Dashiell Hammett is known as the master of hardboiled detective stories. This is fitting, as Hammett was a detective himself for several years just before World War I, which inspired his stories, especially The Thin Man. The main character of The Thin Man is Nick Charles, a former detective who spends his time managing his wife’s assets and drinking. Despite the constant prodding of other characters in the novel, Nick never commits himself to being a private investigator in the case of the murder of Julia Wolf, nor does he take the title for the crimes executed due to Wolf’s murder and the events surrounding it. The Thin Man demonstrates most of the characteristics of a hardboiled detective story-the main character is unemotional and witty, the supporting characters are shady, and the text reads like a film noir. The most heavily emphasized conventions Hammett applies in the novel, however, are basic and effective: the story involves the investigations of multiple crimes discovered while the main character investigates the initial crime, the number of suspects grows with every chapter, and the mention and use of alcohol is present throughout the story.

The Thin Man is centered around the murder of a woman named Julia Wolf. A girl named Dorothy Wynant approaches Nick in a speakeasy, asking after her father, the inventor Clyde Wynant, whom Nick was once friends with. Nick and his wife, Nora, then become involved with the entire Wynant family and their associations with the murder of Wolf, Clyde’s secretary. Nick, Nora, and the reader are introduced to many colorful characters and potential suspects, including John Nunheim, a police informant who flees his apartment upon being questioned by Nick and police Lieutenant Guild. The story turns, as Nunheim is later found dead. Clyde’s ex-wife, Mimi, has remarried to a man named Jorgensen. Jorgensen is later discovered to be a man named Victor Rosewater, who once accused Clyde of stealing an invention and threatened to kill Clyde and his family. Jorgensen is also discovered to have another wife in another city, making him guilty of bigamy-not an affair the investigators are terribly concerned with originally, but a crime nonetheless. Another crime not even mentioned is the consumption of alcohol, as the story takes place during Prohibition. All of the characters are guilty of drinking. The most surprising crime, however, is not discovered until the very end of the novel. The police continue to cross suspects off of their list, while the remaining ones incriminate themselves further and further. Following Nick’s continual hinting to do so, the police finally search the workshop of Clyde Wynant for information on the Wolf murder, and on Clyde’s whereabouts, as he hasn’t been physically seen over the course of the story. After ransacking the shop, the cops find nothing, and decide to dig up the floor. Upon this, the police discover the bones and clothing of a man hidden under the cement. The cops and others who gathered are stunned and oblivious as to who the dead man could be. Nick solves the case, however, by noting the continual absence of Clyde, and the motives of Clyde’s attorney, Macaulay. In the case of Clyde’s death, Macaulay is to be left with powers of attorney. Clyde accumulated considerable assets in his lifetime due to his inventions, and greed got the best of Macaulay. “’He killed Wynant and he killed Julia and he killed Nunheim,’” Nick concludes (192). Hammett causes his characters to fumble around in the dark, which grows considerably darker due to the continual addition of crimes committed. This use of hardboiled convention adds to Hammett’s repertoire as the master of the detective novel.

Since the novel centers around a murder (a staple in the world of the hardboiled detective), suspects don’t stop appearing until the very end of the story, when the case is solved. The initial suspect in the murder of Julia Wolf is Clyde Wynant, as he has a history of being “batty as hell” (10). The next suspect introduced is Mimi Jorgensen. Mimi is the possible murderer because Clyde had an affair with Wolf which broke up his marriage, and Mimi has a tendency for dramatics and hysterical anger. The gangster Shep Morelli is suspected of the murder because he was Wolf’s boyfriend. Nunheim may have done it because he came into frequent contact with Wolf and secretly had feelings for her. Gilbert, Clyde and Mimi’s son, is a suspect, as well as his sister, Dorothy, because Wolf broke up their family and would have had information pertaining to Clyde’s recent whereabouts. Clyde’s sister, Alice, may have committed the murder due to a series of disputes she and Clyde had. Lieutenant Guild offers no alibi at any point, making him a (slightly less likely) suspect, and most other policemen are also viewed as suspects by Nick, as he generally finds cops to be corrupt. While the reader most likely follows Nick’s train of thought as to who committed the crime, Nick himself is suspected of the murder by other characters. The multiplication of suspects in this novel occurs so rapidly that Hammett, being self-aware, makes his characters joke about it. Nora asks Nick who he thinks murdered Julia Wolf, to which Nick replies, “Mimi Jorgensen, Wynant, Nunheim, Gilbert, Dorothy, Aunt Alice, Morelli, you, me, or Guild. Maybe Studsy did it” (92). The irony of the case’s resolution is that the actual murderer is hardly suspected until the very end of the novel. Nick trusts Herbert Macaulay with almost all of the information he discovers, unwittingly allowing Macaulay to continue to cover his murderous tracks. Ultimately, though, the unofficial detective cracks the case and surprises all involved (including the reader) with the outcome. Hammett’s use of believable suspects, each with an abundance of motive, is a textbook example of hardboiled detective convention.

The Thin Man begins in a speakeasy and ends with the main character complaining that “this excitement has put [he and his wife] behind on [their] drinking” (201). In this novel, Hammett takes the hardboiled convention of frequent drinking to a whole new level. The semi-hero of the story, Nick, is rarely seen without a drink in hand, and if he is, he’s usually suggesting the quickest way in which he can obtain one. More than once in the novel, Nick wakes up to Nora’s suggestion of breakfast, complains that it is too early for food, and says, “How about a drop of something to cut the phlegm?” (10, 153). Almost all of the characters vital to the story are met in speakeasies, since, again, the story is set during Prohibition. Even after becoming involved with the mysteries presented, Nick often drops working on the case to go out to clubs and speakeasies for drinks. Out of thirty-one chapters in the novel, only six don’t contain the use or mention of alcohol. Hammett’s use of this hardboiled convention is extreme, but effective in its constancy.

The Thin Man doesn’t fit all hardboiled detective story conventions. The story isn’t centered on a MacGuffin, as Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon and many other hardboiled stories are. The main character doesn’t have sex with any of the women involved, other than his wife (if the reader goes far enough to assume that he has sex with her). The main character never claims to be a detective or a private investigator, in fact, he refuses to accept the titles when they are forced on him by others. On the other hand, the main character is highly paranoid and believes no one. He smokes hordes of cigarettes, and is wittier than the other characters combined. Obviously, as well, the novel is ripe with crime, suspects, and alcohol use. Through the use of many well-known conventions, Dashiell Hammett’s The Thin Man stands firm as a hardboiled detective novel.