The Lady in the Lake by Raymond Chandler

Believe it or not, I first read this book about 35 years ago. I was somewhere between 11 or 12 when I read it. Nobody ever said that my parents had very good parental discretion. The Lady in the Lake has got sex, violence, dirty cops and several gristly murders. 

I remember being enamored by the title that was a reference to the Arthurian legend. I'm here to tell you, this Raymond Chandler classic has absolutely nothing to do with King Arthur and Merlin. It would have been neat had the main setting, a secluded cabin in the Californian San Gabriel Mountains, had the name of Camelot. But nobody ever said that a Philip Marlowe mystery had a lot of symbolism. 

There was one point where Marlowe provided false information. That lie really confused me. The private investigator states that a murder suspect wore a certain piece of clothing when in fact, it was Philip who wore the accessory. I spent a good half hour going back through the book, thinking that I had missed something. Instead, I should of followed my own personal rule when I read a Raymond Chandler classic: just follow along for the ride.

Being a re-read, despite it being decades since I first read this book, I still had some memories of my first interaction with it. But my memory was foggy enough to still be surprised from time to time. Plus I was just really shocked by the content of this 1943 work, both for the level of loose morals for a time period otherwise considered puritanical compared to today. Plus I still can't believe my mom let me read this book when I was barely in middle school!!!

Marlowe is hired to find a missing wife. Her husband is a high level executive who's more afraid of the scandal behind his wife's history of infidelity than he is concerned about her safety. The last time she was seen was about a month earlier when she went to summer at her mountain cottage. Added to the mix was a bizarre telegram win which the woman claims she's gone to Mexico for a quickie divorce and even quicker remarriage. Only the guy she claimed was going to marry her never took the plunge and hasn't seen her in weeks.

When the shamus visits the cabin, he learns that the caretaker's wife disappeared at about the same time as the missing socialite. When Marlowe discovers a body partially submerged in the water, it's identified that the victim is the caretaker. But could the murderer have been his client's missing bride? It's up to the detective to solve two mysteries that while seemingly unaffiliated; the clues keep entangling like a fast growing vine around each other.

One thing that readers need to understand about this book is that it was written during the height of World War II. There's a lot of situations that seem very unusual to modern day readers as those moments should. There was a very great fear of sabotage especially along the West Coast. Plus with priority going towards the war effort, shortages and rationing was a very real first world problem for Americans in the 1940s. Once you understand the impact the war made on everyday life in the United States, despite our country not becoming an active war zone, it will help you better enjoy this work.

A great read. Just remember to let Raymond Chandler guide you. Things might seem out of sorts at time. But it all circles back in the end.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Trouble is My Business by Raymond Chandler

When I read Agatha Christie, I feel like I'm challenged to solve the mystery before her main characters do. When I read Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, I feel like I'm sitting in on a lecture about criminology; learning new and unusual facts. But when I read Raymond Chandler, I'm merely along for the ride. 

Chandler's Philip Marlowe stories are fast paced, wordy whodunits filled with slimy thugs, morally questionable cops and dangerous dames. Private Detective Marlowe doesn't always seek the justice. He's like a 1930s Robin Hood who tries to solve the crime while making sure that the player treated the least fairly is given a fighting chance to better themselves. Marlowe is the lone narrator of his adventures. I just wish I knew what the hell he was talking about sometimes.

Written in a different time where California was still more Wild West than the home of Tinsel Town, nobody can or should be trusted in a Raymond Chandler work. It could be argued that you shouldn't even trust Philip as he'll turn against a paying client if he determines that they're in the wrong; even if every rule in the law book is squarely on their side. But as Marlowe runs the reader through each story, both the private eye and the characters he encounters use verbiage that is so antiquated that the last time they were used in public was during the filming of a Philip Marlowe mystery!

Dictionaries and Google are definitely needed to understand what's being said. 

There are 4 short stories in this collection. Now before some of you Raymond Chandler experts out there berate me on what I just said. Yes, I know, Trouble is my Business contained 5 novellas when the collected edition was first published by Penguin in 1950. I have no idea why 'Guns at Cyrano's' is no longer included in this 1992 edition from Vintage Crime/Black Lizard. Here, you only get the title story along with 'Goldfish', 'Finger Man' and 'Red Wind'. 

'Trouble is my Business' sees Philip being hired out to by a wealthy widower to hopefully persuade a gold digger to unleash her grasp from the millionaire's adopted son. Marlowe then gets a lesson in ichthyology when he goes to the Great White North in search of some stolen pearls. Jewelry is once again the subject, this time as an object of blackmail, when Marlowe witnesses the murder of a man in a speakeasy in 'Red Wind'. Then in a story that has to have influenced Roman Polanski's Chinatown, Philip is given the choice to take the fall as the 'Finger Man' or let an innocent woman take the rap for the murder of a two-bit hustler in a mystery that revolves around a crooked politician who controls all of the gambling dens in Los Angeles.

All 4 stories were fun reads. 'Goldfish' was perhaps my favorite because of the fish out of water quality to it with Marlowe being in the Vancouver area instead of sunny California. I also really liked 'Red Wind'. While each story had a sultry femme fatale as a character, 'Red Wind' was the only story where I felt that Marlowe was going to get burned by getting too close to the flames of passion. Also, it's the only tale where Marlowe never enters his detective agency office. It's dive bar, apartment, out in the field; solving a case he never even agreed to a fee to in a single night.

Don't neglect to read the opening article written by Raymond Chandler himself. It's a well known essay in which the author admits his works are far from literature. But that doesn't in any way detract from the artistic quality of his writings. Ironically, among fans of mystery noir and the pursuit of the great American novel, the case files of Philip Marlowe, P.I. are among the pinnacles of mid-20th century lit. 

A must read for murder mystery enthusiasts. 

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Playback (2025 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

In the mid-1940s, Raymond Chandler was a hot property in Hollywood. Film adaptations of several of his mystery novels starring hard-boiled detective Philip Marlowe had been massive hits, including 1946's The Big Sleep starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. Chandler was under contract with Warner Brothers to produce a number of films based on his works. He thought director Howard Hawks had done a masterful job and was happy with Bogie's portrayal of Marlowe. However, the author had become dissatisfied with the final cut of the film as script rewrites had seriously altered his version of the plot.

Chandler was determined that the next film based on one of his works would be true to his vision. The best way to achieve this was to write the next screenplay himself. And it wouldn't be with Warner; contract or no contact. Working out a trade, Chandler's agent was able negotiate the next film to be produced at Universal Studios. Only this film would based on a totally new story; one which would not feature Philip Marlowe. It wouldn't even be set in California!

Playback begins in rural North Carolina. A young woman is accused of murdering her husband, a war hero and son of the town's most influential citizen.  Fleeing from her past and changing her name to Betty Mayfield, the woman runs as far as she can, taking a train to Vancouver. There, she meets a young man named Larry Mitchell who at first seems to take her under his wing, to the point of helping her pass Canadian customs and obtaining a room in a swank hotel. Soon Larry's intentions become clear and during a cocktail party thrown by the hotel's most prominent guest in the penthouse suite, makes a drunken pass at Betty.

In the aftermath of the incident, Betty threatens Larry, promising serious repercussions should the sot assault her again. Turns out Betty won't have to worry about Larry Mitchell ever again as the man winds up dead on her balcony patio. As inspectors attempt to solve the mystery,  Betty's troubled past in North Carolina is revealed. She believes that she's being framed, possibly by her former father-in-law, who swore revenge for his son's death. As the investigation furthers, Inspector Killaine has a gut feeling that the girl is innocent. However the evidence is mounting up against Betty. Canadian authorities are ready to make an arrest. As time runs out, Betty and a date with the electric chair and almost certainty unless Killaine can find a break in case fast.

About halfway through writing the script, Raymond Chandler got bored. Some claim writer's block. Others suspect that the author realized he needed Philip Marlowe and the sunny skies of California to complete his story and that he stubbornly refused to rest on his laurels. Towards the end of his life, Chandler had stated in interviews that he felt that his most beloved character had come to their natural conclusion and the author had bemoaned that he never achieved his dream of writing a serious work that was important to literature. Regardless of what prolonged the completion of Playback, Chandler's delays doomed the film.

Chandler finally submitted the screenplay in the winter of 1948, after missing at least 2 deadlines. Universal called for several charges that the author felt were a step backwards for him. But it was too late. With film noir beginning to lose its luster and the British parliament imposing a major tax on American film productions, Universal cancelled many of its early development projects including Playback.

Never one to let a good idea die, Chandler retooled Playback into a novel. He willingly let Marlowe take the leading man role. Chandler's hometown of La Jolla, California was used as the inspiration for the fictional town of Esmeralda, USA. The roles of a couple of major characters were lessened and the plot centered more on the P.I. than the female lead. But otherwise, the main plot of the story remained the same. Released in 1958, first to British audiences, Playback was Chandler's final complete novel as the novelist died a year later. 

Sometime prior to 2004, archivists at Universal discovered the lost screenplay. Immediate efforts were made by the production company and Raymond Chandler's estate to get the original vision of Playback to the adoring public. In 2004, Editions Denoël commissioned French comic creator Ted Benoit to adapt the recovered screenplay into a graphic novel. It's a story full of the usual Raymond Chandler formula deadly dames, cretinous secondary characters, red herrings and unexpected plot twists. Plus, it's got a Hollywood movie code twist ending that rivals any E.C. Comics classic. François Ayroles illustrated the black and white heavy brush artwork. Arcade Publishing released a hardcover English version of the graphic novel in 2006.  

To this day, Playback remains the only Raymond Chandler work to have never been been adaptation into a live action film.

Completing this review completes Task #30 (A Mystery) of the 2025 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.