The quintessential hard-boiled private detective, Sam Spade was the main character in the classic 1930 novel The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett. Writing for the most influential pulp magazine of the time, Black Mask, Hammett became one of the first, most inspirational writers of hard-boiled fiction, often credited with the invention of the genre.

Sam Spade was the author’s most famous sleuth. The Maltese Falcon first appeared serialised in five parts in Black Mask magazine between 1929-30, and was followed by three short stories. Hammett described his character as ‘a hard and shifty fellow, able to take care of himself in any situation, and able to get the best of anybody he comes in to contact with’.

The defining image of the detective is undoubtably associated with actor Humphrey Bogart, who played Spade in the classic 1941 movie version of The Maltese Falcon directed by John Huston. His portrayal is regarded as a big influence on the genre’s future private detectives.

Created in 1934 by American mystery writer Rex Stout, Nero Wolfe is a brilliant, eccentric and reclusive armchair detective. He is aided in his investigations by a sharp-witted young assistant, Archie Goodwin, who does the physical investigations for the detective.

Nero, the deductive genius, is a wealthy, obese, cranky agoraphobic with a passion for food who never leaves his large Manhattan brownstone home. Archie, on the other hand is a tough, handsome guy, smart and tenacious, with a .32 under his well-tailored suit and a smart mouth.

The partnership of Wolfe and Goodwin offered the best of the English tradition of the intellectual detective, such as Sherlock Holmes, coupled with the American hard-boiled detective style of the 1930s. Stout wrote 33 novels and 41 short stories from 1934 to 1975, and over the years, many have been successfully adapted for film, radio, television and the stage.

Created by Raymond Chandler, this character first appeared in short stories published in pulp magazines such as Black Mask and Dime Detective, then in his first full length story, The Big Sleep, in 1939. Explaining the origin of Marlowe, Chandler commented “he just grew out of the pulps – he was no one person” referencing the detective characters from his earlier magazine stories.

Underneath the wisecracking, hard-drinking, tough private eye, Marlowe is morally upright, quietly contemplative and philosophical, and while he is not afraid to risk physical harm, he does not dish out violence unnecessarily.

Philip Marlowe appeared in seven more Chandler novels between 1940 and 1958, and in many movie adaptations, the best considered to be The Big Sleep in 1946. Directed by Howard Hawks and starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, the film is considered an all-time classic of American ‘film noir’ cinema.

A brawling, tough private detective, Mike Hammer was created by Mickey Spillane and appeared in his first novel, I, The Jury in 1947. Hammer is a no-holds-barred private eye who is in many ways the archetypal hard-man detective: brutally violent, and fuelled by a genuine rage against criminals.

Hammer, less a detective than a violent vigilante, was not well-received by Spillane’s peers. He was universally detested by the critics and shunned by other crime writers who considered his stories poorly written and in bad taste. The books, however, were hugely popular with the public and sold in their millions.

Spillane wrote 13 Mike Hammer novels and a number of short stories, resulting in many screen adaptations including movies and television series. The most memorable movie was the 1955 Kiss Me Deadly, which is considered one of the most important and influential ‘film noirs’ of all time.

Mickey Spillane, the author, actually portrayed Mike Hammer – his own creation, in the movie The Girl Hunters in 1963 (pictured).