The Maltese Falcon

The crime classic that inspired the 1941 film and the AMC series Monsieur Spade, The Maltese Falcon is the most famous noir of all time, and its hard-boiled detective is the prime leading man of the genre.
After his partner is killed during a stakeout ordered by the shifty Brigid O’Shaughnessy, Private Detective Sam Spade finds himself tangled in a crime-filled wild goose chase marked by red herrings and grifters. Its object? A jewel-encrusted falcon statuette, once gifted to the King of Spain by the Knights of Malta, and then stolen by pirates. This fast-paced detective adventure is chock-full of missteps—with guns pointing every which way from Constantinople to Hong Kong to San Francisco.