The Glass Key by Dashiell Hammett

Ned Beaumont is a gambler and political follower of political boss Paul Madvig in an unnamed city which is run by a corrupt government. Paul Madvig is supporting senator Ralph Henry in his re-election campaign, and he also has his eye on Henry's daughter, Janet Henry. Henry's son, Taylor Henry, is found murdered. At first it is believed that the murder was the result of a robbery, but later suspicion falls on Paul Madvig.

Ned Beaumont sets out to establish that Madvig did not commit the murder. Along the way, he is beaten up by henchman of Shad O'Rory another political boss who is competing with Madvig for control of the city. Mysterious letters are sent to Ned Beaumont and many others involved with this crime and these letters strongly imply that Paul Madvig is the murderer. Ned Beaumont, in time,  will find the author of the letters and the real murderer.

This book is a classic and was said to be Dashiell Hammett's favorite among his own writings. This crime is not solved by a detective but by a private citizen who is certainly not well meaning or above reproach. Ned Beaumont, who is called by his full name throughout the book, is tall, has a mustache, and eyes capable of an incredible gamut of emotions. This book really does not deal with the motivations or emotions of Ned Beaumont or any of the other characters. The book was published in 1930.

I am afraid that this type of hard-boiled mystery novel is not my favorite, and that I have not really read enough of this type of book to make an informed comparison of this book with others. Criticisms and analyses are available on the internet for someone who wants to dig deeper into this.  

This book has twice been made into movies. The first was in 1935 and starred George Raft as Ned Beaumont, and Edward Arnold as Paul Madvig. The second was in 1942 and starred Alan Ladd as Ned Beaumont, Brian Donleavy as Paul Madvig, and Veronica Lake as Janet Henry.