The Maltese Falcon

First published in 1930, The Maltese Falcon stands today as one of the classics of both suspense literature and American... (more)

First published in 1930, The Maltese Falcon stands today as one of the classics of both suspense literature and American writing. (less)

Three novels involving private detectives and shady characters tackle homicide, treachery, and corruption. (more)

Three novels involving private detectives and shady characters tackle homicide, treachery, and corruption. (less)

A treasure worth killing for Sam Spade, a slightly shop-worn private eye with his own solitary code of ethics, a perfume... (more)

A treasure worth killing for Sam Spade, a slightly shop-worn private eye with his own solitary code of ethics, a perfumed grifter named Joel Cairo, a fat man named Gutman, and 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 three generations of readers. (less)

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Sam Spade is a partner in a private-eye firm who finds himself hounded by police when his partner is killed while tailin... (more)

Sam Spade is a partner in a private-eye firm who finds himself hounded by police when his partner is killed while tailing a man. The woman who asked his partner to follow the man turns out to be someone who is not what she says she is, and is really involved in something to do with the 'Maltese Falcon', a gold-encrusted life-sized statue of a falcon, the only one of its kind. (less)