Welcome to a hard-boiled and not without noir blog with news and reviews, occasional outbursts of maniacal Autograph Hound activity, plus archival records from the forty-five year run of The Dashiell Hammett Tour. 
The Dashiell Hammett Tour
1977-2022
Arkham House Ephemera
The Classic Years 1937–1973
Death Lit
Essays and Reviews Selected from Fifty Years of Writing 1974–2024
Willeford
The Book
Category Archives: News
Rediscovered: Shiel and Floyd and an Absurd Adventure of Dennis McMillan
Just noticed a quick email from 2022 where Brian Leno told me: Came across a letter where Lawrence of Arabia — in his T. E. Shaw alias — tells a bookseller he will take a copy of Shiel’s The Purple … Continue reading
Posted in DMac, Lit, News
Tagged Brian Leno, Death Lit Essays and Reviews 1974-2024, Eddie Little, Floyd Salas, John D. Squires, Lawrence of Arabia, M. P. Shiel, Steve Eng
Hammett: A Jeopardy! Infiltration
Jeopardy! used a Hammett clew less than a week ago, but the legend and lore can muscle its way in any time. S42 E127, March 3,2026. The Final Jeopardy! shoot-out question in the category 20th Century Movie Memorabilia: In 2025 … Continue reading
Hammett: The Jutting Jaw of Jeopardy!
Once more the clew crew at Jeopardy! dips into the deep trough of the life and career of Dashiell Hammett to summon up hard-boiled ghosts of the past. Seas42 Ep124. February 26, 2026. First round. $400 clew. Category: First Lines … Continue reading
Rediscovered: Postcards from Sauk/Arkham
Brian Leno has decided to throw his collection of postcards promoting August Derleth and his home in Sauk City, Wisconsin onto the market. Search eBay for “August Derleth Signed Postcards” — though I guess technically only one card is signed. … Continue reading
Posted in Lit, News
Tagged Arkham House Ephemera The Classic Years 1937-1973, August Derleth, Autographs, Brian Leno
Rediscovered: Haefele Clarifies
In the recent post about The Due to the Death Series which John D. Haefele and I wrestled with, when we were wrapping up Arkham House Ephemera: The Classic Years, I quoted Haefele as saying that The Due to’s were … Continue reading
Rediscovered: The Morgman’s Long Trek Across the Blogosphere — a One-Morgman Wandering of the Tribes
Morgan “The Morgman” Holmes let me know that he’s got a post up on the George Sterling caveman novel I once reviewed here, and in which I invoked The Morgman Dictum. Only now he shows up on Substack. You may … Continue reading
Rediscovered: Eph Book Back to 7% Off
The last few days Amazon has had Eph Book — alias Arkham House Ephemera: The Classic Years — at 5% off. Today I see they’ve cut it a notch more to 7% off, and it’s in the top tier of … Continue reading
Rediscovered: Arkham Ephemera on the Block
Check out this notice from Todd Warren on Facebook that John D. Haefele just sent my way, as we keep loose track of what prices are being asked for Arkham House ephemera — you know, the items we cover in … Continue reading
Posted in Lit, News
Tagged Arkham House Ephemera The Classic Years 1937-1973, August Derleth, Book Collecting, Facebook, John D. Haefele, Todd Warren
Rediscovered: Eph Book Now 7% Off
Today I notice that Eph Book — a.k.a. Arkham House Ephemera: The Classic Years 1937-1973 — is up on Amazon for 7% off. Yesterday it was 6% off. If we were talking pork bellies, empires would shake.
