NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� The story of one of the great fictional sleuths, 's Sam Spade, will be continued by prize-winning crime writer Max Allan Collins.
The publisher Hard Case Crime announced Thursday that Collins' 鈥淭he Return of the Maltese Falcon鈥� will be released in January 2026, when the Hammett classic featuring Spade, 鈥淭he Maltese Falcon,鈥� enters the public domain. 鈥淭he Maltese Falcon,鈥� published in 1930 and known to movie fans for the 1941 adaptation starring Humphrey Bogart, is widely regarded as a model for the hard-boiled detective novel.
鈥淚t has been an inspiration to authors and filmmakers, actors and illustrators and musicians 鈥� and to me, for the entire 50-plus years I鈥檝e been a novelist," Collins said in a statement. "Not that writing about the world Hammett created, and those immortal, sometimes immoral characters isn鈥檛 challenging 鈥� Hammett鈥檚 best mystery also happens to be one of the greatest American novels, period.鈥�
When copyright protection ends for a book, anyone is free to use the characters and story line. After in 2021, new creations included a Tony-winning musical of the same name and a prequel novel, 鈥淣ick,鈥� by Michael Farris Smith.
According to Hard Case Crime, Collins鈥� new book will bring back Spade and Joel Cairo among other Hammett characters, and 鈥渁 mysterious new femme fatale.鈥� Collins, whose 鈥淩oad to Perdition鈥� was adapted into a film starring Tom Hanks and Paul Newman, has a long history of working with famous literary detectives. He took over the Dick Tracy comic strip in the late 1970s after creator Chester Gould retired, and he was later authorized to continue Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer series.
鈥淚鈥檓 something of an old hand at walking in the shoes of the giants who came before, though I never claim to filling them,鈥� Collins told The Associated Press.
Various authorized Spade projects have been released, including a 2009 prequel, Joe Gores' 鈥淪pade & Archer,鈥� a novel about Spade and his professional partner, Miles Archer. Spade was featured this year in an AMC miniseries, 鈥淢onsieur Spade,鈥� starring Clive Owen in a sequel that finds the detective retired and living in the South of France.
Hillel Italie, The Associated Press
