Maltese Falcon:
As I read the Maltese falcon I thought of the many types of detective stories that I have read over the years. Although the Film Nior genre is very enticing, the one type of story that rings out in my mind from my childhood was reading the Dick Tracy books and comics. This types of stories work upon the same thread as the adventure tales, however they add a puzzle as a twist. We as the reader are tempted to help solve the case, crime in a game of literary “who dun it”. It brings us into the fold and helps us to be engrossed in the tale. Some of the other heralds to the detective story is the classic red herring. Letting the reader believe one thing then revealing another spices the story and our perception of the characters. This is taken a step further in Spy novels which build upon this genre.
With spy novels ( at least in my opinion ) I always suspect that there is a double agent and am always waiting for his reveal. With a detective story, there may or may not have a Judas in the crowd. This fascination for looking behind the scenes into the crimes that are committed in our mist helps readers put a face to the headlines of murder and treachery in the tabloids. Modern day CSI stories or “detective” + “science” genres still further placates this desire for the public to put a face to the crimes that are committed every day. Whether it lessens the impact of the true nature of the vicious crimes or it is a way for the public to look past the gruesome nature of the crime is still the greater mystery that these stories present.
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