Red Harvest, published in 1929, is a seminal work by Dashiell Hammett, a pioneer of hard-boiled detective fiction. It features the Continental Op, a shrewd and relentless private investigator, as he arrives in the corrupt mining town of Personville, nicknamed 'Poisonville.' Initially hired to clean up the town, the Op finds himself navigating a treacherous landscape of gangsters, corrupt officials, and brutal murders. Using manipulation and psychological insight, he incites a bloody gang war to dismantle the entrenched criminal power structure. With its sharp prose and unflinching exploration of violence and moral ambiguity, Red Harvest remains a cornerstone of the genre.