Order of Dashiell Hammett Books
Dashiell Hammett (1894-1961) was an American author of hardboiled crime fiction. He is best known for creating the characters Sam Spade, Nick & Nora Charles and the Continental Op. Before becoming an author, Hammett was a Pinkerton agent, which he drew upon as an author. He said, “all my characters were based on people I’ve known personally, or known about.” Although he died in 1961, his career was over in 1934. He dedicated the remainder of his life to left-wing activism and anti-fascism.
Dashiell Hammett’s first published story was The Gatewood Caper, published in 1923. His first novel was Red Harvest, published in 1929. His final novel, The Thin Man, was published in 1934. All of his novels were originally published in 3-to-5 part serials in pulp magazines. Below is a list of Dashiell Hammett’s books in order of when they were originally published:
Publication Order of Detective Sam Spade Books
| The Maltese Falcon | (1930) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com | ||
| Return of the Maltese Falcon | (2026) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com | ||
+ Show All Books in this Series | ||||
Publication Order of Peter Collinson Short Stories/Novellas
(as Peter Collinson)
| The Barber and His Wife | (1922) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| The Road Home | (1922) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| The Sardonic Star of Tom Doody | (1923) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| The Vicious Circle | (1923) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Arson Plus | (1923) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Slippery Fingers | (1923) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Laughing Masks / When Luck's Running Good | (1923) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Itchy / Itchy the Debonair | (1924) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
Publication Order of Standalone Novels
| Red Harvest | (1929) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| The Dain Curse | (1929) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| The Glass Key | (1931) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Woman In The Dark | (1933) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| The Thin Man | (1934) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| They Can Only Hang You Once | (1944) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas
| The Barber and His Wife | (1922) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| The Road Home | (1922) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| The Sardonic Star of Tom Doody | (1923) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| The Vicious Circle | (1923) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Arson Plus | (1923) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Slippery Fingers | (1923) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Laughing Masks / When Luck's Running Good | (1923) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Itchy / Itchy the Debonair | (1924) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| The Hunter | (2013) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
Publication Order of Short Story Collections
| The Adventures of Sam Spade and Other Stories | (1944) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| A Man Called Spade | (1944) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Hammett Homicides | (1946) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Dead Yellow Woman | (1947) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Creeping Siamese and Other Stories | (1950) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Nightmare Town and Other Stories | (1950) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| The Big Knockover | (1966) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| The Continental Op | (1974) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Dashiell Hammett: Crime Stories and Other Writings | (2001) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Dashiell Hammett: A Retrospective Anthology | (2004) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Vintage Hammett | (2005) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Lost Stories | (2005) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| Return of the Thin Man | (2012) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| The Hunter and Other Stories | (2013) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| The Continental Op Casebook, Vol. 1 | (2025) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books
| Selected Letters of Dashiell Hammett: 1921-1960 | (2002) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| The Crime Wave | (2007) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
Publication Order of Selected Shorts Books
| For Better and for Worse | (1993) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com | ||
| Even More Laughs | (1998) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com | ||
| Timeless Classics | (2006) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com | ||
| Falling in Love | (2007) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com | ||
| Food Fictions | (2007) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com | ||
| Travel Tales | (2007) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com | ||
| Edith Wharton | (2007) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com | ||
| Pets! | (2007) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com | ||
| Tales of Betrayal | (2007) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com | ||
| Family Matters | (2007) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com | ||
| Are We There Yet? | (2008) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com | ||
| A Touch of Magic | (2009) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com | ||
| The William Hurt Collection | (2009) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com | ||
| Whodunit? | (2009) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com | ||
| American Classics | (2010) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com | ||
| New American Stories | (2011) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com | ||
| Poe! | (2012) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com | ||
+ Show All Books in this Series | ||||
Publication Order of Anthologies
Notes: The Big Knockover was also published as $106,000 Blood Money. Lost Stories also contains contributions by Vince Emery and Joe Gores. Creeps by Night was also published as Modern Tales of Horror.
If You Like Dashiell Hammett Books, You’ll Love…
Shop Worldwide: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca
