The Maltese Falcon Book Short Summary

In san francisco during the late 1920s the beautiful miss wonderly arrives at samuel spade and miles archer s detective agency.

The maltese falcon book short summary. 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. Neither spade nor his partner miles archer buy her story. She asks the detectives to follow a man named floyd thursby who she claims has run off with her younger sister corinne. Can he track down the jewel encrusted bird a treas.

Those who know about the statue will. Hammett began writing the maltese falcon after serving in world war i. Also significant for the novel is the period of economic prosperity known as the roaring twenties. The novel begins when the knockout miss wonderly walks into spade s office.

Dashiell hammett s the maltese falcon chapter summary. After the war many americans felt that the government and traditional authorities failed the american people by engaging in an unnecessary war. But miss wonderley is in fact the beautiful and treacherous brigid o shaughnessy and when spade s partner miles archer is shot while on thursby s trail spade finds himself both hunter and hunted. The novel has been adapted several times for the cinema.

Written by timothy sexton the maltese falcon is a slim novel that moves along at a rapid pace and feels almost as fleeting as watching the iconic film adaptation starring humphrey bogart as its world weary private detective sam spade. But with the money she s paying who cares. Find summaries for every chapter including a the maltese falcon chapter summary chart to help you understand the book. It s been painted black to hide its true worth.

Taking place in 1929 this novel occurs at the. There is no description whatever of any character s thoughts or feelings only what they say and do and how they look. When gutman summons him back to his hotel suite spade learns that the falcon is an ancient ornament made in malta encrusted with precious gems and later in its bloody history covered with black. When archer and then thursby are murdered spade realizes that he s getting more than he bargained for.

The maltese falcon summary. The maltese falcon by dashiell hammet was originally published serially in the magazine black mask in five parts between 1929 and 1930. It turns out she s a knockout with money. And she wants to hire the services of a private detective to find her missing sister who supposedly ran off with a crook named thursby.

Plot summary of the maltese falcon the maltese falcon itself is a statue of a bird covered in valuable jewels. It is a detective novel set in 1928 in san francisco featuring protagonist sam spade who also appears in three other lesser known short stories.