Written by Dashiell Hammett
SUMMARY:
First published in 1933-34, this 201-page Vintage Crime/Black Lizard reprint was issued in 1992. As narrated by a world-weary Nick Charles, he and his young wife, Nora, are presently enjoying an extended Christmas holiday in 1932 New York City. Some five years before, the forty-ish war veteran Nick had retired from his life as an ace private detective there upon marrying into Nora’s wealthy San Francisco family. Taking a break from the West Coast, Nick has brought Nora to revisit some of his old haunts.
In a 52nd St. speakeasy, Nick is approached by young Dorothy, who is the daughter of his quirky ex-client, inventor Clyde Miller Wynant. Along with her mother – Wynant’s unsavory ex-wife, Mimi, the two are evidently hard up for money. They ask for Nick’s aid finding the elusive Wynant, who has quietly been withdrawing large sums of cash. Initially, the best Nick is willing to do is refer Dorothy to her father’s attorney, Herbert Macauley.
The violent homicide of Wynant’s secretary, Julia Wolf, subsequently has both the local police and potential witnesses seeking Nick’s reluctant help. Among them is the prime suspect, Wynant, who sends written messages to Macauley and Nick requesting the former detective’s expertise finding Julia’s murderer. Stuck being the case’s unofficial consultant, Nick deduces that the shadowy killer won’t settle for just one victim.
Note: The title itself refers to the stick-like Wynant rather than Nick Charles.
REVIEW:
One might presume The Thin Man is a tongue-in-cheek precursor to contemporary mystery works featuring romantic couples as amateur sleuths. Imbued with witty repartee, six 1930’s-40’s comedic mystery films inspired by the novel certainly attest to the enduring charm of Nick & Nora Charles. The literary originals are indeed likable, but William Powell & Myrna Loy’s light-hearted Hollywood schtick adapting Nick & Nora is sorely missing upon reading the source material.
While Dashiell Hammett’s novel is hyped as “a sophisticated comedy of manners,” that description doesn’t deliver a Prohibition-era cozy mystery. Thumbing his nose at The Depression, Hammett’s idea of sophisticated humor equates to Nick & Nora sipping cocktails (with or without company) and trading quips amidst evidently free refills.
Unlike Agatha Christie’s Tommy & Tuppence Beresford mysteries, Hammett’s darker tone deploys traditionally gritty noir peppered by Nick & Nora’s marital banter. Specifically, an excitable/semi-tipsy Nora is utilized prodding her husband (cynical wisecracking aside) into revealing his deductions. In that regard, The Thin Man’s storytelling structure is sufficient when the time comes for Nick’s down-to-earth reasoning to explain why all isn’t what it seems.
Hammett’s caper, however, is so drenched in booze from the get-go (i.e. characters are swilling practically every other page) that this intriguing whodunnit grows tiresome. It also doesn’t help that Hammett resorts to caricatures (i.e. the hapless Dorothy Wynant) rather than actual characters to help peddle his snarky dialogue. Aside from blatantly glamorizing alcohol, casual inferences to police brutality and physical abuse of Wynant’s two children are unsettling, to say the least.
The novel’s final stretch resolves various plot threads satisfactorily, no matter how convoluted and gruesome the culprit’s scheme becomes. Hence, the underlying motive, let alone the killer’s identity, isn’t much of a surprise; by genre standards, it’s practically standard-issue. Though the novel has solid moments, The Thin Man’s brand of detective noir doesn’t age particularly well for a 21st Century audience.
ADDITIONAL FEATURES:
The first page is a short author bio.
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 5½ Stars
