The Maltese Falcon
I've only recently become interested in American detective novels, and I have to say I am impressed. 'The Maltese Falcon' is a sparely written novel populated by some of the most morally ambiguous characters I've come across. Nothing is sacred to anyone, and with the possible exceptions of Effie and Tom, everybody is out for themselves and themselves only.
Sam Spade, our detective, described as looking much like a "blonde Satan" with a face made entirely of v's, is no exception to that rule. He's smart and knows how to play to invisible hands. When he gets tangled up in the middle of a confused, possibly deadly, and profitable mystery involving the eponymous statue, he plays along and picks up hints and pieces as he goes.
It's remarkable how little you know about any of these characters at the end of the book, with the possible exceptions of Effie and Tom, because we're never allowed to see what any of them are thinking, and in the cloud of lies there's no way to know if what anyone says is the truth.
Hammett does not write with the style of later detective authors such as Raymond Chandler, whose creative similes and quick patter are about the only archetypes in the genre not invented here, but that level of wordplay was simply not needed for this story. The various characters and their plots and their secrets are powerful enough because of the simplicity of the writing.
One more thing: Doing a little Googling after finishing the novel, I found this neat blog post about the relationship between the mysterious Rhea Gutman and young Wilmer:
An interesting theory to be sure. I was curious about Rhea's character, too, as soon as she was mentioned and mystified at her brief appearance in the book.
'The Maltese Falcon' is a quick read and will keep you up into the night if you don't start it early enough. I didn't want to put it down at any rate. It's too bad this is the only Sam Spade novel, I'll have to track down that trilogy of stories he's in.
