The Maltese Falcon
The Maltese Falcon is a 1929 angel fiction novel by Dashiell Hammett. It takes readers to California and San Francisco in the 1940s. Characters include Sam Spade. Key subjects include private investigators, hard-boiled detectives, investigadores privados and private detectives.
Open Library readers give it an average of 3.4 out of 5 from 32 ratings, and 96 more have it on their want-to-read list. It has been published in 95 editions across 9 languages.
At about 254 pages, most readers finish it in 4–5 hours.
About The Maltese Falcon
Classic noir. Private detective Sam Spade is hired to search for a valuable, gem-encrusted antique in the shape of a falcon. Sam Spade is hired by the fragrant Miss Wonderley to track down her sister, who has eloped with a louse called Floyd Thursby. But Miss Wonderley is in fact the beautiful and treacherous Brigid O'Shaughnessy, and when Spade's partner Miles Archer is shot while on Thursby's trail, Spade finds himself both hunter and hunted: can he track down the jewel-encrusted bird, a treasure worth killing for, before the Fat Man finds him?
Opening line
“Samuel Spade's jaw was long and bony, his chin a jutting v under the more flexible v of his mouth.”
Quick answers
Who wrote The Maltese Falcon?
The Maltese Falcon was written by Dashiell Hammett and first published in 1929.
What genre is The Maltese Falcon?
It is usually shelved as Angel Fiction.
How long is The Maltese Falcon?
The median edition has 254 pages, about 4–5 hours of reading at 250 words per minute.
What books are similar to The Maltese Falcon?
Readers who like it often enjoy DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS (Easy Rawlins Mysteries), The Big Sleep and The High Window.
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