The MWA-SoCal meeting in October featured Dashiell Hammett's daughter, Jo, and granddaughter, Julie Rivett, in conversation with author-Wall Street Journal mystery reviewer Tom Nolan. The engaging conversation among the three Edgar-nominees was insightful and, in numerous instances, remarkable for its candor. From left: Julie Rivett, Jo Hammett, Tom Nolan.

Jo and Julie with chapter president Bob, who presided at the session that also featured an eye-popping display of original Dash Hammett artifacts, including love letters, pages from the only known surviving Hammett galley proof (from The Dain Curse), a promotional flyer for The Thin Man, and the last-known photo taken of Dash, at Martha's Vineyard in 1960.

Dash's kin with Tom Sawyer, whose decision to become a writer of mysteries was influenced by his multiple readings of The Maltese Falcon.