Review of The Dain Curse: A Hardboiled Mystery

Today, we will be reviewing The Dain Curse by Dashiell Hammett, the second book in the Continental Op series. We will be traveling back to the 1920’s for this detective novel. Keep reading to find out what we thought of this novel and if you should read it too!

The Dain Curse Summary

The protagonist, only known to the reader as The Continental Op, is hired to investigate a theft of diamonds. The victims, The Leggett family, lives in San Francisco, and as The Continental Op investivates, learns of the Dain Curse. The husband, Edgar Leggett, is married to a Dain, making his daughter Gabrielle a Dain.

After doing some legwork, The Continental Op discovers a ruse and that Gabrielle is staying at a cult. He learns her dark secret and gets dragged deeper into the Dain Curse. He must ask himself if the curse is real and if not, who is the one behind it? And can he solve the case before his client is killed?

The Dain Curse Background

The Dain Curse was released in 1929 as a novel but before then, it was serialized in Black Mask magazine in 1928 and 1929. There was also a CBS television miniseries in 1978 which went on to be nominated for three Emmy Awards. The script went on to win the 1978 Edgar Award for Best Television Feature or Miniseries.

On the book’s Wikipedia page, there are 50 characters listed. And yes, it is hard to track all of them as you can imagine. This novel has too much going on and the fact that it has three different parts makes it hard to keep a track of everything.

Still, Hammett’s novel is interesting and you will want to know what is going on. There are a million plot twists and all I can say is good luck. I can see where modern thriller novels got their fascination for endless plot twists.

Commentary

Even despite the issues I had with the book, I enjoyed it a lot. Having read a few hardboiled fiction novels, I knew what I was in for. It is also important to remember that it was originally a serialized novel and the pacing would have been a lot different.

As you should expect, this hardboiled fiction book is filled with violence and murder. While I did enjoy this book, it isn’t one that will stick with me. The Maltese Falcon builds upon this novel and you can see Hammett learn in real time what work and what doesn’t.

We get to see the hardboiled fiction genre develop in this novel through Hammett’s writing. Hammett figures out his characters and his style of writing that many authors borrowed as this genre got more popular in the coming years. A sense of individualism that has come to define many detectives is seen throughout this novel.

Conclusion

I am no expert when it comes to hardboiled fiction novels. However, I have read a few and some of the more popular ones and know the tell tales of a good hardboiled fiction novel. The Dain Curse is a bit convoluted and has way too much going on.

But like any good mystery novel, Hammett leaves enough bread crumbs to guess who the villain is. The novel honestly feels like a lucid dream and I do wish it didn’t have too much going on. By the time you reach the final pages, you will try to remember all the events and it’s just too much.

The Dain Curse is a prequel to one of the best hardboiled fiction novels, The Maltese Falcon. While it isn’t part of The Continental Op world, you can see similar themes in both books. That alone should be enough reason to check it out if you are a fan. Otherwise, it isn’t a novel that I would recommend.

That may be unfair to Hammett as he was one of the early writers of hardboiled fiction books. He was still figuring out his writing style and the format that we have come to associate with hardboiled fiction books. But if you don’t care about that, then you won’t really care for this book. Until next time, happy reading!

Follow us on Instagram and Facebook