3 Review(s)

These three classic novels featuring private eye Philip Marlowe are not just the best of Raymond Chandler but among the best works epitomizing America's hard-boiled school of crime fiction. The Big Sleep was an instant sensation when first published in 1939. It centres around a paralyzed California millionaire with two psychopathic daughters; he involves Marlowe in a case of blackmail that turns into murder. Farewell My Lovely, which Chandler regarded as his finest work, came out the following year. It has Marlowe dealing with the Los Angeles gambling circuit, a murder he stumbles upon, and three very beautiful but potentially deadly women. The Long Goodbye was his sixth novel featuring Philip Marlowe which won the 1955, Edgar Award for Best Novel. This novel sees Marlowe standing up for a down and out friend Terry Lennox, a war veteran. He persists in investigating the case on his own, despite being warned off by – the police, a bullying mobster, and Terry's immensely rich and influential newspaper baron father-in-law. "Chandler writes like a slumming angel and invests the sun-blinded streets of Los Angeles with a romantic presence." – Ross Macdonald.