Did he want her badly enough to commit murder? And if Madvig was innocent, which of his dozens of enemies was doing an awfully good job of framing him? Dashiell Hammett's tour de force of detective fiction combines an airtight plot, authentically venal characters, and writing of telegraphic crispness.

    Brush's risqué novel of a red headed vamp who steels her boss from his wife served as the basis for the ever popular pre-code Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer black and white talking film directed by Jack Conway and featuring Jean Harlow and Chester Morris.