Classic anniversaries

At one end of the spectrum, there’s the continuing celebration of the 75th anniversary of The Maltese Falcon:

When Dashiell Hammett wrote “The Maltese Falcon” back in 1930, he put San Francisco on the map for fans of detective fiction. Not only did he introduce the tough, wisecracking private eye Sam Spade to legions of readers, but he made the city of San Francisco an armchair destination for readers around the world.

Now, three-quarters of a century later, is the ideal time to be a gumshoe traveler: Put on your walking shoes and sleuth out the scene in the city Hammett and Spade called home. As Hammett’s granddaughter Julie Rivett put it recently, “When you walk up Powell (Street) and visit the scenes my grandfather wrote about, it does make you feel connected to the work – and to him.”

     Rivett was here to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the publication of “The Maltese Falcon.” She was joined by her mother, Jo Hammett (Dashiell’s daughter), and several other members of the Hammett clan. Also on hand were Richard Layman, author of “Shadow Man: The Life of Dashiell Hammett,” and veteran mystery writer Joe Gores, author of “Hammett: A Novel.”

The Hammetts and Layman agreed the place to stay for Hammett fans is Hotel Union Square (rates from about $89; 800-553-1900; www.hotelunionsquare.com). Located at 114 Powell St., between the square it is named for and the tourist-packed trolley turn-around, it was once known as The Golden West Hotel. Hammett’s wife-to-be, Josephine Dolan, spent the night before their wedding there in 1921.

It’s also been 75 years since the first Miss Marple novel was published, and with that, Agatha Christie Week will soon be underway:

The enduring mystery of Agatha Christie may be why, nearly 90 years since she was first published, the novelist remains the world’s most popular crime writer. Since 1920, when Christie published The Mysterious Affairs at Styles, two billion of her books have been sold, a number surpassed only by the Bible and Shakespeare’s plays.

Agatha Christie Week coincides with the 115th anniversary of Christie’s birth and the 75th anniversary of the publication of the first Miss Marple novel. The week starts at the British Library (13 September) with “75 years of Miss Marple: Murder, Mystery and Mayhem”, giving scholars and enthusiasts the chance to debate her relevance.

Hosted by The Independent’s Johann Hari, the panel of Christie experts will include the crime writer Val McDermid; Kevin Elyot, whose adaptation of And Then There Were None opens in the West End this autumn; and Laura Thompson, who is writing the first authorised biography of Christie for 25 years.                                              

Now, if only we could get a crystal ball to see which current crime writers will have this staying power 75 years from now….