During May, the Everett Public Library, in conjunction with Sno-Isle Libraries, promoted a program called “The Big Read.” This program was designed to celebrate the 115th birthday of Dashiell Hammett, who is given credit for being the father of the modern private eye/”gumshoe” mystery novel.

All participants were to read the same novel — “The Maltese Falcon,” authored by Hammett. A number of activities related to this specific mystery novel as well as mystery novels in general were held at the Everett Library and other libraries throughout Snohomish County. The kickoff was a guest speaker appearance by Julie Rivett, granddaughter of Hammett. Other activities included a mystery writing workshop for adults, a workshop in creating the supernatural mystery for teens, a seminar with an associate medical examiner, a CSI-styled exploration of the crimes in the “The Maltese Falcon,” led by Washington State Patrol crime scene investigator JoAnne Marzowski and forensic scientist Karen Crary. In addition, a number of mystery movies were shown.

I would like to thank the Everett and Snohomish libraries for providing the reader with such enjoyable and well-planned activities. I hope that this is not the last of such projects.

Bob Barker

Snohomish