Reviews - The Maltese Falcon

1.69k reviews for:

The Maltese Falcon

Dashiell Hammett

3.62 AVERAGE

richard_straker's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

alyssab022's review against another edition

4.0

Everything a classic crime novel should be. Atmospheric, suspenseful, and richly written. Plot twists are pretty tame in comparison to today's crime stories, but that's okay - that's not the point for this story. I loved Effie Perine, but Spade and the whole cast were a joy to read. The dark humor of noir shone throughout, and it was an adventure from start to finish!

lynnedew's review against another edition

3.0

mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

kalizahira's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

This is a book of its time. It is sexist, racist, homophobic, and fatphobic, but that is in some way baked into the genre. Noir is a charicture of reality, an overblown cartoon of what was thought bad or good of the era. I am happy I read it. The book is an easy read and introduces some of the defining aspects of the genre. No internal monologs (easier to keep the reader guessing), cinematic pacing and descriptions, who dun it detective work without any hugely complex twists. I am interested in the context. Was Spade as an antihero, likewise, a chricuture, or was he meant to be aspirational, the same way Batman's popularity rose and fell based on social climate. I did expect a little more detecting from "the best detective novel ever written," but what he lacks in technical ability, he makes up for in hardassery. Overall a fun romp into a classic and a great introduction to the genre.

Content Warnings

taylorhunt's review against another edition

3.5

mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

haudurn's review against another edition

2.0

I know this is Gogol's Overcoat of detective noir, but... this did not age well. We are supposed to understand that Spade is a cool detective, and all the ladies love him, and he is so smart, etc etc. But really the dialogue is odd, the characters are odd, Spade's behavior is odd, and by the end of it the "payoff" was disappointing at best. I give it two stars instead of one because I actually bothered to finish.