Book Review: Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett

Book Review

Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett

     The trickster archetype is one that has shown up in the mythologies of various cultures, across time, and throughout human history. One aspect of the trickster symbola are that they show up in a world gone wrong, make mischief and create chaos until the society collapses; when the dust settles a state of order, where things are put to right, can be returned to once again. The nameless detective in Dashiell Hammett’s first novel Red Harvest is just such a character.

     The story’s protagonist gets sent by San Francisco’s Continental Detective Agency to a town named Personville, known as Poisonville by those who live there. Donald Wilsson, the owner of the town’s newspaper, requests his presence without saying why. When they agree to meet, he never shows up and soon we learn he was murdered. The quick thinking detective solves the case effortlessly and almost instantly. Early in the book, an experienced reader of detective fiction might wonder what is left if the murder case gets solved at the beginning. And so begins the unpredictably wild ride of a story that Red Harvest is.

     Elihu Wilsson, the man who founded Poisonville as a base of operations for a mining company, summons the detective to his bedside where he rests, due to illness and advanced age. He had given the newspaper to his son Donald in an effort to rid the town of the gangsters that had taken over. The town’s criminals were initially brought to Personville by Elihu Wilsson to act as strongmen for his company when the Wobblies came in to strike. After a few skirmishes, the labor unionists were chased out of town but the thugs decided to stay and now Elihu Wilsson had lost control over their activities. He does not know he is in for more trouble when he hires the detective to rid Poisonville of these pests once and for all.

     In the middle of all this mess is a woman named Dinah Brand, a gold digger who dresses up in threadbare clothes and seemingly dates every goon with money she can get her hands on. The detective befriends her and begins collecting information from her as well as Noonan, the corrupt chief of police, and McSwain, a small-time grifter he meets on the street. The detective begins spreading rumors and lies throughout the underworld to sow confusion. Poisonville erupts into a brutal series of murders, blood lettings, and gun fights that leave piles of corpses wherever the detective shows up. He plans on turning all the thugs against each other until everyone is dead and Elihu Wilsson’s wish to sea his town free from evil is accomplished. Neither Elihu Wilsson or the detective act out of moral conviction; Wilsson wants to regain control of the rackets and corruption whereas the detective wants revenge on Noonan for trying to get him shot during an ambush at the start of all the gang wars. At one point, the detective realizes he is no better than the criminals he is associating with; the only thing that sets him apart is that he wants them all dead whereas they all want to survive.

     Red Harvest is an intriguing read. For one thing, it is a treasure trove of underworld lingo, some of which may seem cliché today because of movies and books; but reading it as a part of a narrative like this really keeps the slang alive in an interesting way. Also the plot twists start early and continue on through to the last chapter; so many unexpected corners get turned that the reader may feel as if they have gotten hopelessly lost in Poisonville and will never get out. Another source of confusion is the number of shady people that the detective easily associates with even though they mostly all get killed soon after they meet. There are points where the narrative gets muddled because it is hard to keep track of the body count and who is allied to who when the shootouts take place. The novel’s biggest problem is that it seems a little far fetched at times but Red Harvest is ultimately a fantasy and a fast paced and brutally violent one at that. It stays interesting throughout and can help prepare the reader for Dashiell Hammett’s later masterpieces The Thin Man and The Maltese Falcon. The darkly swaggering and fearless nature of this book can intrigue anyone be they a jaded reader or a youngster looking for an entry into the world of hard boiled detective fiction.

     It is best not to let a few clunky parts of the story turn you off to Red Harvest; they are just some bumps and potholes in the road. It is a rough and dangerous ride anyways. That is probably why you would want to read it in the first place. 

Hammett, Dashiell. Red Harvest. Vintage Crime/Black Lizard Vintage Books, New York: 1992.