Red Harvest · Chapters

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Chapter companions for Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett.

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Chapter 1
Dedication
The book is dedicated to Joseph Thompson Shaw.
Chapter 2
Red Harvest
The narrator, a detective from the Continental Op, arrives in the corrupt mining town of Personville, also known as Poisonville, and is drawn into a web of violence, deception, and power struggles after being hired by the local newspaper owner.
Chapter 3
I: A Woman in Green and a Man in Gray
The narrator arrives in Personville, a grim mining town, and meets Donald Willsson's wife at his home. After a tense wait, Mrs. Willsson leaves abruptly and returns with blood on her slipper. The narrator later learns Donald Willsson has been murdered, and begins to uncover the town's corrupt power structure through a conversation with Bill Quint.
Chapter 4
II: The Czar of Poisonville
The narrator reads about Donald Willsson's murder in the Morning Herald, then spots Whisper Thaler entering the victim's house and decides to visit Elihu Willsson instead. He meets the old man, who blames his daughter-in-law for the murder and refuses to consider political motives. The narrator later interviews Donald's secretary, who reveals the strained relationship between father and son over the reform campaign.
Chapter 5
III: Dinah Brand
The narrator investigates Dinah Brand, the recipient of a $5,000 check from the murdered Donald Willsson. He learns from bank cashier Albury that she is a mercenary but oddly compelling woman, and that she deposited the check the morning after the murder. Police Chief Noonan reveals Dinah is the woman of Whisper Thaler, a local gambler. The narrator and Noonan interview Mrs. Willsson, who admits she received a threatening phone call from a man with a hoarse whisper—likely Thaler. Later, Albury shares his own past with Dinah, describing her as money-mad yet capable of unexpected decency, as she prevented him from embezzling. The narrator also meets Bill Quint, a radical who knew Dinah and Donald, and who cynically suggests Dinah killed Willsson.

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Dedication

Red Harvest

I: A Woman in Green and a Man in Gray

II: The Czar of Poisonville

III: Dinah Brand