If books had a gender, this one was definitely male.
It's been a while since I've read such a testosteron-infused novel.
The story centers around a Private Investigator, Sam Spade, who is drawn into the mystery by a young woman who pays him to follow someone.
When his partner ends up dead, same as the guy he was following, the clues lead him towards a scattering of men trying to obtain 'The Maltese Falcon'. A statuette of a bird, of which is told that beneath the black veneer, it's solid gold.
Spade is told the background and is asked to aid them in retrieving this item.
He's willing to help, but eventually ends up as a ball tossed between the several parties wanting this relic.
The reason I began my review with specifying the gender of this novel, is that it doesn't in any way develop the emotional state of its characters. It's a bit like watching a movie. There's dialogue and there's descriptions of how people look or react, nothing more.
I liked reading it and was genuinely intrigued by this mystery. The feel of that age was palpable in the novel's style and it more than once felt like a trip in time. I could readily imagine how Spade would look like, how he would sound, how his office would look. The same goes for the other characters. They are so characteristic in a way that is over-amplified in this novel, but not to a degree that it becomes a caricature of itself.
Like the parties and extravagance has defined the roaring 20's, this defines the early 40's nearly as much.
