Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon (1930) is a detective novel that was first serialized in the magazine Black Mask. As Hammett’s third novel, The Maltese Falcon includes the introduction of Sam Spade as the protagonist, a departure from the nameless Continental Op who narrated his previous stories. Spade’s hard exterior, cool detachment, and reliance on his own moral code would become staples of the hardboiled genre, and The Maltese Falcon has since been named one of the top crime novels of all time by the Crime Writer’s Association. The novel follows Spade as he attempts to uncover the truth about his partner’s murder while navigating a web of lies, deceit, and double-crossing that surround a mysterious and purportedly invaluable falcon statuette.

This guide refers to the 2010 Vintage Crime/Black Lizard digital version of the text.

Content Warning: This guide discusses situations of violence, murder, antigay bias, fat phobia, sexism, and xenophobia that appear within the novel.

Plot Summary

Sam Spade, a private detective, and his partner, Miles Archer, meet with a potential client named Miss Wonderly. She has traveled to San Francisco from New York because she wants them to find her sister, who has run away with an older man named Thursby who she believes is dangerous. They accept the case and assure her that Archer will handle it himself, with the plan to tail Thursby after he meets with Wonderly later that night.

Spade is awoken later that night and informed that Archer has been killed. Thursby’s body is found later that night, and the police suspect that Spade may have killed him for revenge. The next day, Spade visits Wonderly, who reveals she lied about having a sister and that her real name is Brigid O’Shaughnessy. She pleads with Spade for help, but refuses to give him details about Thursby or what kind of trouble she is in. He takes her money and tells her he’ll see what he can do.

Back at his office, a man named Cairo shows up at his office and asks about Archer’s and Thursby’s murders. He offers Spade $5,000 to find a statuette of a black falcon that he believes Thursby had in his possession, but then pulls a gun on Spade and attempts to search his office. Later, when Spade mentions Cairo to O’Shaughnessy, she appears scared but asks to meet with him. They call Cairo and arrange to meet at Spade’s apartment.

O’Shaughnessy and Cairo speak in vague and veiled terms about the falcon and their shared past. They mention a man named G and conclude he must be in town as well. The police show up during their meeting, having been given a tip that Spade was having an affair with Archer’s wife, Iva. Spade refuses to let them in, but as they go to leave, Cairo calls out for help from inside the apartment. Spade is then forced to make up a story to get them to leave.

After everyone else has gone, Spade demands information from O’Shaughnessy, but she sleeps with him to avoid his questions. The next morning, Spade sneaks out and searches her apartment for clues while she sleeps. After returning home and realizing someone has broken in, she fears for her safety and agrees to stay with Spade’s assistant, Effie Perine.

Spade receives a call from a man named Casper Gutman (G) and goes to meet with him. Gutman is reluctant to give him any details about the falcon, so Spade leaves outraged and gives Gutman a deadline to make a deal. Back at his office, Spade learns that O'Shaughnessy never arrived at Effie’s apartment and begins to search for her with little luck. Gutman contacts him again, and this time, when Spade travels to Gutman’s office, the man provides him with a detailed history of the falcon and offers Spade $50,000 for its retrieval. However, after Spade reveals that he doesn’t know where the falcon is but can get it from O’Shaughnessy, Gutman drugs him.

When Spade wakes 12 hours later there is still no sign of O’Shaughnessy. He searches Cairo’s hotel room and, remembering that O’Shaughnessy mentioned coming to San Francisco from Hong Kong, finds a clue that reveals a boat arrived from Hong Kong the day before. At the docks, he learns that O’Shaughnessy was there the day before and met with the boat’s captain, a man named Jacobi, and that Gutman and Cairo showed up eventually as well.

Later that day, Jacobi, bleeding profusely from several bullet wounds, bursts into Spade’s office and drops a package containing the falcon before collapsing dead. O’Shaughnessy then calls, gives an address, and cries for help before hanging up. Before going to investigate, Spade hides the falcon. The address turns out to be a fake, but when he gets back to his apartment, O’Shaughnessy is waiting for him. They enter the apartment together, and are met by Cairo, Gutman, and his henchmen, Wilmer.

Spade agrees to give them the falcon in the morning, but Gutman refuses to pay more than $10,000. Spade eventually accepts this deal, with the stipulation that Gutman also provides a fall guy for Spade to give to the police. After much debate, they settle on Wilmer, knock him out, and wait for the morning.

In the morning, Effie brings the falcon. The group opens the package, but when Gutman examines it closely, he realizes it is a fake made of lead. In the ensuing commotion, Wilmer escapes, and then Gutman and Cairo leave as well. Spade takes a moment to sit and think, but then calls the police. He tells them about Gutman and Cairo, and O’Shaughnessy as well. O’Shaughnessy is shocked and argues that he would not give her to the police if he really loved her. Spade explains that he even thought he might love her, he could never trust her, and that as a detective, he is committed to discovering the truth and ensuring that justice is served.