A private detective on a blackmail case runs into some murders.

2.5/4 (Okay).

Every now and then there'll be a fun bit of dialog that hints at how good the book is, but that's about all this has going for it. ( )

Fantastic story with awesome craftmanship. Highly descriptive scenes and characters. Philip Marlowe is the archetypal tough, serious, wisecracking, seen-everything ex-cop, yet honest with his own set of inviolable principles. The story begins as Marlow consults with California oil millionaire who is pathetically frail and disabled. He is unable to curb or protect his two daughters, in their twenties, and is being blackmailed due to their gambling and involvement in pornography. Having seen the movie w/ Bogart and Bacall, I'd say the book was much better. The complex plot and interactions were not as comprehensibly laid out in the film. Nevertheless, seeing the movie first helped to set the scene for reading the book. A-1 classy writing. Unlike Hammett, Chandler manages to be gritty without being too grisly. ( )