Joe Gores, former Private Investigator turned mystery writer and noted expert on the works of Dashiell Hammett, passed away on 1/12/11. Gores, a 3-time Edgar Award winner and past president of the Mystery Writers of America, was the author and creator of a hard-boiled mystery series set in San Francisco, the Daniel Kearny & Associates series. He was also the author of SPADE AND ARCHER, the novel that was the prequel to Hammett's Maltese Falcon.