COMMISSIONED FOR THE 2008 NATIONAL
ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS BIG READ

BY BRYAN COLLEY

When a book collector is murdered in a public library, private detective
Sam Spade is hired to find the killer. He encounters a host of unsavory
characters hunting for a valuable autographed edition of Dashiell Hammett’s
masterpiece, The Maltese Falcon, that was mistakenly donated to the
Friends of the Library book sale. 

The Maltese Murder is a humorous variation on Hammett’s classic
detective novel.  Using characters and a plot line similar to the
original story, The Maltese Murder embraces Hammett’s sharp dialog
while at the same time spoofing the film noir genre.

The Maltese Murder was commissioned in 2008 by the
Johnson County Public Library in Overland Park, Kansas, as
part of the National Endowment for the Arts' Big Read program.