The first of the "hard-boiled detective" or "noir" school, Samuel Dashiell Hammett wrote 1930s crime stories, many featuring the nameless "Continental Op". His heroes are bitter, realistic, and brutal, but scrupulously honest, "knights in rumpled trenchcoats". He is probably most famous for "The Maltese Falcon", filmed as a classic movie by John Huston, starring Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade.
"An exploration of the life and works of Dashiell Hammett, author of the Maltese Falcon and founder of the school of the hard boiled detective." Includes a hypertext-annotated biography of Hammett, among other things. www.transki.freeserve.co.uk
From the "Guide to Classic Mystery and Detection" site, this is a long single page containing a detailed analysis and typology of many stories. members.aol.com/mg4273/hammett.htm