The Maltese Falcon is the archetypal 'hardboiled' detective story, rich in exotic characters, dark exciting action and featuring of the greatest of all cool tough private eyes, Sam Spade. Written in 1930, the novel has a timeless quality that makes it fresh and exciting for each new generation of readers. Sam Spade is hired by the fragrant Miss Wonderley to track down her sister, who has eloped with ne-er do well Floyd Thursby. But when Spade's partner Miles Archer is murdered while on Thursby's trail, Spade finds himself both hunter and hunted: can he track down the mythical jewel-encrusted Falcon, a treasure worth killing for, before the Fat Man and how far can he trust the sexy Miss Wonderley? Dashiel Hammett's noir classic is written in sharp terse prose that gives a cinematic vividness to the characters and the milieu.