Arson Plus

Arson Plus is a short story by Dashiell Hammett, first published in the October 1, 1923 issue of Black Mask. It marks the debut of the Continental Op, the nameless operative who would help define hard-boiled detective fiction.

The case begins when an insurance company brings the Op in on a suspicious farmhouse fire that left its owner presumed dead. Local officials quickly determine the blaze was set—gasoline everywhere—and the investigation pivots to possible insurance fraud.

Following leads from San Francisco into Sacramento County, the Op works the case with methodical legwork and sharp, skeptical interviews. Paper trails, dead-end alibis, and shifting identities stack up until the clues snap into place with an “a-ha” twist that reframes everything.

Lean, unsentimental, and driven by procedure, the story showcases Hammett’s emerging style—crime stripped to its essentials—and lays groundwork for the author’s later landmark works. It’s a compact introduction to the Op’s world and a cornerstone of the hard-boiled tradition.

"This is a detective story you’ll have a hard time solving before the end. Form your ideas of the outcome as you go along and then see how near you guessed it."