The Black-Eyed Blonde (Philip Marlowe)

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I got up from the desk and took my pipe to the window and stood looking out at nothing in particular. In an office across the street, a secretary in a tartan blouse and wearing earphones from a Dictaphone machine was bent over her typewriter, tapping away. I had passed her in the street a few times. Nice little face, shy smile; the kind of girl who lives with her mother and cooks meat loaf for Sunday lunch. This is a lonely town. The fact that] this novel is so enjoyable is a testament to the effectiveness of the formula that Chandler laboured so hard to perfect.” — The Telegraph (UK)

The Black-Eyed Blonde: A Novel (Philip Marlowe Series) The Black-Eyed Blonde: A Novel (Philip Marlowe Series)

Tallish, like you. Dark. Handsome, in a weak sort of way. Wears a silly mustache, Don Ameche–style. Dresses nicely, or used to, when I had a say in the matter." I liked the opening sentence: " It was one of those Tuesday afternoons in summer when you wonder if the earth has stopped revolving" She smiled and gave a dry little nod, conceding the point. "He was much as usual," she said. "A little bit more distracted, perhaps, a little nervous, even—though maybe it only seems that way in hindsight." I liked the way she talked; it made me think of the ivy-covered walls of venerable colleges, and trust fund details written out on parchment in a copperplate hand. "He certainly didn't give any strong indication that he was about to"—she smiled again—"decamp." Gardner wrote that in 1944. The more things change the more they stay the same. Of course there’s lots of derring-do, with help from trusty, recurring characters Della Street and Paul Drake. Lt. Tragg and the crusty men of his force are always hot on the trail, but they stay a step behind Perry and his sleuthing, at the best of times.Se uno scrittore (bravo, ovviamente, come Banville dimostra di essere) può scrivere una "Philip Marlowe novel" così autentica, bella, divertente, accattivante, cosa resta della real thing? When I was young, a couple of millennia ago, I used to think I knew what I was doing. I was aware of the world’s caprices—the goat dances it likes to do with our hopes and desires—but where my own actions were concerned, I was pretty confident that I was sitting square in the driver’s seat, with the wheel held firmly in my own two hands. Now I know different. Now I know that decisions we think we make are in fact made only in hindsight, and that at the time things are actually happening, all we do is drift." I thought about Clare Cavendish. Something didn't add up. As a private eye I'm not completely unknown, but why would a daughter of Dorothea Langrishe of Ocean Heights and who knew how many other swell spots choose me to find her missing man? And why, in the first place, had she got herself involved with Nico Peterson, who, if her description of him was accurate, would turn out to be nothing but a cheap grifter in a sharp suit? Long and convoluted questions, and hard to concentrate on while remembering Clare Cavendish's candid eyes and the amused, knowing light that shone in them.

The Black Eyed Blonde: A Philip Marlowe Novel - AbeBooks The Black Eyed Blonde: A Philip Marlowe Novel - AbeBooks

The streets of Bay City, California, in the early 1950s are as mean as they get. Marlowe is as restless and lonely as ever, and the private eye business is a little slow. Then a new client is shown in: blond, beautiful, and expensively dressed, she wants Marlowe to find her former lover.

Forget about solving all these crimes; the signal triumph here is (spoiler) the heroine’s survival. Kroll, Justin (31 March 2017). "Liam Neeson, Departed Scribe William Monahan Team Up for Philip Marlowe Movie (Exclusive)". Variety. Archived from the original on 8 June 2021 . Retrieved 8 June 2021.