Did you red “The Glass Key” by Hammett? It’s one of my favorites and the lead character, Ned Beaumont is really a stand up guy. I must have read that book six times.
Yeah - read it fairly recently - I think it was reviewed in the WSJ and that made me want to read it. My take (as imperfect as it is) was that Hammett was doing for Baltimore what Chandler did so well for LA - give one a sense of place and time that is post-modern and showing the corruption in all it’s glory and beauty.
‘The Glass Key.’ Just put it on my Library request list. Thanks!