The Glass Key

This article is about the 1931 novel by Dashiell Hammett. For the 1935 film adaptation, see The Glass Key (1935 film). For the 1942 film adaptation, see The Glass Key (1942 film). For other uses, see The Glass Key (disambiguation).
The Glass Key
Cover of the first edition
AuthorDashiell Hammett
LanguageEnglish
GenreCrime
Published1931 (Alfred A. Knopf)
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (hardcover)
Pages214
Preceded byThe Maltese Falcon 
Followed byThe Thin Man 

The Glass Key is a novel by American writer Dashiell Hammett. First published as a serial in Black Mask magazine in 1930, it then was collected in 1931 (in London; the American edition followed 3 months later). It tells the story of a gambler and racketeer, Ned Beaumont, whose devotion to Paul Madvig, a crooked political boss, leads him to investigate the murder of a local senator's son as a potential gang war brews. Hammett dedicated the novel to his onetime lover Nell Martin.

There have been two US film adaptations (1935 and 1942) of the novel. A radio adaptation starring Orson Welles aired on March 10, 1939, as part of his Campbell Playhouse series.[1] The book was also a major influence on the Coen brothers' 1990 film Miller's Crossing, which features a similar scenario.

The Glass Key Award (in Swedish, Glasnyckeln), named after the novel, has been presented annually since 1992 for the best crime novel by a Scandinavian writer.

  1. ^ The Mercury Theatre on the Air