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Portrait image of Matti Yrjänä Joensuu Photo: Sutton Hibbert (2006) / REX / TT

Sample of authors

Joensuu, Matti Yrjänä

Matti Yrjänä Joensuu was a Finnish crime writer and criminal investigator. He was born and lived most of his life in Helsinki. After leaving upper-secondary school in 1969 he trained at the police academy, graduating in 1973. He then worked within the police force until his retirement in 2006. He then moved to Valkeakoski, 150 kilometres north of Helsinki, where he lived until his death. One of J...

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Literary figures

Sam Spade

Gender: Male

Dashiell Hammett only wrote one novel and a few short stories about the American private detective Sam Spade. The Maltese Falcon, however, is a major classic and like some of his short stories it is the precursor of the hardboiled detective story. The cynical, tough and outright rude Spade and his personal habits are so often copied that they have become clichés.

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