The Maltese Murder

Written by Bryan Colley

Commissioned by the Johnson County Public Library for the 2008 National Endowment for the Arts Big Read

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 play is ideally suited for a performance in a library environment or traditional theatre. The cast requires five males and two females and the running time is one hour. Performance royalties are negotiable and dependent on the size of the performance venue and ticket prices.