A review by batbones
Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler

5.0

It is hard to pick a favourite between this one, The Long Goodbye and The Big Sleep, so I will have to say all three. As the other two, Farewell, My Lovely features the iconic tough but sentimental detective on a winding murder mystery that will leave him worse for wear, as the work he has chosen to do always does. And yet also as always, he emerges no less wise, hardboiled, sensible, cynical but chivalrous: equipped with enough barb to deal with the hard world on its own terms, while shielding a heart that keeps him going. His brutal words hide a rather old-fashioned sensibility and it is this curious mixture that informs his charm, in my books. (Chandler also uses terms which are shockingly racist to us today; although these sentiments are not to be excused, in my view, the reader can take them as products of his time, or a characteristic of his detective.) Well-executed and gripping plot, and its witty characters make this an enjoyable read.