Critical Praise

"Dashiell Hammett. . . is a master of the detective novel, yes, but also one hell of a writer. "

———The Boston Globe

"The Maltese Falcon is not only probably the best detective story we have ever read, it is an exceedingly well written novel. "

———The Times Literary Supplement

(London) "Hammett's prose [is] clean and entirely unique. His characters [are] as sharply and economically defined as any in American fiction. "

———The New York Times