The Little Sister (Philip Marlowe, #5)

by Raymond Chandler

Val McDermid (Introduction)

Her name is Orfamay Quest and she's come all the way from Manhattan, Kansas, to find her missing brother Orrin. Or least ways that's what she tells PI Philip Marlowe, offering him a measly twenty bucks for the privilege. But Marlowe's feeling charitable - though it's not long before he wishes he wasn't so sweet. You see, Orrin's trail leads Marlowe to luscious movie starlets, uppity gangsters, suspicious cops and corpses with ice picks jammed in their necks. When trouble comes calling, sometimes it's best to pretend to be out...

• ISBN10: 0241144523
• ISBN13: 9780241144527
• Publish Date: 2 April 2009 (first published 12 March 1977)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 20 January 2011
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
• Imprint: Hamish Hamilton Ltd
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 304
• Language: English

Reviews

[Michael @ Knowledge Lost]

What seems like an easy case of finding a missing person turns out spiral out of control for Private Investigator Philip Marlowe, leading him into a world full of gangsters, movie scarlets and dead bodies. While The Little Sister is not Raymond Chandler’s strongest piece of work, it is a great addition to the series, with Marlowe been witty and awesome as always. Marlowe is on the hunt for Orfamay Quest’s (yes Orfamay) missing brother Orrin; the Quest family is from Manhattan, Kansas a small town where not much happens, and to be thrown into the city of angels makes things a little difficult for both of them.

This book seems to be a bit darker and different for Raymond Chandler, who doesn’t hold anything back when he flames the people of Hollywood and the Movie industry. I think this may have been a downfall for this book for most people. For me what stopped me giving Chandler full marks (this time) was the simple fact that this felt a little ‘all-over-the-place’ instead of the usual tight well crafted plots; that I’ve come to know and love from Chandler.