Chandler's Marlowe LA Before Noir Got Pretty
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- Raymond Chandler's first Philip Marlowe novel, The Big Sleep, was published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1939.
- Chandler wrote seven Marlowe novels total, concluding with Playback in 1958, the year before his death.
- Farewell, My Lovely (1940) was adapted into film three times, most famously as the 1975 Robert Mitchum vehicle.
- The Long Goodbye won the 1955 Edgar Award for Best Novel from the Mystery Writers of America.
- Chandler worked as a pulp writer for Black Mask magazine throughout the 1930s before transitioning to novels.
- The Lady in the Lake (1943) was Chandler's fourth Marlowe novel and his only full-length work set partly outside Los Angeles.
Farewell, My Lovely — Raymond Chandler
The one where Marlowe meets Moose Malloy and everything goes sideways.
This is Chandler firing on all cylinders — 1940, peak hard-boiled, before the film adaptations softened the edges. Marlowe takes a job looking for a missing showgirl and winds up neck-deep in Bay City corruption, jade necklaces, and a murder frame that won't quit. The prose is lean, mean, and quotable as hell. If you only read one mid-century American crime novel, make it this one or The Long Goodbye. Hammett gave us the template; Chandler gave it a soul. Explore our current copy of Farewell, My Lovely or browse more Crime books at Patina.
The Long Goodbye — Raymond Chandler
Chandler's masterpiece and the most elegiac thing he ever wrote.
Published in 1953, this one's longer, slower, sadder — Marlowe at his most world-weary, helping a drunk named Terry Lennox disappear, then watching the case unravel into something uglier than anyone expected. The plotting is looser than the earlier novels, but the atmosphere is unmatched. Chandler was writing about postwar LA disillusionment before anyone called it that. It won the Edgar and it earned it. Comparable reads: Ross Macdonald's Lew Archer novels, particularly The Chill (1964), which borrowed Chandler's melancholy and dialled up the family psychodrama. Explore our current copy of The Long Goodbye or browse more Crime books at Patina.
The Lady in the Lake — Raymond Chandler
Marlowe leaves the city and the results are appropriately weird.
Fourth in the series (1943), this one sends Marlowe up to the California mountains to track down a missing wife, only to trip over a drowned body and a conspiracy that stretches back to LA. It's the odd one out in Chandler's catalogue — the rural setting throws off the rhythm — but the prose is still sharp and the central mystery holds. If you're working through the Marlowe novels in order, don't skip it. If you're new to Chandler, start with Farewell, My Lovely or The Big Sleep. Explore our current copy of The Lady in the Lake or browse more Crime books at Patina.
Playback — Raymond Chandler
The final Marlowe case, written when Chandler was exhausted and it shows.
Published in 1958, Playback is the shortest and weakest of the seven novels — a coastal blackmail plot that never quite catches fire. Chandler was drinking heavily by this point and grieving his wife's death; the book reads like a man going through the motions. That said, it's still Chandler, which means the similes are better than most writers' best lines. Worth reading if you're a completist or just want to see how Marlowe's story ends. Not where you start. Explore our current copy of Playback or browse more Crime books at Patina.
Smart-Aleck Kill — Raymond Chandler (Four Novellas)
Pre-Marlowe pulp work, rough and raw and absolutely fascinating.
This collection pulls together four novellas Chandler wrote for Black Mask in the 1930s before he invented Marlowe. The prose is rougher, the plots are pulpier, the protagonists aren't quite Marlowe yet — but you can see him taking shape. "Spanish Blood" and "Nevada Gas" are the standouts. If you want to understand how Chandler learned to write like Chandler, this is the apprenticeship. Pair it with Hammett's Continental Op stories for a full education in 1930s pulp mechanics. Explore our current copy of Smart-Aleck Kill or browse more Crime books at Patina.
Chandler's LA was never pretty — it was hot, smoggy, corrupt, and unglamorous. That's what makes it real. That's what makes it last. Shop all Crime books at Patina Paperbacks →
Where can I buy secondhand Raymond Chandler novels in Sydney?
Patina Paperbacks stocks rotating preloved Chandler editions online and ships Australia-wide from Sydney. As of September 2026, we've got five Marlowe titles in stock, including Farewell, My Lovely and The Long Goodbye. Free shipping kicks in at $29, so grab a couple. Browse the full Crime collection here.
What's the best Philip Marlowe novel to start with?
Honestly, Farewell, My Lovely (1940) or The Big Sleep (1939). Both are lean, mean, and quintessentially Chandler. The Long Goodbye is the best novel — deeper, sadder, more ambitious — but it's also longer and slower, which can throw off first-timers. Start with the early stuff, then work your way to the elegiac later work.
How many Philip Marlowe books did Raymond Chandler write?
Seven novels total, published between 1939 and 1958: The Big Sleep, Farewell, My Lovely, The High Window, The Lady in the Lake, The Little Sister, The Long Goodbye, and Playback. He also left an unfinished eighth novel, Poodle Springs, which Robert B. Parker completed in 1989. The early and middle novels are the ones people still read; Playback is for completists.
Is Raymond Chandler similar to Dashiell Hammett?
Yes, but Chandler's more poetic and Hammett's more brutal. Hammett (The Maltese Falcon, Red Harvest) invented hard-boiled detective fiction in the late 1920s; Chandler refined it in the 1940s by adding literary ambition and a melancholy streak. If you like one, you'll probably like the other, but Chandler's the one English professors assign. Ross Macdonald comes next chronologically and splits the difference — check out his Lew Archer series if you want the Chandler vibe with more family dysfunction.
Are vintage Chandler paperbacks worth collecting?
Absolutely, especially the 1950s–70s Penguin and Pocket Book editions with the lurid cover art. They won't make you rich — Chandler was too popular for scarcity — but they're gorgeous objects and they read beautifully. Expect foxing, creased spines, and that perfect secondhand bookshop smell. That's the patina talking.