One of the categories that I was keen to choose, because, well, I know pretty much nothing about books in this genre, was crime (and thrillers, if you're being picky as at least one person reading this might be – you know who you are, probably because you're the only one reading!) The extent of my reading that might be categorised as such is Sherlock Holmes (which I love) and the odd John le Carré or Ian Fleming (also enjoyable).
Not really knowing where to begin, I decided to have a nose through my existing books i nthe vague hope that I had something that might fall into the category. I wasn't hopeful, but was pleasantly surprised to turn up The Maltese Falcon. Definitely regarded as a classic of the genre, indeed the blurb describes it as "Possibly the best American detective novel ever written", it definitely seemed to fit the bill.
And it did. While I'm fairly useless and don't always pick up signs and clues, even if they're in massive neon letters, the story certainly kept me perplexed throughout. It twisted and turned and pretty much read like the best kind of interwar detective novel of my imagination. Hardboiled, street-smart and morally dubious private eye, overenthusiastic cops, glamorous and dangerous women, and a whole host of suspect characters, both accomplices and enemies.
The setting was evocative, the characters the best shades of grey, the suspense maintained throughout. And the ending was great. The ending of a book can make or break it for me more often than perhaps it should, with characters behaving unnaturally, undeserved and unearned happiness (and don't get me wrong, I love a happy ending), or just plain nonsensical events ruining what had otherwise been a perfectly acceptable story. Equally, a really good or clever ending can up an average book and make me reassess what had come before. Happily, this didn't disappoint.
I don't have a lot to compare it against so I couldn't tell you if it was hackneyed or clichéd, but it didn't feel like it and the writing was solid. That said, while I think about it, anything else similar to it, is more likely to owe a debt to this work, being that it's regarded as something of a masterpiece. But either way, I really enjoyed it.
Book number: 4
Title: The Maltese Falcon
Author: Dashiell Hammett
Category: Crime
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