by the simplicity of what Hammett was going for with these - basically "Sherlock Holmes but gritty", where the plot is really all there is, apart from some occasional bursts of wit. But none of the bleak poetry of noir which I detected in the first random Chandler story I read. Maybe that shows up later, or in his novels.