Happy Public Domain Day 2026! See what new books are free to read this January 1.
Standard Ebooks

The Maltese Falcon

Dashiell Hammett

Description

Sam Spade and his partner Miles are private detectives in San Francisco. When the mysterious Miss Wonderly walks into their office begging them to trail a man who has run off with her sister, Sam finds himself embroiled in a complex web of violence, greed, and deceit, all revolving around a mysterious artifact—the titular Maltese Falcon.

The Maltese Falcon is a jewel in the crown of the “hardboiled” crime genre, and one of its best-known works. Hammett writes a tight and lean story in which no character, not even the hero or the police, can be said to be “good.”

It was first serialized in Black Mask magazine in 1929, before undergoing edits for publication as a novel in 1930. The novel was adapted into several movies, including the 1941 film starring Humphrey Bogart, in which his portrayal of Sam Spade went on to become the core archetype for all film noir detectives to come.

Read free

This ebook is thought to be free of copyright restrictions in the United States. It may still be under copyright in other countries. If you’re not located in the United States, you must check your local laws to verify that this ebook is free of copyright restrictions in the country you’re located in before accessing, downloading, or using it.

Download for ereaders

Read online

A brief history of this ebook

  1. Long description typo

  2. Fix typo in long description

  3. Long description typo

  4. Finish metadata and initial publication

  5. Tweak semantics

More details

Sources

Transcriptions

Page scans

Improve this ebook

Anyone can contribute to make a Standard Ebook better for everyone!

To report typos, typography errors, or other corrections, see how to report errors.

If you’re comfortable with technology and want to contribute directly, check out this ebook’s GitHub repository and our contributors section.

You can also donate to Standard Ebooks to help fund continuing improvement of this and other ebooks.