The Maltese Falcon
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The Maltese Falcon
Dashiell Hammett
Mystery & Suspense
James Mustich
Aug 23, 2018
Dashiell Hammett is largely credited with the invention of the modern hard-boiled detective novel, wherein a crime is a crime, rather than a peripheral plot device, and a private detective is a tough-talking guy who solves it for cash. The Maltese Falcon is Hammett’s best work, not least because its protagonist is the now-archetypal private eye, Sam Spade. Hired by a femme fatale under false pretenses—Brigid O’Shaughnessy initially claims to be a Miss Wonderly, searching for her missing sister—Spade eventually learns that what she’s really after is a precious statuette of a falcon, said to be gold and jewel encrusted under its nondescript surface. By the time he discovers this, however, his partner, Archer, and the man Archer was tailing at Miss Wonderly’s behest are both dead, and Spade is suspected of killing them.
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Beth Powers
Nov 28, 2018
Can't remember
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Steve Jump
Dec 2, 2018
Still my favorite hard-boiled.
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John Fields
Mar 26, 2019
this and the Thin Man are some of the best detective stories, only challenged by Nero Wolfe
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Chris
Apr 13, 2019
The quintessential, American hard-boiled crime story.
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Jessica
Dec 12, 2024
classic
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