New mystery audiobooks from Librivox.

John Dickson Carr's It Walks by Night

New free audio mystery releases from Librivox.

• It Walks by Night. John Dickson Carr's debut novel. Wrote the 22 Aug 1930 [Christchurch, NZ] Star, "Mr. Carr carries us along breathlessly .... this original crime story is well constructed, eminently readable, and calculated to give satisfaction to those fond of a thrill"). 
  
  
• The Continental Op, The Maltese Falcon, and Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett. The 25 Feb. 1950 Lewiston [ME] Evening Journal mentioned that the Continental Op was based on a Pinkerton detective who worked with Hammett.
  
  
• The Law of the Four Just Men by Edgar Wallace. Wrote the 3 Apr. 1926 Otago [NZ] Daily Times, "It is an illustration of Mr. Wallace's skill that he is able to cast over the story that air of verisimilitude which carries the reader along on a wave of excitement."

The illustrated Continental Op.

Clover Press has published a new illustrated edition featuring Dashiell Hammett's Continental Op, which includes the stories "Arson Plus" (Oct. 1923), "Crooked Souls" (Oct. 1923), "Slippery Fingers" (Oct. 1923), "It" (Nov. 1923), and "Bodies Piled Up" (Dec. 1923). The artist is John K. Snyder III. View some sample illustrations here.

More Mysterious Journey episodes.

The latest episodes of Mysterious Journey, a podcast of short radio plays produced by the Artists' Ensemble Theater (IL), include the following:

• The Phantom (based on "The Flaming Phantom" by Jacques Futrelle featuring the Thinking Machine)
  
• Poirot and the Egyptian Curse (based on "The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb" by Agatha Christie)
• Poirot Makes a Wager (based on "The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim" by Agatha Christie)
  
• The Tenth Clue (based on the Continental Op story by Dashiell Hammett) 
• Who Killed Bobby Teal? (based on "Who Killed Bob Teal?" by Dashiell Hammett)
  

An early appearance by the Continental Op.

On its Web site, the Library of America features a Continental Op short story, "The Tenth Clew" (1924), by Dashiell Hammett. The Op finds that his client, who told him that his life had been threatened, has been murdered. He wonders about the young woman who intended to marry the dead man.

The Fat Man, 1951.

J. Scott Smart

Based on a radio character created by Dashiell Hammett that has been described as a cross between the Thin Man and the Continental Op, The Fat Man features J. Scott Smart as private detective Brad Runyon, who looks into the murder of a dentist. The film is directed by William Castle, and its costars include Rock Hudson, Julie London, Jayne Meadows, Emmett Kelly, and Jerome Cowan.

Hammett's Secret Agent X-9 on BBC Radio 4 Extra.

Lloyd Bridges in
Secret Agent X-9 (1945)

This week, a dramatization of Secret Agent X-9—originally a comic-strip collaboration between Dashiell Hammett and artist Alex Raymond— airs on BBC Radio 4 Extra, starring Connie Booth. Episodes usually may be heard for up to a week after broadcast.

In Continental Op news, Hammett's Red Harvest was selected as part of the Library of Congress' "Books That Shaped America" exhibition.

Hammett Black Mask story on Selected Shorts.

Dashiell Hammett's Continental Op story "The Creeping Siamese" (1926) is featured on Selected Shorts, read by actor John Shea.

Red Harvest reaps at auction.

At the Bonhams June 10th auction of fine books and manuscripts, a 1929 first edition of Dashiell Hammett's Continental Op book Red Harvest—estimated at $5000—went for $27,450.

BTW, at this panel with Hammett biographer Richard Layman and others, you can learn why there is no film version of Red Harvest.

(Hat tip to PhiloBiblos)