The Thin Man (Vintage crime/Black Lizard) (Penguin crime fiction) (Pocket Penguin Classics)

by Dashiell Hammett

Dashiell Hammett's classic The Thin Man introduced the world to Nick and Nora Charles, further made famous by the popular Thin Man films. With a new introduction by Denise Mina.

Nick Charles seems to find trouble wherever he goes. He thinks his sleuthing days are behind him when Julia Wolf, a former acquaintance, turns up dead. Nick—thanks to some persuasion from his enchanting wife, Nora—finds himself falling back into old habits and making a few polite inquiries. The prime suspect, Julia’s lover and boss Clyde Miller Wynant, has vanished without a trace. Everyone is after him, but Nick is not so sure Wynant is the culprit. And when another dubious figure bursts into their bedroom, waving a loaded handgun, it seems Nick and Nora’s adventure is only just beginning. 

Nick and Nora Charles are among Dashiell Hammett’s most alluring creations: a rich, glamourous couple who solve homicides in between wisecracks and martinis. At once knowing and unabashedly romantic, The Thin Man is a murder mystery that doubles as a sophisticated comedy of manners.

• ISBN10: 0679722637
• ISBN13: 9780679722632
• Publish Date: 17 July 1989 (first published 1 January 1934)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Random House USA Inc
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 224
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780679722632

Reviews

[wyvernfriend]

Once an investigator ... always an investigator.  Nick thought he had left all that investigation stuff behind him but it keeps chasing him down and insisting he gets involved, sometimes at the wrong end of a gun.
 
Oh man they put away a lot of booze.  I remember this from the film (and now I want to watch it again) This book is well-served by the film and in fact the snappy dialogue reads like it should be a film script.
 
Nick and Nora Charles are spending their Christmas and New Year in New York and are pulled into a missing man mystery where Nick knew the man back when he was a detective and he is reluctant to leave his luxurious life behind to get caught up in shenanigans.
 
Oh man, the liver damage if you sipped a drink every time a drink is mentioned.  They spend their day well-pickled.
 
I liked it, honestly preferred the movie but it was a fun read.
 
It falls into the Classic Noir and Murder most Foul squares but I'm going to use Classic Noir for this one.

[Michael @ Knowledge Lost]

Drinking, flirting and murder. Former detective Nick Charles is a cynical but overall decent man, his with wife, Nora, a clever woman who almost forces Nick into this case. This classic hard-boiled novel isn’t the strongest Dashiell Hammett offering but has a sense of making fun of the genre.