Sometimes, you realize that you've danced around a trope for years but never actually read anything focused on it. So I decided I needed to read a book about a hard-boiled detective and this is where I ended up.

Sam Spade only likes a few people, can hardly be said to love anyone, and definitely trusts no one. So when he ends up embroiled in a plot to recover a priceless artifact, he deftly barrels through it and picks up the shattered pieces to piece together what the hell was going on. He's refreshing to see as a protagonist; smooth and calm but with a cold rage burning underneath, too rational to fall for anyone's sob story but too emotional to leave enough alone, humble enough to appear weak when it suits him but so arrogant that he insists on walking up to every conspirators' face and telling them to shove it.

It's not a perfect book, very much a product of its time with blatant sexism and chauvinism on display throughout, but it was entertaining and refreshing. Should probably pick up another of these sometime.