A Maltese mystery
THE NAME on the window says 'Spade and Archer Private Investigators'. Many desperate, lonely and suspicious people, rich and poor, come here to ask for Spade and Archer's help. Some come straight away and some come as a last resort when they don't want the police to get involved.
Spade and Archer only ask questions when they need to know the answers. There is no more prying into the personal lives of their clients than is absolutely necessary. And there are no questions asked when the investigation is over. The facts are presented, neat and tidy, and then the case is closed when the client leaves the office.
The people who come to see Spade and Archer are paying for answers and secrecy. And that is exactly what they get. Sam Spade and his partner, Miles Archer, do an efficient job.
It is the beginning of another day in San Francisco, and a client walks into their office. Spade is sitting behind his desk, and Archer hasn't come in yet. The client is a tall, smartly dressed young woman called Miss Wonderly. She comes straight to the point. Her younger sister has run away from home in New York with a man her parents don't want her to see. Miss Wonderly is very worried, as she has been told the missing couple are hiding out somewhere in San Francisco.
Spade's job is going to be easy. All he has to do is find the missing girl and return her to her family.
But when he begins asking questions, he soon finds out that things are not quite what they seem with Miss Wonderly. To begin with, her real name is Brigid O'Shaughnessy. Why has she lied to him right from the start?
It is obvious this is not going to be just another missing person case.
Later that night, the police call Spade. He can hardly believe the news. His partner has been found murdered. Archer had begun looking for the missing sister, and now he'd been shot dead. Who would want to kill him?
The following morning, a mysterious man called Cairo asks Spade if he can help him find a valuable statue of a black falcon that has been stolen.
Spade does not realise at this time that Cairo and 'Miss Wonderly' are involved in the death of his partner. But he soon discovers that the statue is a treasure worth killing for. Slowly, Spade is pulled into a mystery full of dangerous twists and treacherous turns. A case that begins with a young woman looking for her missing sister soon becomes something much more sinister.
American writer Dashiell Hammett wrote The Maltese Falcon in 1929 and it has not been out of print since it first appeared in bookstores. It is one of the most gripping, famous detective stories ever written.
Hammett wrote the book for adult readers, but teenagers can also appreciate the story as they move over to adult fiction.
The intriguing mystery is a sharp, clear story full of tension and adventure. Hammett does not waste words, but rather tells his story without any frills.
For a time, Hammett was a private detective himself for the famous Pinkerton's Detective Agency in the United States, and brought all his inside knowledge of detection to his mystery stories when he became a writer.
The Maltese Falcon has everything to grab the reader's attention and hold it until the mystery has been solved. It begins very simply, but soon picks up in speed and suspense.
Hammett's story has been called one of the best detective stories ever written. But you can only make up your mind about that by reading it.
The Maltese Falcon
By Dashiell Hammett
Published by Vintage
ISBN 0 679 72264 5
