Sam Spade

Sam Spade is a fictional private detective and the protagonist of Dashiell Hammett's 1930 novel The Maltese Falcon. Spade also appeared in three lesser known short stories by Hammett.

The Maltese Falcon, first published as a serial in the pulp magazine Black Mask, is the only full-length novel in which Spade appears. The character, however, is widely cited as a crystallizing figure in the development of hard-boiled private detective fiction – Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe, for instance, was strongly influenced by Spade.

Spade was a departure from Hammett's nameless and less than glamorous detective The Continental Op. Spade combined several features of previous detectives, most notably his detached demeanor, keen eye for detail, and unflinching determination to achieve his own justice.