A diamond glinting in the grass outside the Leggetts’ front door gives the first clue to a burglary, and sets our narrator on the trail of a shadowy mastermind whose plans always seem one step ahead. But whether he’s having to deal with explosions, cults, car chases, or even the titular Dain family curse, our hard-boiled private detective remains calm and collected while inching closer to the truth.

The unnamed narrator of The Dain Curse (known these days by the nickname of the Continental Op ) is a detective who found his genesis among the pages of Black Mask magazine in 1923. This publication, from 1929, is a collection of four previously serialized interlinked short stories, and followed Red Harvest in a busy year for Dashiell Hammett .