Return of The Maltese Falcon by Max Allan Collins

First, a preface:

Max Allan Collins has been around for decades. He was publishing stories before I even graduated high school. But I admit I never heard of him until I picked up his novelization of the 1990 Warren Beatty film Dick Tracy. I have since become a big fan.

 

Return of the Maltese Falcon by Max Allan Collins (pub. 2026):

The novel picks up the story of The Maltese Falcon, as originally published by Dashiell Hammett back in the late 1920's. You really SHOULD read the original novel before picking up this one, otherwise you might be a little lost. (Or, you could just watch the Humphrey Bogart film version, but if you wanted to take the easy way out, why are you on a book review blog???)  

But before you go any further in this review, I highly suggest you do one or the other.  

In the sequel, Sam Spade, the San Francisco detective who had recently spent a week in the trenches with the likes of such characters as Brigid O'Shaugnessy, Joel Cairo and Caspar Gutman, searching for what was described as a fabulous treasure from the past, was now just trying to get on with business as usual.

Into his office comes Rhea Gutman, the daughter of Caspar Gutman. She wants to hire Spade to find the real falcon. (The Maltese falcon that Spade an company found in the first novel turned out to be fake.)  A note on what the "dingus", as Spade calls it, is: It's an elaborate relic, made of gold, with valuable gems inlaid into it's surface. It is almost a sure bet that there is a real one somewhere, at least according to the principal characters. So Rhea gives Spade a retainer to continue the investigation into finding it.

In the process of his search, Spade also comes across various other characters also interested in finding said bird. One is Dixie Monahan, a Chicago gangster who had been directly involved with Floyd Thursby, one of the original novel's gang of thieves. 

He also meets a figure who claims to represent the British Museum, Steward Blackwood. Blackwood claims he has proof that the falcon had been purchased in good faith from the previous owner, and pays Spade a retainer himself to find the artifact. 

Also appearing on the scene is Corrine Wonderly, who claims to be the sister of Brigid, and is also seeking the falcon. (Brigid, BTW, had first appeared on scene in Spade's offices as "Miss Wonderly" with a story about a sister named "Corrine", but Brigid later told Spade it was all made up, including the part about having a sister in the first place.

Also on the trail of the falcon, and giving Spade fits, is a gunman named Wilmer Cook, an impulsive and violent kid with whom Spade had already dealt with in the first case.

Over the course of the novel, many twists and turns occur to keep you on the edge of your seat. I have to admit, however, that the ultimate reveal of who all these new characters on the scene came off as a bit contrived.. Without going into detail and spoiling it entirely, some people turn out to not be who they CLAIM to be. 

So the main question for me going in, was; would Collins write this in  his own style, or would he try to write this as if Hammett himself had written the sequel?  Sometimes it seemed he had the Hammett touch, and occasionally it came off as if someone else might be writing it. Be that as it may, it is still an entertaining read. I have to admit that I appreciated his not shying away from the negative slant that Hammett originally cast on the personality of Joel Cairo, and his relationship with Wilmer Cook. I half expected a re-editing of Spade's view in light of today's PC approach to that issue.

So I highly recommend this one. Quiggy's Rating: 9

Happy reading.

Quiggy