Book Review: Farewell, My Lovely

Farewell, My Lovely is the second of Raymond Chandler’s influential
Philip Marlowe crime noir series.

Phillip Marlowe, a sarcastic and often unemployed private detective,
finds himself literally dragged onto the scene of a murder in downtown
Los Angeles. The perp, Moose Malloy, is freshly out of prison and
looking for his lost love, Velma. As Marlowe investigates the various
leads, he gets sweeped up in the crime-ridden heart of the city
including jewel thieves, a psychic, drug houses, offshore gambling and
some beautiful, but mysterious, women.

Chandler’s prose is straightforward and his first-person narration is
rife with sarcasm and wisecracks. As with most mysteries, the
multiple, seemingly unrelated threads of the story come together right
at the end and tie up nicely. Still, Chandler’s stories were among the
first of the genre and set the stage for a multitude of followers,
both literary and cinematic.

Completed: January 21, 2008

Find: In a library or on Amazon

January 29th, 2008  ♥  Books, Reviews  ♥  No Comments »