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The Continental Op
The Tenth Clew - a Continental Op Short Story - #6
How about this tempting introduction in Black Mask magazine to the short story when it first appeared in 1924? "There were enough clews in this crime to give Mr. Hammett's nameless detective a year or so of work. But solving a mystery in that length of time didn't appeal to him. He wanted faster action - and he got it in good measure. So will you if you begin this entertaining novelette."
The Op has a late evening appointment with Leopold Gantvoort, subject unknown. When he arrives, his client is not there and the Op soon discovers Mr. Gantvoort has been murdered in strange circumstances.
Librarian's note #1: this entry is for the story, Arson Plus. Entries for collections of short stories and the other individual stories can be found elsewhere on Goodreads. There are a total of 28 short stories plus one incomplete; they can all be found by searching Goodreads for: a Continental Op Short Story.
Librarian's note #2: there are also two Continental Op novels, Red Harvest (also known as The Cleansing of Poisonville), and The Dain Curse.
The Op has a late evening appointment with Leopold Gantvoort, subject unknown. When he arrives, his client is not there and the Op soon discovers Mr. Gantvoort has been murdered in strange circumstances.
Librarian's note #1: this entry is for the story, Arson Plus. Entries for collections of short stories and the other individual stories can be found elsewhere on Goodreads. There are a total of 28 short stories plus one incomplete; they can all be found by searching Goodreads for: a Continental Op Short Story.
Librarian's note #2: there are also two Continental Op novels, Red Harvest (also known as The Cleansing of Poisonville), and The Dain Curse.
18 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1924
1 person is currently reading
98 people want to read
About the author
Dashiell Hammett
553 books2,830 followersAlso wrote as Peter Collinson, Daghull Hammett, Samuel Dashiell, Mary Jane Hammett
Dashiell Hammett, an American, wrote highly acclaimed detective fiction, including The Maltese Falcon (1930) and The Thin Man (1934).
Samuel Dashiell Hammett authored hardboiled novels and short stories. He created Sam Spade (The Maltese Falcon), Nick and Nora Charles (The Thin Man), and the Continental Op (Red Harvest and The Dain Curse) among the enduring characters. In addition to the significant influence his novels and stories had on film, Hammett "is now widely regarded as one of the finest mystery writers of all time" and was called, in his obituary in the New York Times, "the dean of the... 'hard-boiled' school of detective fiction."
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dashiell...
Dashiell Hammett, an American, wrote highly acclaimed detective fiction, including The Maltese Falcon (1930) and The Thin Man (1934).
Samuel Dashiell Hammett authored hardboiled novels and short stories. He created Sam Spade (The Maltese Falcon), Nick and Nora Charles (The Thin Man), and the Continental Op (Red Harvest and The Dain Curse) among the enduring characters. In addition to the significant influence his novels and stories had on film, Hammett "is now widely regarded as one of the finest mystery writers of all time" and was called, in his obituary in the New York Times, "the dean of the... 'hard-boiled' school of detective fiction."
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dashiell...
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
March 27, 2020
One of quite a few Continental Op stories published by Hammett in the early 20's. This one is a fairly straightforward murder mystery involving a lover's triangle, heavy with police procedural details. Quite good, with some unexpected turns.
September 30, 2025
4 Stars. I seem to be giving 4 stars to many of Hammett's Op short stories. Why? They're good. Some of his longer works are exceptional; these may not reach that standard, but they are well written and easy to read, full of questions and twists, and just the right length for a hot coffee! It's hard to believe this one is almost a century old. It first appeared in Black Mask in January 1924. I am reading them all in 2017's The Big Book of the Continental Op; this 18-page short is #6 of almost 30. On this occasion, our unnamed detective is summoned to the home of Leopold Gantvoort at 9pm. He's not home. As he's about to leave he overhears Charles Gantvoort, the son, take a call from the police. A body has been found, can he come down to the Hall of Justice? The two speed downtown and hear a strange story about Leopold being beaten to death in his machine, we now call it a car, with a typewriter! The son had thought his father was seeing his 23-year old girlfriend Creda Dexter; instead he'd been murdered. The Op and Detective O'Gar develop nine clues, but it's the tenth one which leads to answers. It's simple. You'll get it when you read it! (Oc2020/Se2025)
January 3, 2019
BOOK 159 -Mid-20th Century North American Crime Readathon - Round 6
This is the first review posted to Goodreads of this Dashiell Hammett work! Good grief, goodread readers vote "The Hate U Give" as the best book of the past 10 years and haven't bothered reading Hammett's short work? THAT is criminal!
HOOK - 2: The entire first page is included in the synopsis here on goodreads. I don't know why, but for a novella something should appear on the first page to give us a hint as to the crime.
PACE - 2: Slow to get to the crime and the meat of the story.
PLOT - 3: A detective from Hammet's Continental Agency has been summoned by a Mr. Gantvoort to visit the Gantvoort home later that very evening, as Gantvort says his life has been threatened. A call is received after the agent arrives: Mr. Ganvoort son reveals that Mr. Ganvoort has been killed. But we soon learn that Creda Dexter is engaged to be married to the murdered man and the final will of the dead man is to leave Creda with half the estate. But that will was never signed. Several good twist adds to 4 stars for this short. A standard, but solid, plot.
CHARACTERS 4: The agent from Continental op reviews nine clews to the murder and he's a smart one: he decides to forego all nine clews and states it is the 10th clew he must find, a clew that is invisible and may have nothing to do with the nine given clews. There is a good reason we should be very wary of Creda Dexter (she's a fortune hunter), and of Mr. Gantvoort's son and the son's wife. And who, exactly, is Emil Bonfils, a character perhaps living in Paris, 6,000 miles from San Francisco.
ATMOSPHERE - 2: I like this description of Creda Dexter very much: she "was a small woman in hter early 20s...The first thing you noticed about her were her eyes. They were large and deep and the color of amber, and their pupils were never at rest. Continually they changed size, expanded and contracted...Her every movement was the slow sure one of a cat. There is a stolen car, and perhaps numberous men in Dexter's circle, but in general this story could happen any place.
SUMMARY - My rating is 2.6, a work on the weak side for this author.
This is the first review posted to Goodreads of this Dashiell Hammett work! Good grief, goodread readers vote "The Hate U Give" as the best book of the past 10 years and haven't bothered reading Hammett's short work? THAT is criminal!
HOOK - 2: The entire first page is included in the synopsis here on goodreads. I don't know why, but for a novella something should appear on the first page to give us a hint as to the crime.
PACE - 2: Slow to get to the crime and the meat of the story.
PLOT - 3: A detective from Hammet's Continental Agency has been summoned by a Mr. Gantvoort to visit the Gantvoort home later that very evening, as Gantvort says his life has been threatened. A call is received after the agent arrives: Mr. Ganvoort son reveals that Mr. Ganvoort has been killed. But we soon learn that Creda Dexter is engaged to be married to the murdered man and the final will of the dead man is to leave Creda with half the estate. But that will was never signed. Several good twist adds to 4 stars for this short. A standard, but solid, plot.
CHARACTERS 4: The agent from Continental op reviews nine clews to the murder and he's a smart one: he decides to forego all nine clews and states it is the 10th clew he must find, a clew that is invisible and may have nothing to do with the nine given clews. There is a good reason we should be very wary of Creda Dexter (she's a fortune hunter), and of Mr. Gantvoort's son and the son's wife. And who, exactly, is Emil Bonfils, a character perhaps living in Paris, 6,000 miles from San Francisco.
ATMOSPHERE - 2: I like this description of Creda Dexter very much: she "was a small woman in hter early 20s...The first thing you noticed about her were her eyes. They were large and deep and the color of amber, and their pupils were never at rest. Continually they changed size, expanded and contracted...Her every movement was the slow sure one of a cat. There is a stolen car, and perhaps numberous men in Dexter's circle, but in general this story could happen any place.
SUMMARY - My rating is 2.6, a work on the weak side for this author.
April 12, 2023
A good mystery short story by Dashiell Hammett. Not all clues have the same value when solving a murder case. I have enjoyes reading some of Hammett's early dtectuve stories.
January 28, 2025
One of the more impressive Continental Op stories. Hammett manages to combine a good PI story, mystery and action in a compressed space/time. Not an overly complicated plot but it kept me guessing. Very enjoyable.
December 11, 2021
I've been reading DH stories for decades and enjoy them very much.
This is an enjoyable read and a good "who done it" short story.
HOWEVER, there is a really really bad plot hole. I mean really bad!
But because of how well this story was written and the story-line so expertly woven, that perhaps no one has noticed it but me??? Almost 100 yrs later??
I won't post any spoilers for those who have yet to read this little gem. For those that have, let me know and I'd love to discuss it and see if I am mistaken!!
This is an enjoyable read and a good "who done it" short story.
HOWEVER, there is a really really bad plot hole. I mean really bad!
But because of how well this story was written and the story-line so expertly woven, that perhaps no one has noticed it but me??? Almost 100 yrs later??
I won't post any spoilers for those who have yet to read this little gem. For those that have, let me know and I'd love to discuss it and see if I am mistaken!!
May 16, 2020
Mr Leopold Gantvoort had arranged a meeting with the Continental Op for 9.00pm at his home. The Op arrives on time, but Mr Gantvoort fails to appear, after waiting several hours and just as he was leaving a call to house informs his son Charles that his father is dead. But why are there so many clues. The Continental Op and Detective O'Gar investigate.
An enjoyable re-read of this short story historical mystery
An enjoyable re-read of this short story historical mystery
January 3, 2019
Decent enough, worth the read if looking for something devious
February 9, 2020
Short spoof of mystery stories. So many clues, so little insight.
May 15, 2022
I would have been surprised by the twist ending if I read this when it was first published.
August 4, 2024
The Tenth Clew is a fun detective novel. Short & sweet.
November 22, 2024
3✨
It wasn't bad but wasn't that engaging,
a couple unexpected things happened but it didn't hit the same as a Sherlock Holmes detective story would.
It was a quick read though which was good.
❤️
It wasn't bad but wasn't that engaging,
a couple unexpected things happened but it didn't hit the same as a Sherlock Holmes detective story would.
It was a quick read though which was good.
❤️
February 6, 2025
I very much admire Hammett and all he did to give the detective genre a life of its own. But perhaps under pressure to produce the next novel - or novelette in this case - and a reliance on self-medicating with a bottle to ease his load, The Tenth Clew turned out less impressive than many of his other works. The plot is predictable, the procedural detail laborious.
That said, there's no denying the man certainly knows how to turn a phrase. And that’s a whole different type of intoxication.
That said, there's no denying the man certainly knows how to turn a phrase. And that’s a whole different type of intoxication.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews