The Maltese Falcon
In his 1929 novel, The Maltese Falcon, Dashiell Hammett introduced the novel reading public to the hard-boiled private detective as central character. Samuel Spade, of Spade and Archer Investigations, is a cynical, violent and socially unattractive man who thinks nothing of having an affair with his partner's wife or taking part in the evil perfidy of shabby San Francisco neighborhoods. Because of his criminal associations, the police do not trust him. The District Attorney's Office periodically calls him in for questioning. Spade, mindful that his environment has tarnished him, uses his reputation to his advantage. While the authorities often suspect him of complicity, his clients, ranging from the tawdry to the downright evil, take him into their confidence. To Sam Spade, life is not a rational, orderly affair, but a series of random, often baneful happenings. Aware of, and adjusting to, the decadence around him, Spade maintains a strong moral awareness and a strict adherence to his own code of professional ethics. He judges people by his standards, not their or society's standards. Spade is a descendent of the hard-boiled heroes of detective stories in pulp magazines of the 1920s. These private detectives were a new breed.
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