Name: The Simple Art of Murder
ISBN: 9781974306145

Raymond Chandler

Prefaced by the famous Atlantic Monthly essay of the same name, in which he argues the virtues of the hard-boiled detective novel, this collection mostly drawn from stories he wrote for the pulps demonstrates Chandler's imaginative, entertaining facility with the form. Contains the following short stories: - Spanish Blood - I'll Be Waiting - The King in Yellow - Pearls Are a Nuisance - Pickup on Noon Street - Smart-Aleck Kill - Guns at Cyrano's - Nevada Gas.

The Simple Art of Murder

An essay on detective fiction accompanies eight stories about a politician's murder, a hotel detective, missing pearls, and gangsters

Emmett

Came for the name on the cover, a love for hard-boiled fiction and a soft spot for Philip Marlowe, and curiosity. Stayed for all of that. Even without Marlowe, the ride is still pretty good with Chandler. His short stories leave savory hints of the characters he may have worked with (mostly gritty types with reluctant but good hearts) if he had explored his options a bit more and not stopped at writing full-length novels of just Marlowe. The characters are quite indistinguishable (their names are easily forgotten, but there are many stories) but the style was familiar - and therefore, fun. Some evidence of Chandler's critical smarts available in the essay that shares the book's title. It is impressive to watch him poke holes into classic English detective stories from A.A. Milne and Dorothy Sayers.

The Simple Art of Murder

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