It wasn't until 'The Long Goodbye' that I thought Chandler started to flag a bit. There is still no one who can come close to the sense of place and time as well as character that Chandler had so much mastery over. That being said 'The High Window' is one of my favorites. There are always scenes or descriptions that in each of his books are so evocative for me. In this one it's the hilarious way he treats the little coach boy statue outside the house of his client that hits me. Not only is it funny but I vividly remember those statues from my own youth. But not my neighborhood as they were above our socioeconomic scale.
As always I still have to think hard about how all of the pieces fit together at the end. I always read Chandler for the sheer enjoyment, the mystery is secondary. ( )

This tale of the Brasher Doubloon, a 'stolen' gold coin, embroils Philip Marlowe in unsavory complications all around. Not my favorite among the Marlowe novels, but Chandler's prose is so regularly incandescent that my recommendation is still strong. Just witness this description of a policeman Marlowe collaborates with:

"Then he picked the glass up and tasted it and sighed again and shook his head sideways with a half smile; the way a man does when you give him a drink and he needs it very badly and it is just right and the first swallow is like a peek into a cleaner, sunnier, brighter world."

Oh, man. Chandler is a treasure. Read him, read him, read him . . . . ( )

Though this novel did seem a bit formulaic, having had seen The Big Sleep, I still enjoyed it immensely. I always have a hard time keeping track of the detective's day and appointments though. The writing was wry and very descriptive giving a great feel of some very specific places in L.A. And though I had hunches, I had no idea how it was going to end! " 'I'm very smart,' I said. 'It would be a shame not to talk to me.' " ( )