The Falcon's Malteser

Last updated

The Falcon's Malteser
The Falcon's Malteser.jpg
First edition
Author Anthony Horowitz
Cover artistPhil Schramm
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Series The Diamond Brothers
Genre Action, comedy, adventure, mystery
Publisher Grafton Books
Publication date
1986
Media typePrint (hardback)
Pages217
ISBN 0-7445-9035-3
Followed by Public Enemy Number Two  

The Falcon's Malteser is a comic mystery by Anthony Horowitz. The first of The Diamond Brothers series, it was first published in 1986. The title is a spoof of The Maltese Falcon , to which there are various allusions throughout the story. The novel was adapted for the 1988 film Just Ask for Diamond .

Contents

Introduction to the Diamond brothers

Early on the book, Nick Simple (who narrates the story) explains that, before he went to live with his older brother Herbert, he had lived with his parents in a part of London called Wiernotta Mews (word play on Queen Victoria's famous phrase We're not amused). At the time, his parents planned to fly (with Nick) to Australia. Herbert had joined the police (one week before the local training station was destroyed in a fire, largely implied to be Herbert's fault), and could look after himself, more or less.

Nick, not wanting to go to Australia, managed to flee London Heathrow Airport at the last minute, leaving his parents to fly off to Sydney on their own, and going to live with Herbert. In the later stories he sometimes wishes he is still with his parents, mainly due to Herbert being such an awful and embarrassing guardian and the fact that their current financial situation is so bad. Herbert has been sacked, having shot the weapons training instructor in a freak accident and caused various other mishaps during his two months at Ladbroke Grove, and has set up a detective agency under the name "Tim Diamond".

Plot summary

Nicholas 'Nick' Simple and his older brother, Herbert Simple, meet Johnny Naples, a dwarf, who comes to the office carrying a suspicious package, and acting as if he is being trailed. He tries to explain the situation, whilst Herbert unsuccessfully tries to affect a hardman act.

Dumbfounded as to why Johnny Naples would pay them 200 pounds to look after a box of chocolates, they visit the (fictional) Hotel Splendide after a quick enquiry at a shop traced using a sign on the envelope, with the keeper saying that the owner of a hotel in Portobello Road mentioned to him that a dwarf was staying at his hotel.

A plain-clothes policeman, disguised as a drunk in the street, arrests them and they are sent to Ladbroke Grove Police Station, where Herbert's old boss, Chief Inspector Snape, accompanied by his violent assistant Boyle, arrives to question them. Snape who previously could not bear Herbert during his service there begins to form a grudging respect for Nick when he realises how smart he is for his age. When Nick offers to tell Snape everything the Diamonds know in exchange for what the police know, Snape begins to tell his story.

After finding a matchbox from a nightclub called The Casablanca Club (an acknowledgment to another one of Humphrey Bogart's movies), they decide to pay the club a visit. At home they find the Club is open, but their cleaning lady Betty Charlady says no good will come of it.

Quickly, they find that Naples must have been a regular there – a waiter mistakes Nick for him, and offers him a bottle of free champagne, and a singer called Lauren Bacardi (a take-off of film noir star and Bogart's wife Lauren Bacall) asks of Johnny's well-being. However, just moments after the brothers feel they are making progress, Bacardi is snatched by two shady figures in a blue van. Nick manages to step onto the back of the van, but soon is thrown off and into a wall of cardboard boxes. It is then revealed that Lauren has stolen the diamonds because she worked out the truth. As a parting gift she sends Nick and Herbert a Malteser with a diamond inside. Nick after realising this great wealth decides go skiing for their Christmas holidays. However Herbert breaks his leg before they get on the plane and the money is spent on medical bills.

Note

In this book, Nick calls his brother by his real name, Herbert, but in all following books he calls his brother Tim Diamond and calls himself Nick Diamond not Nicholas Simple or Herbert Simple for his brother.

Film adaptation

The film, Just Ask for Diamond, also known as Diamond's Edge, based on the novel, was released in 1988.

Stage adaptation

A stage adaptation, The Falcon's Malteser by Anthony Horowitz adapted for the stage by New Old Friends, has been produced by New Old Friends theatre company (Feargus Dunlop & Heather Westwell) with input on the script from Horowitz himself. The first national tour of the show was in 2014 produced by New Old Friends in partnership with Walker Books, Theatre Royal Bath's Egg, Newbury Corn Exchange and the Natural Theatre Company. It was directed by Lee Lyford and features Tom Medcalf as Nick Diamond, Dan Winter as Inspector Snape & others, Feargus Dunlop as Tim Diamond, & Heather Westwell as Beatrice Von Falkenberg and others. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Humphrey Bogart</span> American actor (1899–1957)

Humphrey DeForest Bogart, nicknamed Bogie, was an American film and stage actor. His performances in classical Hollywood cinema films made him an American cultural icon. In 1999, the American Film Institute selected Bogart as the greatest male star of classic American cinema.

<i>The Maltese Falcon</i> (novel) 1930 novel by Dashiell Hammett

The Maltese Falcon is a 1930 detective novel by American writer Dashiell Hammett, originally serialized in the magazine Black Mask beginning with the September 1929 issue. The story is told entirely in external third-person narrative; there is no description whatsoever of any character's thoughts or feelings, only what they say and do, and how they look. The novel has been adapted several times for the cinema.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dashiell Hammett</span> American writer (1894–1961)

Samuel Dashiell Hammett was an American writer of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories. He was also a screenwriter and political activist. Among the enduring characters he created are Sam Spade, Nick and Nora Charles, The Continental Op and the comic strip character Secret Agent X-9.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lauren Bacall</span> American actress (1924–2014)

Lauren Bacall was an American actress. She was named the 20th-greatest female star of classic Hollywood cinema by the American Film Institute and received an Academy Honorary Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2009 in recognition of her contribution to the Golden Age of motion pictures. She was known for her alluring, sultry presence and her distinctive, husky voice. Bacall was one of the last surviving major stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam Spade</span> Fictional private detective

Sam Spade is a fictional character and the protagonist of Dashiell Hammett's 1930 novel The Maltese Falcon. Spade also appeared in four lesser-known short stories by Hammett.

<i>The Petrified Forest</i> 1936 film by Archie Mayo

The Petrified Forest is a 1936 American film directed by Archie Mayo and based on Robert E. Sherwood's 1935 Broadway drama of the same name. The motion picture stars Leslie Howard, Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart. The screenplay was written by Delmer Daves and Charles Kenyon, and adaptations were later performed on radio and television. The film is set in Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthony Horowitz</span> English novelist and screenwriter (born 1955)

Anthony John Horowitz, is an English novelist and screenwriter specialising in mystery and suspense.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick Carter (singer)</span> American singer (born 1980)

Nickolas Gene Carter is an American singer and a member of the vocal group Backstreet Boys. As of 2015, Carter has released three solo albums, Now or Never, I'm Taking Off and All American, during breaks between Backstreet Boys schedules, and a collaboration with Jordan Knight titled Nick & Knight. He has made occasional television appearances and starred in his own reality shows, House of Carters and I (Heart) Nick Carter.

<i>Alpha Dog</i> 2006 crime drama film by Nick Cassavetes

Alpha Dog is a 2006 American crime drama film written and directed by Nick Cassavetes. It is based on the true story of the kidnapping and murder of Nicholas Markowitz in 2000. The film features an ensemble cast that includes Ben Foster, Shawn Hatosy, Emile Hirsch, Christopher Marquette, Sharon Stone, Justin Timberlake, Anton Yelchin, and Bruce Willis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Humphrey Bogart on stage, screen, radio and television</span> Cataloging of performances by Humphrey Bogart

Humphrey Bogart (1899–1957) was an American actor and producer whose 36-year career began with live stage productions in New York in 1920. He had been born into an affluent family in New York's Upper West Side, the first-born child and only son of illustrator Maud Humphrey and physician Belmont Deforest Bogart. The family eventually came to include his sisters Patricia and Catherine. His parents believed he would excel academically, possibly matriculate at Yale University and become a surgeon. They enrolled him in the private schools of Delancey, Trinity, and Phillips Academy, but Bogart was not inclined as a scholar and never completed his studies at Phillips, joining the United States Navy in 1918.

<i>Just for Kicks</i> (TV series) American television series

Just for Kicks is an American comedy series that aired on the Nickelodeon television network as a part of the channel's TEENick television lineup. The series is about a group of girls on a soccer team set in New York City.

<i>Public Enemy Number Two</i>

Public Enemy Number Two is a novel written by Anthony Horowitz, the second in The Diamond Brothers series. It was first published in 1987. The main character in the book is Nick Diamond, His older brother Herbert Simple – who goes by the name Tim Diamond – is an unsuccessful private detective. The novel is particularly known for its humour. It is followed by South By South East.

<i>The Maltese Falcon</i> (1931 film) 1931 American film

The Maltese Falcon is a 1931 American pre-Code crime film based on the 1930 novel The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett and directed by Roy Del Ruth. The film stars Ricardo Cortez as private detective Sam Spade and Bebe Daniels as Ruth Wonderly. Maude Fulton, Brown Holmes, and Lucien Hubbard wrote the screenplay. The supporting cast features Dudley Digges, Thelma Todd, Walter Long, Una Merkel, and Dwight Frye.

<i>The Maltese Falcon</i> (1941 film) 1941 film by John Huston

The Maltese Falcon is a 1941 American film noir written and directed by John Huston in his directorial debut, based on the 1930 novel of the same name by Dashiell Hammett and indebted to the 1931 movie of the same name. It stars Humphrey Bogart as private investigator Sam Spade and Mary Astor as his femme fatale client. Gladys George, Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet co-star, with the last appearing in his film debut. The story follows a San Francisco private detective and his dealings with three unscrupulous adventurers, all of whom are competing to obtain a jewel-encrusted falcon statuette.

The Diamond Brothers is a series of humorous children's detective books by Anthony Horowitz, recounting the adventures of the world's worst private detective, Tim Diamond, and his much more intelligent younger brother, Nick Diamond.

<i>Brother Orchid</i> 1940 film by Lloyd Bacon

Brother Orchid is a 1940 American crime/comedy film directed by Lloyd Bacon and starring Edward G. Robinson, Ann Sothern and Humphrey Bogart, with featured performances by Donald Crisp, Ralph Bellamy and Allen Jenkins. The screenplay was written by Earl Baldwin, with uncredited contributions from Jerry Wald and Richard Macauley, based on a story by Richard Connell originally published in Collier's Magazine on May 21, 1938. Prior to the creation of the movie version of Connell's story, a stage adaptation was written by playwright/novelist Leo Brady. The script was originally produced at Catholic University of America in Washington, DC.

<i>Bullets or Ballots</i> 1936 film by Edward G. Robinson, William Keighley

Bullets or Ballots is a 1936 American gangster film starring Edward G. Robinson, Joan Blondell, Barton MacLane, and Humphrey Bogart. Robinson plays a police detective who infiltrates a crime gang. This is the first of several films featuring both Robinson and Bogart.

<i>Just Ask for Diamond</i> 1988 British film

Just Ask for Diamond, alternatively titled Diamond's Edge, is a 1988 British comedy crime film directed by Stephen Bayly and starring Colin Dale, Saeed Jaffrey and Dursley McLinden. It is based on The Falcon's Malteser (1986), the first book of The Diamond Brothers series written by Anthony Horowitz. A six-part television miniseries sequel, The Diamond Brothers, was broadcast on ITV in 1991, with McLinden and Dale reprising their roles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2013 Dunlop V8 Supercar Series</span>

The 2013 Dunlop Series was an Australian motor racing competition for V8 Supercars. It was the fourteenth running of a V8 Supercar Development Series, with all rounds held in support of 2013 International V8 Supercars Championship events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Humphrey Bogart</span> American writer, film producer, and businessman

Stephen Humphrey Bogart is an American writer, producer, and businessman. He is the only son of actor Humphrey Bogart and actress Lauren Bacall, and authored three semi-autobiographical books about his family.

References