The Maltese Falcon

Dashiell Hammett · 1930 · Novel

Explore this on the mapTrace its ancestors and descendants live in the tree.

the professional private investigator, as a contrast to the gentleman amateur the hardboiled style, cynical urban detective, moral ambiguity

It pioneered the hardboiled detective genre, featuring a cynical, morally ambiguous protagonist in a gritty, realistic urban setting.

What it is

Private detective Sam Spade navigates a web of deceit and danger in San Francisco while searching for a priceless statuette.

↑Inherited from(1)

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes· 1892↑ open

Hammett's Sam Spade was a deliberate rejection of the aristocratic, intellectual detective, establishing a grittier, more pragmatic professional investigator.

↓Passed on to(1)

The Big Sleep· 1939↓ open

Chandler explicitly built upon Hammett's foundation, refining the hardboiled voice and creating the iconic, morally complex Philip Marlowe.