This was Hammett's first novel, and it shows.

The first part of the book originated as a short story and focuses on the murder of the editor of Personville, California's newspaper. The editor had just hired the Continental Detective agency to look into a few irregularities in Personville (or Poisonville, as the locals call it). Unfortunately, the editor is shot before he meets the Continental operative (whom I will call "The Op" -- Hammet never named this detective that appears in several short stories and novels). The newspaper's publisher (who is also the editor's father) hires the Continental Op to find the editor's murder. The Op finds the murderer and wraps everything up -- only the book doesn't end.

In the second part of the book, The Op cleans up Poisonville, after tricking the publisher into financing the rest of his investigation. Pay close attention to the reasons The Op gives for continuing his investigation -- it is the crucial link between the two halves of the story, and the best insight into The Op's character in this book. The second part of the book is more interesting than the first -- The Op proves to be expert in the various arts of manipulation, and the web he weaves is as fascinating as it is complicated.

I do wish that I had made a "cheat sheet" at the beginning of the book (something I frequently do with mysteries) as the various characters and their relationships became quite confusing toward the end. Although the prose is definitely Hammett-esque, it is obvious that this is an early work. There are more explanations and connections in this novel than in The Maltese Falcon -- Hammett doesn't make the reader work quite so hard (which is a pity, really). Hammett's vivid analogies and descriptions are all here though, which makes it a fun read.

You may already be familiar with the story in this novel. Red Harvest was the basis for several well known movies, including Kurosawa's Yojimbo, Clint Eastwood's A Fistful of Dollars and the Bruce Willis movie Last Man Standing.