The Maltese Falcon
Characters in The Maltese Falcon
9 characters, main characters first.Main characters
Sam Spade
A hard-bitten San Francisco private detective who runs his own agency and answers to his own code rather than to the police or his clients.
Antagonists
Brigid O'Shaughnessy
The client who first appears as Miss Wonderly, a charming woman whose story keeps changing as the search for the falcon goes on.
Supporting characters
Casper Gutman
A genial, enormously fat collector who leads the search for the falcon and tells Spade its history.
Miles Archer
Spade's business partner, whose fate early in the book sets the whole investigation in motion.
Joel Cairo
A perfumed, carefully mannered Levantine criminal who offers Spade money for the falcon.
Effie Perine
Spade's loyal office secretary, who speaks her mind about his clients and his choices.
Wilmer Cook
Gutman's young, vicious gunman, who shadows Spade and treats violence as his trade.
Iva Archer
Miles Archer's wife, whose relationship with Spade complicates his position once the police take an interest.
Minor characters
Floyd Thursby
The man Miss Wonderly hires Spade and Archer to follow, whose past ties to the falcon chase drive the early plot.