The Maltese Falcon (novel) The Maltese Falcon (novel) The Maltese Falcon is a 1930 detective novel by American writer Dashiell Hammett, originally serialized in the magazine "Black Mask" beginning with the September 1929 issue. The story is told entirely in external third-person narrative; there is no description whatever of any character's internal thoughts or feelings, only what they say and do, and how they look. The novel has been adapted several times for the cinema. The main character, Sam Spade (who also appeared later in some lesser-known short stories), was a departure from Hammett's nameless detective, The Continental Op. Spade combined several features of
The Maltese Falcon (novel) who passes out on the floor. Spade awakens alone and returns to his office where a wounded ship's captain staggers in and dies, carrying a package containing the falcon. O'Shaughnessy calls the office, begging for Spade's help but sending him on a wild goose chase. When he returns, O'Shaughnessy is waiting in front of Spade's apartment building. Inside it they find Gutman, Wilmer, and Cairo in wait with guns drawn. Gutman presents $10,000 in cash for the falcon but Spade remarks that the police must arrest someone for the murders that have been committed. During a fight, Spade knocks Wilmer