Crime fiction master Raymond Chandler’s second novel featuring Philip Marlowe, the “quintessential urban private eye” (Los Angeles Times). Philip Marlowe’s about to give up on a completely routine case when he finds himself in the wrong place at the right time to get caught up in a murder that leads to a ring of jewel thieves, another murder, a fortune-teller, a couple more murders, and more … couple more murders, and more corruption than your average graveyard.
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I liked this book for its twists and turns. I always enjoy Raymond Chandler’s witty similes.
Highly entertaining twists and turns. Great introduction to a classic mystery novelist
One of Chandler’s best… a tale that draws you in with no noticeable effort, an ode to the author’s skill and artistic ability.
Old time classic mystery.
Written in 1940, Philip Marlowe is private detective known by everyone today. You won’t see a movie made today with original dialog because of the racial epithets, but the story itself is excellent.
The classic noir detective novel. Sometimes it’s hard to get beyond some of the racist terms used.
the original master, excellent
Hardboiled detective Philip Marlowe might be my favorite fictional character of all time. Chandler’s writing style is amazing!
While Chandler is a great writer, his racism and deeply offensive language is impossible to overlook.
The opening scenes are stomach-churningly and unnecessarily racist; I almost did not continue reading. But Chandler’s reputation as the father of the noir detective genre kept me from giving up. Farther in, the racism (and sexism) are constant background noise. However, the story is well-constructed with vibrant language and razor sharp turns …
A real classic. One of the early deceive noir books. Even though it was written in the 1940’s a terrific book
Raymond Chandler at his finest!
1930’s values can be offputting, but once I got past those the plot was fun and Philip Marlowe weird. Chandler was amazing.
Raymond Chandler was the master of noir detective novels. A fun read even after 80 years. If you like reading modern day crime fiction take a break and read where it all started. You can’t go wrong with Raymond Chandler.
Wonderful. Best PI book I’ve read for ages.
Raymond Chandler is the best. Well, one of the best, and Marlowe is one of the best characters ever created in any genre. This is one of the very best of Chandler’s Marlowe stories. It moves, it breathes, it lives. Buy, borrower, find or otherwise get your hands on ALL of Chandler’s Marlowe stories. You won’t be disappointed.
The only Chandler novel I hadn’t read more than once until just recently, the first time I read it was when I was in my teens. Although many rank it as one of the author’s best–and some would say THE best–it’s never been my favorite (THE LONG GOODBYE is).
The novel’s opening takes place in a largely African-American area of Los Angeles, and …