But as Marlowe begins his investigation, it becomes more and more complex and more and more dangerous. After the black-eyed blonde, no stranger to such detective tales, enters Marlowe’s office, he follows tradition and succumbs to her beauty and her charms. An equal driver of my interest was the story. And Marlowe is aware of this.īut that, as I said, is the entertainment aspect. It is a teasing, however, that can also irritate some cops, even as it entertains us. This self-awareness also produces the snappy dialogue one associates with Chandler and private eyes, such as when Marlowe teases others, like the cops that he knows and that he realizes he must keep informed. It is particularly reflected in Marlowe’s self-awareness, that of his own lonely life among the low lifes, and then the arrival in his dusty office of this blonde beauty far above his station, and yet, as he dreams, perhaps available. It may be slightly exaggerated here, but it is still fun to read. I succumbed particularly to the tongue in cheek style that one associates with the late Raymond Chandler. Not to mention his true identity as John Banville, a true Irish literary phenomenon.įor here he offers in this 2014 work a terrific recreation of a Philip Marlowe crime story set in a Los Angeles type city of the 1950s. At least for any pastiche written by Benjamin Black, whose Dublin mysteries I have long admired. Because these novels are never the real thing, or their hero the real hero incarnated.īut I may have to change my mind. Like those that feature such heroes as Spenser, James Bond, and Jason Bourne.

I usually avoid these novels commissioned by the estate of a dead author.

The black eyed blonde