The Little Sister (Philip Marlowe, #5)

by Raymond Chandler

Val McDermid (Introduction)

'So you need help. What's your name and trouble?'

Private Investigator Philip Marlowe's latest client is Orfamay Quest. She's come all the way from Manhattan, Kansas, to find her missing brother Orrin. Or at least that's what she tells Marlowe, offering him just twenty dollars for his trouble. Feeling charitable, Marlowe accepts - though it's not long before he wishes he hadn't. Soon the trail leads to a succession of Hollywood starlets, uppity gangsters, suspicious cops and corpses with ice picks jammed into their necks . . .

The Little Sister is Raymond Chandler's fifth novel featuring laconic PI Philip Marlowe.

'Marlowe remains the quintessential urban private eye' Los Angeles Times

'Chandler grips the mind from the first sentence' Daily Telegraph

'One of the greatest crime writers, who set standards others still try to attain' Sunday Times

'Chandler is an original stylist, creator of a character as immortal as Sherlock Holmes' Anthony Burgess

Discover the newest addition to the inimitable Philip Marlowe series - Only to Sleep by Lawrence Osborne - out 6 September 2018 in hardback and ebook from Hogarth.

• ISBN10: 0241954320
• ISBN13: 9780241954324
• Publish Date: 28 October 2010 (first published 12 March 1977)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 11 April 2021
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Penguin Books Ltd
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• 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.