The final complete novel by Raymond Chandler, featuring his iconic creation Philip Marlowe. Betty Mayfield is blond and beautiful and has just been found guilty of murdering her husband. But when the jundge realizes the jury is terrified of her father-in-law-the man who owns everything in this small North Carolina town-he overturns the verdict. Her father-in-law swears vengeance, and Betty flees. Seeking a new life, she meets Larry Mitchell, a brash but charming gigolo, on the train to Vancouver. He brings her to the Royal Vancouver Hotel, where she checks into a room beneath the penthouse of wealthy playboy Clark Brandon, who takes her under his wing. When Mitchell's body turns up on Betty's balcony, jaded inspector Jeff Killaine is assigned to the case, but finds himself falling for Betty. Did she do it, or was she framed? We are delighted to publish this classic book as part of our extensive Classic Library collection. Many of the books in our collection have been out of print for decades, and therefore have not been accessible to the general public. The aim of our publishing program is to facilitate rapid access to this vast reservoir of literature, and our view is that this is a significant literary work, which deserves to be brought back into print after many decades. The contents of the vast majority of titles in the Classic Library have been scanned from the original works. To ensure a high quality product, each title has been meticulously hand curated by our staff. Our philosophy has been guided by a desire to provide the reader with a book that is as close as possible to ownership of the original work. We hope that you will enjoy this wonderful classic work, and that for you it becomes an enriching experience.

レイモンド・チャンドラーの遺作である本作は、孤高の探偵マーロウの黄昏を描いたハードボイルドの到達点です。都会の孤独や逃亡者の焦燥、そして老いゆく男の哀愁が、詩的で辛辣な比喩によって見事に彫琢されています。不条理な世界で己の美学を貫くマーロウの姿は、現代を生きる我々の魂に響く普遍的な哲学を内包しています。 元々映画用脚本として誕生した背景を持つ本作は、映像的な躍動感と小説ならではの緻密な心理描写が奇跡的な均衡で共存しています。映像版が放つノワールな様式美を、原作のモノローグが持つ深い精神性が補完する。両メディアを横断することで、チャンドラーが最後に到達した魂の救済が、より鮮烈に浮かび上がるはずです。