BookRank

Reading order

The Continental Op reading order

Dashiell Hammett

  1. Red Harvest1929
  2. The Dain Curse1929
  3. Corkscrew and Other Stories: Collected Case Files of the Continental Op: The Middle Years, Volume 3
7.67.6 / 10
86 ratings
Score
3 volumes
Volumes
1929
Published
Completed
Status
Crime & mystery
Genre

Quick answer

Red Harvest
Start withRed Harvest1929 · Volume 1 of 3
Open the volume →Buy the first volumeListen to the audiobook

Affiliate link: buying through it supports BookRank at no extra cost to you.

Publication order

3 volumes1929Completed

  • Dashiell Hammett, a former Pinkerton detective, created the hard-boiled detective with the Continental Op, a short, stout, nameless operative of a San Francisco agency.
  • In Red Harvest, the one most read, he cleans up a corrupt mining town nicknamed Poisonville by setting its gangs against one another until the bodies pile up; its plot has echoed through gangster and samurai films ever since.
  • The Dain Curse and the collected stories follow.
  • Start with Red Harvest.

Every volume in order

Read: 0 of 3
  1. Red Harvest
    Red Harvest1929 · 86 ratingsStart here
    7.67.6 / 10
  2. The Dain Curse
    The Dain Curse1929 · 17 ratings · Not ranked yetBuy
    –Not ranked yet

Order checked by hand · Order and years: Wikidata (CC0). Spotted an error? Tell us. · Data updated October 29, 2026

Frequently asked questions

Which The Continental Op book is the longest?

“The Dain Curse” is the longest at 231 pages; the shortest is “Red Harvest” with 226 pages.