Oops, I answered this yesterday. Yes, it reminded me of Hemingway.

I guess I sort of answered this yesterday, too. I saw a similarity to Nelson Algren.

Yes, I would agree but mostly in terms of subject matter, in Hammett's focus on street folks whether petty criminals or the cops chasing them around and also in the political perspective that underlies the story. Both men are strong advocates for those occupying the bottom rungs of society. But his writing is not beautiful in the way Algren's is beautiful as in Algren's opening to The Man with the Golden Arm, "The captain never drank. Yet, towards nightfall in that smoke-colored season between Indian summer and December's first true snow, he would sometimes feel half drunken. He would hang his coat neatly over the back of his chair in in the leaden station-house twilight, say he was beat from lack of sleep and lay his head across his arms upon the query-room desk."

I haven't read a lot of detective stories but my guess is that Hammett invented himself, or what I mean more properly he invented his way of writing which is an amazing thing for a writer to do. And that the similarities that exist are in the genre writers that followed him. I guess we should compare him to people like Chandler? And I see a lot more lyricism in Daniel Depp's writing, more in the first book perhaps.

In the end perhaps Hammett's writing is less about the construction of style and more about the invention of a perspective and these minimalist sketches whereby he creates a character.

It is the "minimalist" part that I see, too, firefly.
Like Hemingway, he doesn't use a lot of words. I still think his writing is closer to a play than a novel (though nothing like the only play we've read, The Libertine!)

I agree. And I much preferred Algren's writing to Hammett's.

Earl Stanley Gardner. I think the Perry Mason inventor was a much better mystery writer.

I too was reminded of the Daniel Depp style of writing (minus the @#!! language ). The difference is that Hammett's main charators seemed much happier in their lives. The light-heartedness of some of the conversations brought alot of humor to the story.

Phones do that too. I didn't know that you could post from a Kindle.

Autocorrect can be a funny thing!