The Maltese Falcon

By Dashiell Hammett

FEATURING THE CHARACTER THAT INSPIRED THE AMC SERIES MONSIEUR SPADE STARRING CLIVE OWEN

ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE'S 100 BEST MYSTERY AND THRILLER BOOKS OF ALL TIME

Detective Sam Spade is a private eye with his own solitary code of ethics. When his partner is killed during a stakeout, he is drawn into the hunt for a fantastic treasure with a dubious provenance—a golden bird encrusted with jewels. Also on the trail are a perfumed grifter named Joel Cairo, an oversized adventurer named Gutman, and Spade’s new client Brigid O’Shaughnessy, a beautiful and treacherous woman whose loyalties shift at the drop of a dime. 

These are the ingredients of Dashiell Hammett’s coolly glittering gem of detective fiction, a novel that has haunted generations of readers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Dec 29, 2010
• ISBN: 9780307767516

Dashiell Hammett

Dashiell Hammett (May 27, 1894 – January 10, 1961) is widely recognized as one of the finest mystery writers of all time and, along with Raymond Chandler and others, is considered to be a founder of the hard-boiled school of detective fiction. Hammett drew heavily on his experience as a Pinkerton operative to create such indelible characters as The Thin Man’s Nick and Nora Charles, Sam Spade, and the Continental Op. Among his best-known works are The Maltese Falcon, Red Harvest, and The Dain Curse, all of which have been adapted for film or television.