Book Review: The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett

Stars: 4 out of 5
Pros: Good mystery and interesting characters

Cons: Lacks a bit of the charm and wit of the movie

The Bottom Line:

Plenty of great twists

Movie is more quick witted

Still a good, quick read

Thinner Laughs Than the Movie; Still Great Fun

Having watched all the movies in The Thin Man franchise in the last couple of years, I decided it was time to sit down and read the Dashiell Hammett book that started it all.  The Thin Man still works all these years later and is lots of fun in the process.

It's Christmas, and Nick and Nora Charles are spending Christmas in New York.  In the years before Nick married Nora, he worked New York as a private detective.  Now he devotes his time to managing Nora's wealth and drinking.

A few days before Christmas, he runs into Dorothy Wynant, the daughter of former client Clyde Wynant.  She's back in town trying to track down her father, but no one has heard from Clyde in months.  Then Clyde's secretary and sometimes lover is murder, with Clyde being the chief suspect.  Nick tries to stay out of the mystery, but suspects keep finding him to declare their innocence.  Nora, meanwhile, finds all this fascinating.  Will Nick find the killer?

The movie version and the franchise is started are well known and loved, not only for their mysteries but also for the laughs.  I've got to say I didn't find quite as much humor in the printed version of the characters.  Don't get me wrong, I did laugh a few times, but it was lacking the overall charm and wit of the movie.

However, the mystery was outstanding.  I've got to confess I really didn't remember many details of the plot, so most of the twists took me by surprise once again.  The final chapter that revealed many of the clues made me feel stupid since so many of them passed right over my head.

Nick and Nora are just as charming on page as they were on the screen.  Nora was actually involved in much of the story here, which I appreciated.  True, she didn't contribute much to the ultimate resolution, but it was still fun seeing her reactions to all the stuff happening around them.  The rest of the characters were very interesting.  Everyone was hiding something, so watching the layers being peeled was entertaining and kept me turning pages.

All of this was accomplished in close to 200 pages.  As you might imagine, there was very little wasted words here.  But I never had any trouble getting into the book.

The book was written in the early 1930's and is set as a "modern" book.  While it doesn't waste lots of time on the culture, it does provide a fun historical trip while painting a picture (probably mostly fantasy) of what life was like for the fortunate rich during this time.

Almost 70 years later, The Thin Man remains a mystery classic, and with good reason.  It's got a well plotted mystery filled with interesting characters.  If you enjoy mysteries, you owe it to yourself to read it.