XXX “Samuel Spade’s jaw was long and bony, his chin a jutting v under the more flexible v of his mouth.”

From Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon.

In a world where murder and scandal were a part of everyday life, Sam Spade built a business that would find the criminals and bring them to justice. He is not afraid to break the rules or laws that are unimportant if it means that he can capture the big fish that is the center of his case. Spade has an interesting relationship with the police, as well as with crooked lawyers, all of who help to balance him out between moral uprightness and corruption. 

Iva Archer is a woman who skips the mourning her dead husband and jumps immediately into the arms of her lover,

Brigid O’Shaughnessy is a pathological liar with almost as many layers as Spade

Effie Perine is Sam’s secretary who is a dedicated, reserved woman who works hard and savors the time she can spend with Spade

the falcon is priceless not only for great gain, but also for the vast differences of the people it attracts

Spade sets out on the adventure simply for monetary gains, but his goal shifts as the case develops

Throughout the book, Spade develops into a more understandable and appreciable character, but he still stands off in the shadows where he cannot be fully understood. Another driving force in the book is the solid representation of the iconic femme fatale role