Return of the Maltese Falcon

This stylish sequel to Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon from MWA Grandmaster Collins (To Live and Spy in Berlin) picks up in December 1928, just days after the events of the previous novel. Rhea Gutman, daughter of late gangster Casper Gutman, asks PI Sam Spade to recover the eponymous, jewel-encrusted artifact. During the course of the investigation, Spade’s former lover, Iva Archer—who’s also the widow of his late investigative partner, Miles—demands a share of any profits from finding the falcon that might have gone to her husband, and drags Miles’s mob-connected brother into the picture to make sure she gets what she wants. When Wilmer Cook, Gutman’s vengeful former gunman, ambushes Spade, it’s clear he isn’t the only one hunting the falcon; Chicago gambler Dixie Monahan is after it, too. Then there’s British Museum curator Stewart Blackwood, who claims the museum legally owns the falcon after purchasing it from the original owner, General Kemidov. Navigating shifting allegiances and playing multiple sides, Spade races rival interests to claim the falcon for himself. Collins keeps the prose lean and sharp, true to Hammett’s style, and ushers the proceedings to a tidy conclusion. It’s a clever, well-executed tribute the hardboiled tradition. (Jan.)