The Maltese Falcon

A San Francisco gumshoe searches for a treasure to die for in this classic hardboiled crime novel, one of Time’s 100 Best Mystery and Thriller Books of All Time.

A seasoned private eye like Sam Spade is no stranger to the potential risks that come with each case, but even he is caught off guard when his latest investigation leads to two murders. With the cops eager to pin the crimes on him, Spade needs to find the real killer, but first he must track down a mysterious statuette of a black bird. A few people might know where it is. There’s a perfumed grifter, a smooth-talking fat man, and a deceptive beauty. They seem willing to do anything to get their hands on the little treasure. One of them might even be desperate enough to kill . . .

The Maltese Falcon was first serialized in Black Mask magazine in 1929 before being published as a novel in 1930. It has been adapted for film several times, most famously as The Maltese Falcon (1941) starring Humphrey Bogart and Peter Lorre.

Praise for Dashiell Hammett

“The Maltese Falcon is not only probably the best detective story we have ever read, it is an exceedingly well written novel.” —The Times Literary Supplement

“[Hammett] is a master of the detective novel, yes, but also one hell of a writer.” —The Boston Globe

“Hammett’s prose [is] clean and entirely unique. His characters [are] as sharply and economically defined as any in American fiction.” —The New York Times